Is there interest in bi-facial high wattage panels?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by jbpatents

No back sheet. Glass-glass panels.

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Sounds heavy. Weight?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by jbpatents

Autombreeze27, we currently are not set up for individual sale we ship container - loads. Price depends on size of installation, but currently the mafket runs anywhere from about 70c for low wattage Chinese panels to about $1/W for premium panels.

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Do you resell thru anyone?

For example, Sun Electronics out of Miami does container load, pallets, or individual panels.

[skipgundlach]

I'm a bit fuzzy on the realities, but my feeble understanding is that shading a single cell in a row disables that row.

Mounting on an arch or davits ensures at least some shading, and if the bracing happened to fall across, rather than vertically, on the panel, all are lost?

[mcmccomb]

i would be interested.... i take it that the panels are built so as to only require edge support? wish you had an offering to the market....

[rumiko dan]

When you say you only do large wattage panels, it raises the issue of space for me. On our boat there is limited area for panels, and especially if we were to use double-sided. If a panel is too large, both dimensionally as well as weight, we would be unable to use it. For current models about 140w is tops for us. Just another consideration should you proceed.

[Badco_67]

Out of general interest in solor tech. I've been following the work a different S/U company has been doing, Semprius. Pretty impressive performance improvements, but not really for small scale use either.

Performance - Semprius

[easindownthroad]

Originally Posted by Badco_67

Out of general interest in solor tech. I've been following the work a different S/U company has been doing, Semprius. Pretty impressive performance improvements, but not really for small scale use either.

Performance - Semprius

Solar tracking is expensive, would add weight & require more space.

[FilBrown]

I'd be interested in double sided panels as a replacement for the dodgers on either side of the cockpit.
They would have to be hung vertically, be able to withstand a bit of wind, possibly a little flexing and salt water.
Obviously they won't generate a lot while sailing directly towards or away from the sun but they should work ok beam on.

[thetopfiddler]

Hi JBpatents.... Id be very interested in your panel technology....and wonder if you have panels in the 2x4' range...? That'd sure be nice....then i would need a regulator and better chg. Controller.... And are there any bi-facial panels near Channel Islands and Oxnard Ca area?that I might see for my own ideas?

[jbpatents]

FilBrown that's an interesting idea. Our intsllations in Antarctica and in deserts are vertical. Check this one. http://www.solarcurator.com/2014/02/...module-dreams/
The panels will be mounted vertically, covering the two round towers.

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[bcboomer]

Too bad they are not available. I'm in the process of designing/sourcing/building a solar bimini and 6.5 feet by 8.5 feet putting out 1000 watts sounds great. If you need a guinea pig pick me!
Seriously though, how much do they weigh?

[exnatalia]

Yes and yes again. As a blue water cruiser would be really interested in such panels

[roverhi]

What are the dimensions of your panels?? For rail mounting, a 140 watt Kyocera Panel is as large as we could mount and probably for most boats as well. They are something like 60" x 27". A slightly smaller panel 4'x 2' would be a better size to fit more boats. Had to extend the pushpit to fit the panels and they stick out when deployed. The panels are mounted long axis on the rail and pivot outward when deployed. Store them vertical in harbor for fear the boats on either side will bang into them or use them to push off. Anything that could make panels generate more power for less Realestate would be a big plus on most boats.

What is your minimum order in number of panels?? If there was enough interest, either a group could be formed or an enterprising retailer could buy them and split them up

[jbpatents]

Thank you very much everybody. You got me thinking and doing some preliminary work. Initially i should explain the bi-facial and rating. When we test our panels at the factory and when third parties test our panels for certification we all put a back sheet to block any boost from the back. This provides a one to one comparison to other panels that dont have bi-facial. So the bi-facial is a boost bonus. Here's what I have for comparison. Our GxB300SL is rated 300W. I estimate at least 15% boost on boat, so probably get about 345W. It is 166cm x 99cm and 18kg. Thermal coefficient is -0.28%/C. Trina Honey 250 is rated 250W no boost. It is 165cm x 99cm and 19.5kg. Tc -0.41%/C (you lose more power as temp go up). Kyocera KD140GX is 140W no boost. 150cm x 67cm and 12.9kg. Tc -0.46%/C. So even two Kyocera panels will give you less power than one GxB300SL even before factoring boost. Trina is closest in terms of size and weight, but provided less power and no boost.

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[nimblemotors]

In regards to shading, the highest flowing 'faucet' with both sides generating would be limited to the weakest 'faucet'. So while having two faucets can increase peak flow, shading on both sides doubles the ability to shade out the flow. My guess is you don't have many by-pass diodes in these panels if your market is large solar grid arrays, as they don't really need them, except for damage prevention.

Well, we are lining up a group buy of a container full already, even though you haven't even told us what specs, what price, what weight, what size, etc.


Sailboats are a microscopic market compared to grid arrays,
unless you are looking to supply solar-powered boats, of which this group here consistently say that is a stupid idea. But you can sponsor my boat
although the weight looks like a no-go for 5kw.

Originally Posted by jbpatents

Nimblemotor, you are right on weight. We have one line called SL which uses treated 2mm glass, so it helps. On shading, you can think about it this way: a shaded cell is like someone turning off the faucet resisting current flow through it. However, with bi-facial if that cell is illuminated from the back it's like someone opening back the faucet, at least some so current resistance is lower. Note that bi-facial means the cell itself is bi-facial. It's not two cells back to back.

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