Observations of a Non-Scientist about Sustainable Living, Renewable Energy and the Power of the Sun.

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“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Solar Optimizer


My interest in this article was more how nicely they articulated one of the 'growing pains' faced by developing technologies.  Solar Energy is by far not a new idea.  What characterizes the development in all Green Technologies is the sudden acceptance oif Global Warming and the need for alternative energy to Carbon based fuels like coal and oil.  The tsunami in Japan cast a shadow over  projects aimed at developing nuclear power. So there is a scramble underway to create a new industry.  China has stated that the Solar Industry will be the "automobile industry" of the 21st Century providing jobs and manufacturing income to the country that can provide the best solutions.

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New solar optimizer seeking to solve shady panels : Clean Energy Authority:

Tiffany Fitzgerald
OCT 13, 2011

Like any innovation, solar technology isn’t perfect. When solar panels can’t absorb light efficiently due to obstruction or shade, the entire array becomes inefficient.
Azuray Technologies will unveil its new solar optimizer, AP 260, next week, at Solar Power International 2011. The optimizer may help improve solar harvest by up to 25 percent, according to its website.

Gil Miller, vice president of business development at the company, said that the optimizer provides new options for arrays struggling with imperfect operations due to external circumstances.

“Today, with most installations ...all of the solar modules are put together in a column fashion,” said Miller. “What happens is, if there is any type of shading, or mismatch, you have a reduction, and that brings down the power of the entire string—it’s kind of like a Christmas light effect. When you have an under-performing solar module, you have an under-performing solar array.”
 


Source:
http://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-news/azuray-tech-trying-to-solve-shaded-solar-panels-101311/


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