PV laminate

[ncgator]

Well, I have been reading through alot of information on the public side of the forums and I have soooo many ideas for when we finally start planning our home after we attend the class in Nov. One area that I have become interested in is alternative power and reducing our energy consumption so that we can decide if we want to be "off grid" or not. I know that it is not overly difficult to build your own solar panels using blemished PV cells if you have some solding skill. My question though is about PV laminate. Has anyone used PV laminate in a home? If so, do they work as advertized in low light situations (i.e they can continue to generate power throughout the entire day and in overcast conditions)? Could the PV laminates be mixed with crystalline PV panels in a solar system? I'm just in the brainstorming stage so any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

Jim

[ncgator]

LOL, apparently I have soldering skills, but not spelling skills:)

[blane]

I suffer the same plyte or is that plight:). Go to providencelodge.blogspot.com Brian Primmer and his family are totaly off grid and living in an LHBA home and may be able to help you.
LOL, apparently I have soldering skills, but not spelling skills:)

[rreidnauer]

"PV Laminate" is amorphous, or thin-film panel technology, without the framework. I know there is only so much energy for a given light intensity, so there is no way around that. In comparison to mono- and poly-crystalline panels, price per watt is pretty much a wash now-a-days, but they might have the better power drop curve in lower light conditions, however they do have a lower efficiency in full sunlight. (half or less efficient) They might be advantageous in areas with more overcast weather. Amorphous collectors like these frameless laminates do have the advantage of being able to be blended into your home. I've seen them made to look just like three-tab roofing shingles. Longevity is the other concern, since the technology is relatively new and not age proven yet. Additionally, they may get a bad rap, since early amorphous panels were being built quite poorly, back when they were being produced for way less than monos and polys.

On building your own silicon panels, I'm not a real fan, not because it can't be done, but rather getting reliable longevity out of them. It can be a real pain trying to keep moisture from ruining them. But if one is building them cheap enough, I guess it can be worth the additional hassles.

[ncgator]

Blane thanks for the link, I will drop Brian a line.

Rod, the drop in costs is what has got me thinking about a system that incorporates both amorphous and crystalline panels. I see a couple of benefits:
1. The obvious aesthetics of being able to blend the laminates with the roof and reduce the number of visible crystalline panels near the house.
2. The ability to generate power in both high and low light conditions (western NC has some of both throughout the year)
3. The challenge to me of building a reliable system using the currently available technologies (and trying to keep the costs reasonable).
This all being said, I will most likely have some time to really work through all of this in my head since building the home will take priority over my desire to cut the big electric umbilical in the short term.
Are there any big obstacles that you can think of in combining amorphous solar and crystalline solar into a system.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[rreidnauer]

Hey Jim,

The only thing I think I might do, is use separate charge controllers for the differing types of panels. If all the panels were tied together you might get some efficiency losses. BTW, MPPT type charge controllers are your friend. They'll really help squeeze every available watt out of those panels in varying conditions.

Oh, since I previously brought up efficiency, unless space is a real problem, don't worry too much about panel efficiency. All panel efficiency means is the amount of area required to extract a certain amount of energy. Simply put, a more efficient panel compared to a less efficient counterpart of equal watts, is merely going to be smaller in size. All that really matters is getting the number of watts you seek. (again, as long as space restriction isn't an issue)



Tell ya, I'd really love to see a side by side comparison of equally sized crystalline and amorphous arrays, and see what kind of power comes out of each during varying conditions.

[ncgator]

Hmmm, that sounds like my kind of project. I can put one array (amorphous) on the house and one (crystalline) on the horse barn and tie the two systems together. Now I need to figure the size of the arrays for the estimated usage which is a bit of witchdoctoring since we dont have the structures built and we dont really know how low we can get our consumption number (efficiency of the structures, appliances etc)

Thanks for the input Rod.

Jim

[rreidnauer]

If you do go through with this experiment, don't be surprised if you see the amorphous panels greatly out producing the crystalline counterparts at first. From what I've read, they may produce in excess of their rated power for the first several months, but settle in thereafter.

I recently came across this article, describing panel degradation. It's good reading, especially for those thinking of building their own panels, as well as those deciding between cheap or reputable amorphous panel manufactures.
http://photovoltaics.sandia.gov/docs/PDF/IEEE%20Quintana.pdf