Background on Panel causes Less Power?
BilljustBill
Solar Expert Posts: 219 ✭✭✭
As I was looking at different solar websites, this one caught my interest because one PV model has a black background behind the cells instead of the usual Teldar white.
Maybe a PV gimmick for cosmetic reasons, but it would seem that more black means more heat; more heat means less power.
How do you see this design?
http://www.ul-solar.com/solar_panel_p/spb080m.htm
Bill
Maybe a PV gimmick for cosmetic reasons, but it would seem that more black means more heat; more heat means less power.
How do you see this design?
http://www.ul-solar.com/solar_panel_p/spb080m.htm
Bill
Bill
Comments
I am not sure it makes a significant difference in panel temperature--the area of the black backing is not very large compared to the area of large "black" solar cells.
I think it is more of an aesthetics choice.
There may be other issues--Dark colors/materials tend to degrade faster in sunlight than light colors. For example, older aircraft that are covered with fabric and "dope"--The Dark and tending towards Reds where where the fabric/paint would fail first (Reds and dark colors tended to absorb blue and UV rays which caused the underlying materials to age faster than other colors).
-Bill
The black area between the cells will probably cause more heating and therefore drop in output then the blackbody radiation heat loss from backside of panel.