Pramac 115W/125W Micromorph Thinfilm PV Panels

[grevls]

Pramac 115W/125W Micromorph Thinfilm PV Panels are now available in the online shop... 

http://www.navitron.org.uk/product.php?proID=126

[smegal]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

I just had an exam question on micromorph cells. They're coming back to haunt me.

[Outtasight]

I wonder how they compare with the Sanyo HIT ones in real use.

Both are hybrid cells.  The Pramac are dual junction thin film amorphous and micro-crystal; the HIT are mono-crystals in an amorphous sandwich.

The Pramac claim to be sensitive to near IR light but the HIT work well at high temps in direct light.  On figures alone, the HIT appear the best with a cell efficiency of up to 21% and 19% module efficiency.  The Pramac are good for a thin film module at 9% module efficiency, but some way off even the common poly and mono modules that come in at about 13-14% module efficiency... 

I've seen triple junction thin film modules that supposed to be good, but aren't sensitive to near IR, just the RGB parts of the visible spectrum.

My father-in-law has HIT modules in Japan.  The temperature thing is important in Japan, where summer air temps are routinely 35-38C.  Normal summer air temps in the UK are more like 20-25C.

[Ivan]

They are definitely a way off our monocrystalline panels in terms of efficiency, but this is where they score: For a given installed capacity (eg 4kW), they will produce significantly more kWh per year. So if you have plenty of roofspace (or commercial roofs), and you're looking for the highest level of FIT payment from a given array without going into the next (lower) FIT bracket, then these might be a good choice.

[EccentricAnomaly]

Given that the Navitron price seems to be £1.85/Wp (+VAT) for all panels (or have I missed something?) it seems these should give the best £/Wa (average watt). For off-gridders, of course, the interesting number is £/Wwa (winter average) which it also sounds like these panels would be good for.

Looking further ahead to presumed smart grids in the lifetime of any panels installed today it seems to me to be likely that electricity will be more expensive in winter. Therefore, having panels which perform better in poor light is likely to be an advantage in allowing earning of better export rates or, at least, offsetting higher import rates.

[stephendv]

Given that the Navitron price seems to be £1.85/Wp (+VAT) for all panels (or have I missed something?) it seems these should give the best £/Wa (average watt). For off-gridders, of course, the interesting number is £/Wwa (winter average) which it also sounds like these panels would be good for.

I've found the opposite looking at the datasheet and some sample plants on www.solar-yield.eu.  Thin film and microamorfs outshines the poli's only in summer, but then do worse in winter.  But because summer has a disproportionate contribution to the yearly harvest, they do better overall.  But looking purely at winter performance they're worse.  The Pmpp temp co-efficient for these and other amorphs is -0.29%/degree whereas poli and mono are around -0.45%/degree. 

[JohnS]

Another consideration is the cost of the mounting system.

Less efficient panels will require a bigger area meaning more rails and roof brackets.  May not be a big cost in the grand scheme of things but an extra cost nevertheless.

John

[Ivan]

They're definitely for a niche market. Most people are after the biggest array they can get within their roof size constraints to maximise FIT payments, and these panels aren't going to satisfy that market. The Pramac panels are specifically for applications where area isn't the restrictive constraint.

[GavinA]

if navitron fancied running a 1 day course / chance to get touchy feely with the panels and mounting system, I'd defo be interested, and have some potential big roofed customers in mind for these.