What to do with 100V cells

[rinrang]

Hi All,

I have some 100V, 10W solar cells (monocrystalline Si) - I was planning on making a little panel and then connect to an inverter. I've found that most inverters need an input around 24V.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[inetdog]

Hi All,

I have some 100V, 10W solar cells (monocrystalline Si) - I was planning on making a little panel and then connect to an inverter. I've found that most inverters need an input around 24V.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Welcome to Solar Panel Talk, rinrang!

Do you mean you have some 100V 10W solar panels? A single Si cell will have a voltage of about .5 volts.
You cannot drive an inverter directly from your panels. You need to have a battery to buffer the current flow. During parts of the AC cycle the inverter will need more DC than others. If you do not have a battery or battery bank, the inverter will shut down on overload at far less than the panel output power.

An MPPT type charge controller will have the ability to work with a high panel voltage (not all will go up to 100V though) and charge a 12v or 24v battery.

[rinrang]

Welcome to Solar Panel Talk, rinrang!
Do you mean you have some 100V 10W solar panels?

Hi! Thanks for the response!

Nope, I am reading the cells at around 100V on my multimeter and that what they are supposed to be. It looks like each cell is composed of maybe fifty or so smaller (5mmx20mm) silicon pieces which are all wired together - in such a way of course that each cell is at 100V.

I was thinking I could just connect them up to a grid tie inverter and get around any battery usage?

Cheers

[inetdog]

Hi! Thanks for the response!

Nope, I am reading the cells at around 100V on my multimeter and that what they are supposed to be. It looks like each cell is composed of maybe fifty or so smaller (5mmx20mm) silicon pieces which are all wired together - in such a way of course that each cell is at 100V.

I was thinking I could just connect them up to a grid tie inverter and get around any battery usage?

Cheers

This is just a matter of proper terminology, but the smallest units of silicon that you see are the PV cells. The assembly may not look like any panel that you have seen, but technically it is a panel, not a cell.
Note, however, that if the small pieces are indeed crystaline silicon, then the total voltage will be .5V times the total number of cells.
So, I suspect that either your count is very far off or the cells are not in fact silicon chemistry.

You will not find any GTI which is UL approved and legal for use in the US that will work with anything less than 100W of PV, probably a lot more.
A microinverter will work with those power levels, but will not safely handle the 100V open circuit voltage.

Have you measured the current and voltage of your panels with a load that draws about .2 amps at 50 volts?