Solar panel efficiency
Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
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paul
I live in very very sunny Qld, have decided to upgrade my solar system. From my own personal research i of the current opinion that the BP SX multicrystalline panels are the only panels that increase their current output as the temperature gets higher, and all other brands for which i have found current/voltage with termperature grading decrease their current output at the temperature increases.
Is this right ?
Reply By: OziExplorer - Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Paul, ALL solar panels decrease in output with an increase in tempreture.
You can download the BP SX60 PDF file as an example to look at here:
http://www.bpsolar.com/ContentDetails.cfm?page=40
My personal preference is for the BP panels because of quality and smaller size compared to others.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: bruce - Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Paul..according to my supplier the uni-sol panels operate very effeciently in high temperatures , they are also unbreakable ... being made of steel . unfortunately they are also quite large for thier power out put and only go up to 64w..but it probably depends on what you already have and what would compliment that . cheers
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Follow Up By: Oziexplorer - Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Paul *ALL* brands of solar panel reduce power/watts as the tempreture rises. Just download all the spec sheets, and you will see none are any better than others when it comes to tempreture rise.
Amorphous panels like Unisolar have nowhere near the life expectancy of Monocrystalline panels, and overall work out in the life of the panel more expensive per watt.
The other thing if you are mounting Amorphous panels on a flat surface like a 4WD etc. you need to make sure they do not bow in the middle and hold water as that will destroy them. You need to put shaped high density polystyrene behind the panels to bow them out so the water will not lie/puddle in the middle.
As far as being unbreakable, you would have to be some special type of brainless beast to break a Monocrystalline panel.
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Follow Up By: Bruce - Wednesday, Nov 27, 2002 at 01:00
Wednesday, Nov 27, 2002 at 01:00
point taken....oziexplorer , but there are brainless beasts out there , and if you are camped by a river , like i would be and have your panels out in the sun merrilly charging up your batteries and running your fridge to keep your tinnies cold and are out on the river trying to catch a feed of fish and your panels are secured so that no thieving so and so can nick them...they will in all probability ...smash them , just for the hell of it...they cannot do that with uni-sol panels , or they would have to go to extremes to do so...cheers
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Reply By: paul - Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002 at 01:00
Thanks Oziexplorer
Staring at the www.bpsolar.com graph for the BP SX40 and 50 i swear, and so do the people in my house, that the highest current output is at 75 degrees celcius and reduces as the temperature reduces to O degrees. Whereas looking at the same graphs for Sharp, Solarex, Kyocera etc they clearly reduce current as temperature increases, optimum being at 25 degrees. Maybe the optimum for the BP is factory set at the higher temperature. Maybe this all relates to something internal in a panel i don't know about and i am reading the data incorrectly. Am happy to admit i am reading this wrong but if i am then as a matter of general interest i'd like to know how. Ta. But you are totally right about weight and dimension advantage over others, except maybe for my 11W flexible unisolar panel which is designed for a boat and is okay to be walked on, pity they don't make them above 32W - but too expensive anyhow.
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Follow Up By: Oziexplorer - Wednesday, Nov 27, 2002 at 01:00
Wednesday, Nov 27, 2002 at 01:00
Paul, you know there is lies, damn likes and statistics.
Now do a little research and consider you are in winter and
check all the graphs.
Overall, all year round, give me Polycrystalline every time.
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Reply By: bruce - Thursday, Nov 28, 2002 at 01:00
Thursday, Nov 28, 2002 at 01:00
you seem a little confused oziexplorer...the page that you refer to is about multicrystaline panels... but you swear by polycrystaline panels . What I read is that multicrystaline is most efficient in certain conditions . Also kyocera panels have a 25 yr warranty and bp a 20 yr warranty ...but i will still stick with the unbreakables..accidents can and do happen..cheers
AnswerID:
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