a pig in a poke?

lazza

HI

A strange thing- we went to an installation last week, as ever, to clean up other installers messes... and I noticed that the cells in the panels were in monocrystalline form (cut in an octagon), yet when I looked closely they appeared to really be polycrystalline. They seemed quite large to be only 120W, so I was suspicious at first glance. The manufacturer is BioEnergy supposedly.

Is this a known trick of the trade? as they say in Spain "dar gato por liebre" or in english to sell a "pig in a poke"

Just wondered if anyone else has come across this? And what may be the reasons behind it.

Cheers
Larry
ps have attached a photo, although it's hard to see that cells are polycrystalline

PNjunction

Re: a pig in a poke?

The first thing I see is that the mount is casting a shadow across all the cells on the left hand side and a little at the top. I imagine the right side will be shadowed by the mount during the day as well. Now I see the discolored cells. I can't imagine that this thing even worked from the start.

lazza

Re: a pig in a poke?

Yeah, obviously the shadow issue is another thing....I told them to get rid of the frame..... but has anyone come across this type of panel before?