Solar panel cleaning has become a sector in itself. Solar panels are cleaned with different cleaning tools (sometimes with brushes, sometimes with cleaning robots). So how much difference does solar panel cleaning make? We clean one of the solar panels (with the same power and the same conditions) that make up our fences and compare it with the dirty solar panel. It is absolutely necessary to say the following detail about panel cleaning; solar panel cleaning is not only done to increase production, but also to extend the life of the panel.
We have heard more about different cell technologies in solar panel technology. In the past, it was also easy to explain that there was a poly and a mono. At the point we have reached today, we are talking about TOPCon and HJT cell technologies. The main reason for the change is “efficiency”, continuous studies are being carried out to produce the maximum power that can be produced in a unit area. In fact, in this video, I would like to talk about a point that is overlooked or not very much voiced. The half cut mono perc panels that we are actively using now can actually make serious contributions to electricity generation from the back side. 3-5 years ago, we used to see that the back surfaces of the panels produced were completely covered with a white material. Now the back surface is quite similar to the front surface. So in this case, does the solar panel produce in reverse? In this video, using a micro inverter, we looked at how much electricity it produces from the front surface under the same conditions, and we turned the back surface and presented it to you in a simple way whether there is really a considerable production. The solar panel produces in reverse and the results will surprise you.
how much energy can a solar panel generate from its back surface
In this article and youtube video content show you , how effects cleaning on solar panels.. This is a real example done in İstanbul / Turkey and we have two different solar panel types. One type is LG Brand LG330N1C-A5 model 330 Wp 2 pcs solar panels. And the other type is Panasonic HIT VBHN325SJ47 model 325 Wp 2 pcs solar panels. I took all the values from the server of my solar inverter and arrange them into excel ( you will also see this values) and see how effects dusts on solar panel negative way.
what is the difference between dusty and clean solar panel
We observed the values for four days ( all dusty) and the end of week we start cleaning ( only 2 ) . The last day we clean all the solar panels on the roof .
Realise this test at the end of august 2019 and we cleaned up 2 solar panels ( one LG one Panasonic) the other 2 remaining in dust
two panels will cleaned (1 LG 1 Panasonic)
What Values say about cleaining solar panels
First period 25-28 August ( 4 days) solar panel was in standart conditions no cleaned. Power production shown below 2 LG panel and what they produced one by one..
For example left corner located LG 330 Wp produced 1,79 kWh energy at 25.08.2019 same day next to other LG in the corner produced 1,76 kWh energy
Weather was not always same during this test..
29.day of August I cleaned one LG and one Panasonic. The number changed ( you can see 5. Row at the table ) Negative numbers goes to positive this day.
The last day I cleaned all the solar panel…
more technical detail shown in youtube video at the end
Date LG 330Wp (Wh) LG 330Wp (Wh) % change
25.08.2019 1798 1768,5 -1,64%
26.08.2019 1955 1936,25 -0,96%
27.08.2019 1818,75 1793 -1,42%
28.08.2019 1914,25 1888,25 -1,36%
29.08.2019 1268,25 1292,75 1,93%
30.08.2019 1611,75 1606,25 -0,34%
How effects cleaning on solar panels
For sure that effect positively but the differences not so big values , if possible cleaning increase your production but not clean every day 😊
In this article you will see the real values of a residential rooftop solar sistem with different technologies solar panel comparison. Which is better 4 busbar monocrystalline or 5 busbar polycrystalline ? Our solar test system ( it is also real system that sell electricity ) is 6 kW rated power 3 kw of it is string inverter and the other part is solaredge optimizer installed. We have different kind of solar panels such as 4 busbar monocrystalline solar panels , 5 busbar polycrystalline solar panels , Panasonic brand HIT panels , LG brand N-type mono crystalline solar panels in a row, solar system located in İstanbul / Turkei. Real performance values show us same brand mono and poly panels how react at same rooftop conditions.
