Solar Panels: What I can tell you about

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

I'm glad to be helpful!

I'm preparing the next chapter, stay tuned!

[Chotu]

How bad is this?

A solar panel company in Miami called Sun Electronics sold me this and didn't honor their mistake.

I feel like they did it on purpose. In fact, they wouldn't even answer my inquiries regarding the panel.

How much power am I losing from this broken panel?

I have 2 110 watt panels in series with an 80amp outback MPPT controller.

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

Bad it's bad...
But you are not loosing much..If it is a 156x156 2/4W if its' a 126x126 cell 1/2 W ..But the loss of power is the least of your problems mate.



If that panel goes partially in shadow on that cell, you will have the phenomenon of hot-spot on the broken part and the panel can catch fire.



Fortunately for you, if they have used appropriate encapsulants it will not make a flame but a lot of heat ruining the guest's surface


That is a traditional (inexpensive) cell that has been misused for a flexible panel.

[Chotu]

Wow. I didn't realize that! Thank you for the advice. This is an extreme closeup, so it's a rigid panel and I forgot what I ordered as well. I'm away from the boat for the season.

It is a set of the full size 240 watt panels. No idea why I put 110.

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

NEW CHAPTER: Encapsulants and contact between the cells

One of the main criticisms of photovoltaic panels is the type of contact between the cells and the type of encapsulant used.

The encapsulant is the material (usually a thermoplastic) that is cast in the rolling phase, becoming the true glue between the various layers forming the body of the panels (Front sheet, cells, back sheet).
Like any product, there are several depending on your needs. In the photovoltaic field, the most used is the EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) is a copolymer plastic material of ethylene and vinyl acetate.
In the production of photovoltaic solar panels, EVA sheets are used to seal everything. The cells, assembled in strings and connected in series, are enclosed between two sheets of EVA to form a sort of sandwich; then the photovoltaic solar panel, still divided into many layers: Glass + EVA + cells + EVA + Back sheet, is subjected to a thermal vacuum process, called lamination, which brings the EVA at temperatures above 150 ° C for times of about 10 minutes, it allows the polymerization of EVA and encapsulates and isolates everything from the air, thus ensuring a very long lifetime.

This material is very inexpensive and is good for framed panels because its biggest problem is that it's its moisture barrier is very low. It follows that without a protective barrier given by the frame the humidity penetrates creating two long-standing problems - especially in the inexpensive semi-flexible solar panels - the delamination and oxidation of photovoltaic cells.

This does not happen in traditional framed panels because the layer of silicone placed between the panel and the frame creates the barrier to the necessary humidity, but it is true that if the frame suffers impacts, the silicone base can compromise itself, causing the humidity can enter.

Another thing instead, is the encapsulants derived from polyolefins (PO and its derivatives) of which the most common is polyoxyethylene (POE), a polymer prepared by polymerization of ethylene oxide.



This type of encapsulant has mechanical characteristics superior to EVA but above all it provides a barrier to moisture far by far allowing the creation of glass-glass or semi-flexible panels, completely eliminating the problem of delamination from moisture infiltration.

This product is also used by some manufacturers (LG for example) for the high-end product line, even for traditionally framed panels.

But where is the substantial difference besides the technical qualities? The price.
The POE encapsulant costs 10 times more than a good quality EVA encapsulant, not twice as much, but 10 times more on average. This product accounts for up to 40% of the panel cost on semi-flexible panels, more than it affects the difference between a quality cell and a low-quality cell.


Another important feature to consider when buying a panel is whether it is flexible or rigid and the contact between the cells.

Let's make a distinction, in the case of traditional panels, the presence of welds inside the panel is not usually a particular problem if the latter are carried out appropriately. This is because the panel has its own rigidity due to the tempered glass, and if it does not suffer strokes on the back (which is identical to that of a semi-flexible panel) there is no possibility of breaking the welds ( properly called contacts) between the cells.

