Are AC Solar Panels Wave of Future?
Saturday, January 29th, 2011New Concept in AC Solar Panels Joins DC Panel and Microinverters
New technology compels us to consider AC Solar Panels
As with all electronics over time, we get more for less in smaller and smaller packaging. Most of the same rules of electronic components apply to solar technology, since the better part of a grid-tied solar PV system is electronics.
Conventionally engineered solar PV systems use strings of large solar panels hooked in series to combine the low wattage in each panel and group a large flow of direct current (DC) electricity which is routed in DC form to a large inverter, which converts all the DC electricity from the solar strings into alternating current (AC) electricity, the type we use in our homes and offices.
You will find that the inverters are simply computer components, and the major reason solar companies are gaining the same economies of scale as occurs in computer technology. Several inverter manufacturers have released what is referred to as a micro inverter, an inverter that works with just one solar panel, instead of a large strings of modules wired together into an array.
Todays latest technology gives us solar modules and micro-inverters such as the Enphase Micro Inverter. The next logical step would be to combine these two discreet components into a single component, and thus the AC solar panel was invented. And with AC solar modules comes the ease of buying modules as needed and hooking them up yourself.
AC panels, or DC panels and micro-inverters have several advantages over engineered solar PV systems. For one thing, much less math is required, now that you do not have to calculate string size of panels to leg of electricity inside the inverter. You know that hurt to read. Think how difficult it certainly is to do. What it means that solar has moved into the control of the masses, to something the average DIYer can do over a weekend at home.
Another big advantage has to do with shading. In current large system design, if a couple modules in a string are in the shade, or parts of more than a couple modules are not in the sun, the array may not generate enough power to drive the inverter, which might lead to little or no electricity being created by the solar, even if some of the array are not shaded. With AC solar panels having their own micro inverter built in, if the panel is in the sun, it is generating electricity, even if the modules on either side of it are blocked from the sun. Over time, this can significantly increase the amount of power from your solar electric system.
If you are looking for an RV Solar Solution or Marine Solar Packages, consider AC Solar Panels as a fast way to provide the electricity you need to those hungry appliances.
AC solar panels are simply the next logical step in solar PV systems. You gain the same advantage today combining DC solar panels with Enphase Micro inverter Technology.
