Does it matter about the effiency of a solar panel? Today at best a solar panel is 20% effiency. Would a solar panel that is 40% effiency be better for everyone? Also what if the solar panel worked in low light conditions. In other words if it produced electric power during low light conditions. These are questions that I think is important to the future of solar PV.
Solar Panel Effiency
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Sure it matters, but until improvements are made in the chemical structure of the base material, we're stuck at 12-16%. (who is advertising 20% ??) Power at low light would always be good too, but without a quantum improvement, it's not there. (Mirrors and reflectors are NOT improvements, they are ad-ons)Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister -
Cost per watt. That is the main thing people look at and for most, the only thing they look at.Ken
Telford,Pa
Homepage: [url]http://home.comcast.net/~n3qik[/url]
[B]Updated 6-7-2009[/B]Comment
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Does it matter about the effiency of a solar panel? Today at best a solar panel is 20% effiency. Would a solar panel that is 40% effiency be better for everyone? Also what if the solar panel worked in low light conditions. In other words if it produced electric power during low light conditions. These are questions that I think is important to the future of solar PV.
For solar power plant, it makes sense to use higher eff. solar modules, because this type of module will save your cost for the ground.
40% eff. is just CPV type modules. This type modules will be a good future. But we do not know what will happen because the silicon price low down so much now.Comment
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Sure it matters, but until improvements are made in the chemical structure of the base material, we're stuck at 12-16%. (who is advertising 20% ??) Power at low light would always be good too, but without a quantum improvement, it's not there. (Mirrors and reflectors are NOT improvements, they are ad-ons)Comment
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I see the new Sanyo HIT 200 claims
Module Efficiency: 17.2%
Cell Efficiency: 19.7%
Power Output: 200 Watts
Watts per Ft.2 16.0
Dimensions LxWxH 51.9x34.6x1.8 in. (1319x880x46mm)
20 yr warranty
Evergreen, for a same size 200W panel (25 yr warranty)
lists no efficiency numbers, but that can be implied by it's dimensions
Dimensions LxWxH 65.0x37.5 compared to Sanyo:
Dimensions LxWxH 51.9x34.6
for that size, Sanyo does have an advantage.
Well, I guess we'll see how they do. I wasn't aware of them till now.Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-ListerComment
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Getting a more efficient module might actually end up costing the same or slightly more expensive than a lesser efficient module, specially if you have limited square area to layout your panels. It seems that Evergreen has an efficiency rating of 12.74% compared Sanyo's 17.1% based on this 2 examples. I suggest paying attention more on the PTC rating than STC since this is closer to realistic power production on the panel. This also affects actual EPBB rebate where efficiency of your system is based on.
I actually found that Sunpower is comparable to Sanyo. They also have other higher end models, which of course are more costly. I found this 2 models (sunpower) Im considering because of its efficiency and my limited space.
225W = 18.15% eff (225W/ 1.24m^2)
230W = 18.55% eff (230W/ 1.24m^2)Comment
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