With solaredge optimiser solution make it real and you can
add different panel Technologies and different watts solar panels in the same
string . Every optimiser try to find maksimum power of the solar panel and
distribute power to the inverter. In our system (3 kw solaredge ) we have 11
solar panels 4 of them 5BB ( busbar ) 275 Wp polycrystalline and 2 of them 4BB
( Busbar) 275 Wp monocrystalline solar panels.
Performance solar panel comparison
System located in İstanbul and starts to producing enery at 10
August 2019 . I will show you today’s comparison and 15 days total comparison values
of pv panels.
You can see below half day production value and each solar panel energy productions.
this image show 4 bb monocrystalline solar panel and 5bb polycrystalline solar panel production performance comparison
You can see 15 days total production values of each solar panel energy productions
Conclusion
15 day total energy production comparison 4BB mono vs 5 BB poly solar panels
Energy production values can be change , all pv panels not producing exactly the same values . even same technology solar panels with same label on them , can be able to produce differently. That makes a disadvantage for string inverter we call it (mismatch losses ) . There is no bad product among the solar products . Every single product have pros and cons . Which one fit for your Project . it is the best for you
Greeting from İstanbul. After a long period of paper work for approval process of my residential solar system( it’s little bit difficult to get approval from utility for residential solar system in Turkey) finally we done and now produce energy from sunshine and sell surplus energy to utility. in our 3 kW inverter system we have 2 pcs inverters , one of them is string inverter (3kw ac,rated ) and second inverter is designed with optimizers. İn total we have 6 kw Ac,rated capacity with 22 pcs solar panels. More information will be here later
3 kw inverter energy production comparison cloudy day vs sunny day
Solar system is very new so I share a pick production value recorded in last week. 13 August 2019 sunny day in İstanbul 3 kw inverter produces 21,03 kWp energy. In general we can consider a standart house consumption around 6-8 kWp and 21,03 is a good value. This value is a pick value of our system within 10 days. For sure production will change , it depends conditions of weather , component efficiency , monthly changes etc..
3 kW inverter sunny day production value
What about production in cloudy day ?
Cloudy day prevent to make a production record but solar system is still producing energy. Not become zero. 15 August 2019 production value establishes what I wrote. Two days before there was a record 21,03 but today we only produced 8,03kWp. This is a normal situation if conditions change production can be decrease.
3 kw inverter cloudy day production
Make a prediction possible about production ?
Yes it’s easy to predict weekly ,montly or yearly kWh of solar energy. So it’s not unknown value , there are solar softwares on internet ( most of them work online -no need to download) they say the prediction of your solar energy system
Result
Building up a Clean energy source at roof and monitoring it , selling surplus energy to utility and help your country electricity production as a producer is a pleasure ! I wish everybody meet at least small solar system as soon as possible at their residential homes.
Most of the PV power plant designed fixed type of installation. On the other hand, it’s also possible to produce more energy with the same quantity pv panels and inverters. Tracker systems are the alternative of standard installation with a different variety. Necessary equipments are mechanic construction(moving parts) and software. being aware of the pros and cons of installation before the investment. You can see Solar PV Tracker vs fixed comparison and real values from Turkiye
Possible types of installation can be shown on the Picture. Only X axis tracker , only y axis tracker ,xy dual axis tracker and azimuth tracker systems.During the design consider, tracker system has higher initial investment cost than non-tracking system and maintenance cost.The biggest advantage is producing more energy in the same area.Tracker system designer says that up to %30 more energy is possible.
Is there any low-cost
alternatives ?
The answer is yes. Want to design a solar system not so much
expensive (tracker) and more production than non-tracker system. İn this case
designing a system that construction with manual adjustment two times (summer
,winter ) or four times (seasonal) in a year. The result ;
1. produce more energy than non-tracking system
2.less initial investment cost than tracker system
3. less maintenance cost
A negative thing is necessary to go up to the roof two or
four times and adjust the construction to the right tilt angle because of the
coming irradiation angles from the sun changes winter time and summer time.
