Credit: Vincent Shaw/pv magazine
There are two solar module manufacturers, Risen Energy and Trina Solar, that have unveiled first-of-their kind 500W, 72-cell PV modules.
How will the advent of 500-watt solar modules change the solar industry?
“For applications where you have a lot of area, particularly commercial and especially utility-scale, it’s really significant,” CEO of Cinnamon Energy Systems Barry Cinnamon told pv magazine. “You could just use fewer modules, it reduces handling costs and overall balance-of-system costs go down.”
If there are less modules needed to reach the capacity specifications of a project, that means overall project costs will go down as these modules become economically viable. A significant area that will see cost reduction will come from the racking and trackers.
“It’s going to drive down the cost of racks and trackers per module,” said Matt Kesler, head of technology at OMCO Solar, an Arizona-based racking and fixed tilt tracking manufacturer. “It’ll reduce the cost per watt of installation labor. It’s also going to give a premium on racks and trackers that are designed […]
Turns out this isn’t as path-breaking as I at first thought. It isn’t an increase in efficiency–just an increase in panel size. I was excited about the idea until I realized that. It will still be helpful, but it’s not the efficiency breakthrough I ultimately hope to see.
I like the idea that it may be less expensive for an installation I worry about the weight being more than some older homes not being able to withstand the added weight which could be a serious problem especially with those people who want to get completely off the grid with a large wattage need.