Okay! So cloudy days really suck for amorphous solar panels! The peak amps I saw were about 3.2 and not for very long. The average was just over 1.4A. So the realization that I will need more powerful and efficient panels hit home hard. Not to worry though it's all part of my learning experience. With full winter sunlight at peak I will see 6.1A from the current set-up I have (photos are still coming) and average of 4.6A.
So I am looking at these systems here as an augment to what I have in place now:
170W System from Lowes - This is most likely the one I will get... when I have the $$$.
260W System from Lowes
So going back to what I said about matching your capacity to your load... guess I need to take my own advice! LOL!!! Anyhow this brings up another interesting element that needs to be covered eventually... so why not now?
Solar panels... holy crap! There are hundreds of them to choose from and they are of differing compositions! Which one to get? What wattage to get? It's enough to really drive you bonkers! So I will start by defining the types of panels available and what the pros and cons are.
From my research I have found that there are four main types of solar panels
that you can currently purchase. They
are Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline,
String Ribbon, and Amorphous.
Monocrystalline Silicon Panels - Monocrystalline (or
single-crystal) silicon solar panels are around 14% to 18% efficient. They are made from a single
continuous sheet of silicon that has pieces of metal connected to the
edges so as to increase conductivity and to assist with the excitation of electrons.
These panels are the more expensive of the panel types you can buy but they are also more
effective, so in the long run these are the best bet for a good ROI.
Polycrystalline Silicon Panels - Polycrystalline (or
multi-crystal) silicon solar panels are
about 12%-14% efficient. Essentially these are a lot of individual photo voltaic cells grouped together that also use metal conducting materials connected to the sides so as to help with electron excitation as well as connect the individual cells
together.
Polycrystalline panels are the most cost effective to produce as well as the most cost effective. An added benefit is that if one of the cells on a
polycrystalline panel is damaged then you can replace the individual cell instead of the entire panel. This is one selling point of polycrystalline over monocrystaline panels.
String Ribbon Silicon Panels – String ribbon silicon panels are constructed similarly to the polycrystalline silicon panels and have generally have about the same level of efficiency The fundamental difference between string ribbon and polycrystalline is the photo voltaic cells in a string
ribbon panel are constructed of strips of silicon attached to metal bars that
connect the strips to form a cell.
By using strips of silicon to form the cell in lieu of using a solid square of silicon make the production cost of
string ribbon panels a bit lower than the production cost of
polycrystalline panels.
Amorphous Silicon Panels – Amorphous silicon panels are the least efficient of all types of solar panels. Amorphous
silicon solar panels generally run about 5%-6% efficient. This is due to the panels not being manufactured from crystalline silicon. Generally they are comprised of
a semi conductive metal, such as copper, with a thin silicon film over the
top that is attached to some metal connecting pieces.
These are the least expensive panels to manufacture and they are great for small short term projects. But their inefficiency does not make them a cost effective long term solution for solar applications.
So there now you have a bit more insight to various solar panels. Again I have a base system that is using the amorphous technology, and I knew getting into it that it will be a short term set-up. I also knew that it was the least efficient. But by starting small and inexpensive I have been learning a lot about off-grid solar power.
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