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What is PV?
PV, short for photovoltaic
• PV panels are tempered glass covered silicon crystalline cells that generate DC electricity when the photons from the sun
fall on the crystals.
• They come in three variants, Poly crystalline, Mono crystalline and amorphous.
• The first two types are very similar and where mono used to be more expensive, this is no longer the case.
• Amorphous is a “crushed version” of silicon crystal
• Amorphous panels are considerably larger per watt and have a shorter life span than crystalline panels. So we will concentrate on the more efficient panels.
How does a PV panel Produce electricity?
The mono or poly crystalline panels are made up of a number of 0.6volt cells connected in series to supply between 17.6 volts and 60 volts per panel. They have typical efficiencies of around 14 to 16 % for a given size of panel. The higher the panel efficiency the less amount of space the panels take
What affects the output of a Solar PV Panel?
- The amount of sunlight
- Cloud cover; you still get an output from a panel under cloudy conditions.
- Air pollution.
- Shading of the panels. Shade just one cell on a panel and the panel’s output drops of to almost zero.
- The direction the panel faces and the angle of the panel.
- Temperature of panel.
Typical PV panel specifications
Cell Monocrystalline silicon solar cells
Cell Efficiency 16.8%
No. of cells and connections 96(8*12)
Dimension of module (mm) 1580*1062*50mm
Weight 20kg
Limits
Operating temperature -40 to+85 °C
Maximum system voltage 1000 V DC
Temperature and Coefficients
Nominal Operation Cell Temperature 48°C±2°C
Current temperature coefficient ( %/k) 0.06± 0.01
Voltage temperature coefficient ( mV/k) -(155±10)
Power temperature coefficient ( %/k) -(0.5±0.05 )
Characteristics
Model Sol 240-96M
Model Efficiency 14.3%
Tolerance -1~+3%
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 59.5V
Optimum operating voltage ( Vmp ) 49.4V
Short circuit Current ( Isc ) 5.23A
Optimum operating current ( Imp ) 4.84A
Maximum power at STC (Pm ) 240WP
Type of output terminal Junction Box
Type of cable LAPP (4mm²)
Lengths 900mm
Connection type IV Multi Contact
Test method according to IEC 904-1, Tolerance Efficiency