It is also true, however, that the more welding points the more busbars are. The busbars (BB) are nothing but the "highways" in which the energy is conveyed, more BB you have less the losses because the average temperature of the cell is lowered.

Basically making a fairly trivial comparison, there are more motorways with the same traffic, and the traffic flows more smoothly without traffic jams.

Therefore every good producer tries to use cells with the greatest number of busbars (usually now from 4BB to 6BB) even if with traditional welding contact, every busbar in more involves a better panel but also higher costs because the robots must be modified performing the welds.

Instead, there are different technologies for the contact between the cells that perfectly match the semi-flexible solar panel which is called multi-wire contact. These technologies, which are called Smart-Wire, Day4 or Gwire depending on the type (and patent) are all contactless technologies. A grid of tiny silver alloy wires is created that is welded onto the cell at the time of lamination. This means that there are no welding points with material input, but that the contacts between the cells are created by a grid which becomes part of the cell itself thus eliminating the possibility of rupture in the vicinity of the welding between the cells - the part most sensitive to mechanical breakage.





These technologies then create 16 to 24 busbars for each cell, thus creating the best conditions for heat dissipation.
Furthermore, the management of microcracking is one of the main functions of this technology, especially in semi-flexible panels but also in traditional panels, they create miniscule breaks within the cell due to mechanical stress, even if only created by sudden changes in heat. These micro-breaks create greater losses with traditional welding contact because the busbar network is less distributed as shown below.

[OceanPlanet]

This is why we got Solbian to add the "SR" line of panels, made using cells by Merlin. Merlin is a San Jose, California USA company specializing in cells that utilize a special grid on both sides of the cells to maximize current flow around any cracks while increasing the effective output. Conceptually similar to the Day4 style however more effective.

The very fine conductors on the face of the cells are actually tapered, giving the cells a distinctive look; a gentle fade from one side of the cell to the other. I think it looks pretty cool. Look closely at an SR panel and you'll see what I mean.

Solbian and Merlin are looking to collaborate further and utilize Merlin's manufacturing capability in California and India.

Best of all, soon the Solbian SR/Merlin panels will be made with a new type of HIT cells optimized by Merlin. These panels will have power efficiencies equal to or better than the SunPower Maxeon cells used in the Solbian "SP" panels.

Stay tuned...

[TheOffice]

Great info guys!

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

Originally Posted by OceanPlanet

This is why we got Solbian to add the "SR" line of panels, made using cells by Merlin. Merlin is a San Jose, California USA company specializing in cells that utilize a special grid on both sides of the cells to maximize current flow around any cracks while increasing the effective output. Conceptually similar to the Day4 style however more effective.

The very fine conductors on the face of the cells are actually tapered, giving the cells a distinctive look; a gentle fade from one side of the cell to the other. I think it looks pretty cool. Look closely at an SR panel and you'll see what I mean.

Solbian and Merlin are looking to collaborate further and utilize Merlin's manufacturing capability in California and India.

Best of all, soon the Solbian SR/Merlin panels will be made with a new type of HIT cells optimized by Merlin. These panels will have power efficiencies equal to or better than the SunPower Maxeon cells used in the Solbian "SP" panels.

Stay tuned...

Absolutely right!

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

Originally Posted by OceanPlanet

This is why we got Solbian to add the "SR" line of panels, made using cells by Merlin. Merlin is a San Jose, California USA company specializing in cells that utilize a special grid on both sides of the cells to maximize current flow around any cracks while increasing the effective output. Conceptually similar to the Day4 style however more effective.

The very fine conductors on the face of the cells are actually tapered, giving the cells a distinctive look; a gentle fade from one side of the cell to the other. I think it looks pretty cool. Look closely at an SR panel and you'll see what I mean.

Solbian and Merlin are looking to collaborate further and utilize Merlin's manufacturing capability in California and India.

Best of all, soon the Solbian SR/Merlin panels will be made with a new type of HIT cells optimized by Merlin. These panels will have power efficiencies equal to or better than the SunPower Maxeon cells used in the Solbian "SP" panels.

