Flexible Thin Film per Watt price

[Davidjaz]

I purchased these off Craigs List a couple years ago but just got a chance to hook them up. Apparently they had been used for about a year and were in almost new condition. They look pretty much new to me. I wish I could remember the installer I purchased them from. Anyhow, I considered that the panels could be bad, but the fact that they all put out the voltage spec and all work consistently make me think I am missing something. It is almost like the are grounding out when a load is applied, but I can't find any way that could be happening. They are just laminated glass panels without a frame of any type. I placed them is a custom welded steel frame and mounted/insulated them with foam tape. The installation is a 6 x 12 ft frame I mounted onto an industrial flatbed golf cart that I can drive around as a mobile power source. It has a 240V split phase inverter to run my welder and power tools.

[littleharbor]

So there's no voltage issue, being you are using an MPPT controller. I've never used thin film so don't have any hands on experience with any particular characteristics of them.
Definitely going to follow this thread to see how it plays out.

[Davidjaz]

I am using a a Midnight Solar "Kid" Controller. MPPT with a 48 V Battery system. I have put together a few systems in the past and never had a problem, however, this is my first time using the Cadmium type panels. The batteries are gel cell type.

David

[littleharbor]

What charge controller are you using?
Thin film panels can be high voltage / low amperage. If you connected these panels to a PWM controller you are going to get the very low current and the voltage will get drug down to the battery voltage.

[Davidjaz]

For some reason, I can't figure out how to start a new thread, so I am posting here.

I have about a dozen Cadmium telluride solar panels. When they are in the sun, the voltage on all of them are to spec at no load. When I hook them to a charge controller, the voltage drops below the minimum charge voltage within a couple seconds. The voltage should be around 100V and it drops to 50 or less as soon at it tries to pull a load. The most I have pulled from a 800W array is about 2 watts, If I use another type of panel, the system works fine. Do these panels require something special for wiring besides just hooking them up to a charge controller? I have 3 banks of panels, and the all act the same. This is an off grid system in the Arizona Desert. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

David

[SunEagle]

But there are serious doubts about how well those panels maintain their output over time. And Cd is extremely toxic, so disposal of the panels is a problem.

Yep. But there will be MW of them across the southwest and other countries arranged in very large solar arrays.

Maybe we can bury them next to the spent fuel rods when they stop producing.

[inetdog]

Maybe the old version of the thin film. But there is a type call Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) made by First Solar which is actually cheaper then a mono-crystalline silicon cell panel. While the efficiency is around 16.5% the panel size based on wattage is close to the poly-crystalline pv panel.

But there are serious doubts about how well those panels maintain their output over time. And Cd is extremely toxic, so disposal of the panels is a problem.

[SunEagle]

Generally more importantly, What is the energy density of thin film, as most people do not have enough roof space for a thin film PV system. I could be wrong, But as I recall, thin film requires 2 to 3 times the surface area as conventional solar panels.

Maybe the old version of the thin film. But there is a type call Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) made by First Solar which is actually cheaper then a mono-crystalline silicon cell panel. While the efficiency is around 16.5% the panel size based on wattage is close to the poly-crystalline pv panel.

[Logan005]

Generally more importantly, What is the energy density of thin film, as most people do not have enough roof space for a thin film PV system. I could be wrong, But as I recall, thin film requires 2 to 3 times the surface area as conventional solar panels.

[TzehWei]

Helli everyone, I have been looking at flexible thin film and it has actually drag my attention from other kind of pv module.

Do you guys have any idea for how much the flexible thin film pv module per watt?

Thanks a lot!