Such as in winter changes construction to a vertical angle ,production will
increase on the other hand in summer change construction to more horizontal
angle production will increase as well. The angles for winter and summer can be
changed depending on the location of installation.
Solar systems production comparison
The graph shows us, one kilowatt of solar system located in Los Angeles California simulated solar energy production blue color defined no tracking flat ,Brown no tracking tilted east, maroon no tracking tilted West, dark blue no tracking tilted South and yellow color dual axis tracker system.
simulation about solar system production comparison
As a result
there are many types of photovoltaic system installations. Considering pros and cons especially for tracking designs after sales services is more important and should have a detailed contract with a service provider which is solution based companies.
update 17.11.2022
we visited a power plant in Şanlıurfa/Turkiye it has 4 MW glass glass monofacial and 1 MW glass glass bifacial solar panels and got yearly data. we also share excel file about energy production comparison. A short summary : bifacial solar power plant produced %11-12 more energy at the same area located monofacial solar panels. https://keremcilli.com/gtc-bifacial-mono-panel-saha-karsilastirmasi/
you can see the power plant @technicall_tr youtube channel. all details are in link above
Nowadays Digitalization of Energy is one of the most popular topic ,energy efficiency as well. Technological developments should be implement to electricity distribution line as fast as possible. That will prepare a part of new genaration energy management substructure. After that revolution may be we use kwh (electricity) instead of Euro / Dollar. Please read article and comment Euro / Dollar vs Kwh ? what do you thing ?
Technology development is very fast , please compare mobile phones , laptops , televisions or etc developments 10 years before and now .All of these are become more fast , more compact , more energetic, but our electricity ,distribution lines still same . if any problem occur , electricity shut down in wide scope .The situation was the same 10 -20 years ago and nowadays ! These days digitalization (next generation smart grids) should take over the system from the old fasion grids.I guess your heard the digital currency bitcoin and the others . They become most popular in a short period because of the decentralize management of the currency, digital (next generation) and producible as well. But digital currency spends vast amount of energy during the production! Energy production is one of the important topic for the World.
As you know international reserve currency US Dollar and Euro (€) powerful as well. Most of the people around the World know this currency , and most of them trust Euro and dollar currency. Recognition is the key point , such as you trip abroad ; when you be hungry and you see same brand restaurant seems like in your country, subconsciously you want to walk into that restaurant right ?( at least for the first time 🙂
that article help to choose which one is the best for you
On the other hand please compare Euro/dolar vs Electricity( kwh) recognition way. One of the most known thing around the World and Electricity distrubition lines , control centers all of them are modernise within digital revolution, power lines will be two ways systems. You will not be only consumer(one way scenario). Your role will change to “prosumer” (two ways scenario, you become consumer and producer for electricity) Electricity production will be change from centralized to decentralized as well . That means small power plants in everywhere ( your home roof , your school roof, your restaurant, car park etc.) reinforced energy production with storage systems at homes(residential) and industrial scale that make our grid more efficient ,stabile, and reliable, less grid shut down cases as well.
Finally
Your role will be “prosumer” and your neighbours are prosumer your town and city and country.that makes everybody possible get electricity from grid also feed into the grid. In this scenario why not paying with “kwh” ! bread 4kwh , tomato 3 kwh , laptop 4000 kwh and so on …
Solar Energy systems began with big scale solar power plants
in Turkey, nowadays times to industrial solar system and after that residential
solar system will be more popular.Especially in 2019 method of calculation energy probably changes that gives more advantage for industrial self
consumption power plants. That also effect on residential solar plants.(up to 10
kw self consumption and sell possible surplus energy) on the other hand there
are off-grid solar systems with battery units ,small pv panels ,inverters also mountaineer
using for emergency energy devices with solar.This market already started and
potantial sells are very much. First time customers who met with solar devices , b grade c grade panels or less quality inverters make customers not satisfied about the topic. This is the starting point of risks for residential solar systems for Turkey.
cheap equipments future perception should be like that above
Technicall call center nowadays has many phone calls from complainant
customers . most of the sentences such as “ I can not reach after sales support”
, “ solar batteries performance are too low” , “ can you come and fix our
problems” etc. There are many unfair companies they only focused only sell solar
panels or inverters. After sales topics always important but not valuable by unfair
sellers.
