L R AS Published on Sunday 27 September 2020 - n° 330 - Categories:panels
Comparison between panels with cells of different formats
The debate on the 182 mm and 210 mm formats is resurfacing. Indeed, LONGi, Jinko and JA Solar have recently achieved volume production of panels based on 182 mm wafers.
Panel manufacturers are either looking to upgrade their production line to 182mm because 72-cell panels gain power from the higher output of the 72-cell format, or they are looking to upgrade their production line to 182mm because 72-cell panels gain power from the higher output of the 72-cell format.
of 535 Wp. Or to change equipment to use 210 mm inserts, bringing the production power to 545 Wp. Thus, for the same surface area, the panels using 210 mm cells have a power of 10 W more than those using the 182 mm format.
Panels using 210 mm wafers have an output power 23% higher than those using the 166 mm format.
The 55-cell panels using the 210-mm format outperform the 72-cell panels using the 182-mm format. Their open circuit voltage is reduced to 38 V. A single panel can combine 36 cells, increasing the output power to 20 kW. This reduces the cost of connections.
A comparison was made between panels using the three formats (210, 182, 166), joined together in the same place, with a string inverter, and compared with a 100 MW PV plant. The aim was to measure the cost of low voltage panels.
For all three panels, the cost decreases as the nominal power increases. In particular, it is lowest for the 210 mm (545 Wp) panels in all test locations. There is a cost difference of 0.1 - 0.17 RMB/W between 210 mm (545 Wp) and 166 mm (445 Wp) panels, and 0.03 - 7 RMB/W (sic) between 210 mm (545 Wp) and 182 mm (535 Wp) panels.
"This means that high-power panels with string inverters have lower costs. Experience shows to what extent the cost of low voltage has been reduced among the high power output panels. The cost estimate takes into account the geographical characteristics of the test sites, the difficulty of installation, the system configuration and the actual state of the PV systems".
"High-power 210mm panels and string inverters provide impressive cost savings on the low-voltage side, as low voltage increases the power of a string of panels by about 20kW. As the panels get bigger and bigger to achieve higher power and lower LCOE, it is interesting to see how low voltage panels reduce the cost of the system".
PV InfoLink of 28 September
Editor's note If there was still any doubt, it is raised in favour of a cell format of 210 mm. This format is the future and manufacturers will soon migrate to it.
Having realised that they had to move to larger sizes, manufacturers will soon imagine a new, larger format. The 210 mm size will soon age in favour of a larger format!