Stay tuned...

The HIT cells are exceptional, it seems that (rightly) Solbian is following us in this product. Our panel with double-sided cells over 23% (same power on both sides) we have already in production. I put you our first video of our first real test panel last year. 115W panel in the middle of winter in northern Italy (so not exactly optimal conditions). Simple video, just to give you feedback, thanks for your participation in the discussion!




VIDEO: https://youtu.be/wRC5fy1ykaM

[mikedefieslife]

My Fly Solartec panels are starting to have issues. On one of them the wires going into the control box on the panel seem temperamental. On both of them there are early signs of delamination.

The panels are 16months old.

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

My Fly Solartec panels are starting to have issues. On one of them the wires going into the control box on the panel seem temperamental. On both of them there are early signs of delamination.

The panels are 16months old.


Attachment 196154

Attachment 196155

Hi,
if they are 16 months they are still under warranty, don't worry! contact us on company emails or write me in private that I put you in contact with the colleague in charge!

[cj88]

Originally Posted by OceanPlanet

This is why we got Solbian to add the "SR" line of panels, made using cells by Merlin. Merlin is a San Jose, California USA company specializing in cells that utilize a special grid on both sides of the cells to maximize current flow around any cracks while increasing the effective output. Conceptually similar to the Day4 style however more effective.

The very fine conductors on the face of the cells are actually tapered, giving the cells a distinctive look; a gentle fade from one side of the cell to the other. I think it looks pretty cool. Look closely at an SR panel and you'll see what I mean.

Solbian and Merlin are looking to collaborate further and utilize Merlin's manufacturing capability in California and India.

Best of all, soon the Solbian SR/Merlin panels will be made with a new type of HIT cells optimized by Merlin. These panels will have power efficiencies equal to or better than the SunPower Maxeon cells used in the Solbian "SP" panels.

Stay tuned...

Is this the new SXX heterojunction panels?

[OceanPlanet]

Originally Posted by cj88

Is this the new SXX heterojunction panels?

I think something different. Merlin is getting the raw HIT cells from Panasonic, and applying their MST cell grids on them to get the most out of the HIT cells. The new MST grids will be similar to what you see on the Solbian "SR" series, which are using the current Merlin cells. We hope to have the first panels from San Jose for testing soon...can't wait to get them!

[cj88]

Originally Posted by FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions

So, can you direct the panel? You'll need a monocrystalline.
Is the panel flat maybe because placed on bimini? Do you have enough space? A polycrystalline will be the right choice.

You don't have much room, you should choose high-efficiency panels as Sunpower ones.

So, if the panels are placed flat on a bimini then polycrystalline would be best. Most seem to fit the largest panels they can fit in the available space I'm assuming because it works out cheaper than multiple smaller panels for the same output but is it better to use multiple smaller panels to deal with shading issues from the boom and rigging?

How soon before we see bifacial flexible panels on the market? When I first saw the rigid bifacials I thought that could be good on a boat due to the light bouncing back up under the panel from the water boosting the output further for the same available panel area. What sort of increase in output is likely?

[FLYSolartech-GiocoSolutions]

Originally Posted by cj88

So, if the panels are placed flat on a bimini then polycrystalline would be best. Most seem to fit the largest panels they can fit in the available space I'm assuming because it works out cheaper than multiple smaller panels for the same output but is it better to use multiple smaller panels to deal with shading issues from the boom and rigging?

How soon before we see bifacial flexible panels on the market? When I first saw the rigid bifacials I thought that could be good on a boat due to the light bouncing back up under the panel from the water boosting the output further for the same available panel area. What sort of increase in output is likely?

Obviously, that was a simplification, in absolute terms, yes, then it would be necessary to evaluate case by case, in case of little space and important energy consumption, the high efficiency monocrystalline is the only solution.

About our Bifacial Semi-flexible panel, I'm excited because it will be on the market next week! Pre-order will be available from next week and the first deliveries will start on August 1st!

I'll make a post if you are interested.