Guarantee topic totally different article topic
There are many photovoltaic panel producers that make their
job with more passion more reliable but some of them not good. Photovoltaic systems
with noname brands and cheap equipments always problem occur possible. Customers
also do not know their rights about electronic devices. Technicall always try
to explain importance of aftersales services for the customer satisfactory.
As a result
Residential solar power plants not started yet (up to 10 kw ) but small solar energy already started. Sellers should be more care about costumer satisfactory. After sales service is the important thing. Sell and service are a team (defence and striker) they should be in a balance. Only sell oriented companies should damage customer perception for future investment.
Nowadays (same as before) energy requirement increase and renewable energy sources take more share at total energy production. Solar Energy goes to level 5GW in Turkey and still continue to grow up with new 1GW YEKA (renewable energy source areas) tender and possible to take more share from total energy production. On the other hand residential solar market still pending for big attack as well. Expectations are regulations about documentation become less, investment costs decrease, incentives about residential installations should create a big market for small investors, for sure other topics effect for investment such as electric and gas bills rise. A totally different perspective that every house produce their own electricity and contribute energy requirements of the country, give happiness and pleasure to homeowners.
Solar sector focused topic have changed by term.At the beginning space Technologies and durability was the main focused causes so P type solar cells became a standard.At the same way initial system voltage was 600V DC afterward 1000V DC. For sure system design voltage shoul act together solar panel and inverter producers.
Energy efficiency is one of the most important topics that who has limited energy sources and need a lot of energy. N-type solar cells become more popular because of the efficiency subject. Production more energy in a small area important topic of R&D. The idea is the 1500V DC standard based on efficiency. This up limit becomes a new industry standard and provides more efficient and profitable. It is possible to make long strings and less cabling, junction boxes and less inverter necessary for commissioning. For sure not design 1500V systems with solar panels which write 1000V DC on their labels. Same rule for inverter side, be aware to design 1500V DC systems with compatible inverters only. It is not so difficult to find 1500V DC products on the market. In the past 1500V systems known as more efficient than 600V but every term has own Dynamics so high voltage take over the standard at the moment. During the purchase 1500 V DC compatibility will become required criteria.
As a result,
observation before the investment being aware of new future industrial standard. For sure 1000 V DC system will not be discontinued suddenly. It will also be an alternative to design a system.
Solar panels that we used almost whole in recent past designed with P type (poly) cells. İt’s easy to understand Google search , why we used P type ? the Summary is ; easy production and especially space application needed P type cells benefits and stability for sure industry proceed the same way. Developing technology supply with new requirements of P type cells. Efficiency topic is popular nowadays, that means priorities have changed and P type, N type mono cells market shares keep rising. this article explain that Efficiency of the fotovoltaic cells (N type cells become popular)
Graph below shows that forecast which is explained above for fotovoltaic cell wafers , for more details observe ITRPV (International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic) report.
wafer_types_forecast
Energy efficiency more important when you have limited energy sources. In the beginning, new generation solar energy systems especially residential and industrial roofs investment cost little bit much more but these systems should be more efficient in total lifelong. For sure new Technologies are expensive but waiting for cheaper prices should be handicap
Why Pick N type cell ?
It guarantee more performance ; high efficiency cell. Temperature coefficient value is low thus produce much more energy during high ambient temperature conditions. Less area need (comparison conventional solar panels). Bifacial N type has better performance as well. PID effect is not a problem for N type cells. Conventional panels have production losses around %0.7-0.8 annual but N type is around %0.2-0.3 annual that means after many years still produce more output power.
On the other hand high investment cost of panels ,modified regulations that steer self consumption , take long time paper works effect on your choice.
Deciding investment price/performance ratio is the most important topic . Lots of EPC companies can easily create forecasts for production comparison between N type and P type solar panels.
