[Greenbuilding] Electrical line shading of solar PV modules

[Keith Winston]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "smaller than the sun's disc"... larger
power lines can cast distinct shadows. If those align with an axis of the
modules, then they may shade an entire row of cells in a module, overcoming
the ability of the bypass diodes to "bypass" the shaded cells (most modules
are, I believe, still bypassed on a cell-by-cell basis, and are wired in
series along one of their axis). So I'll stand by my earlier comment that a
power line could very well create significant shading. But I agree with the
microinverter suggestion.

Keith


On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 11:22 AM, Gordon Howell -- Howell Mayhew Engineering
<ghowell at hme.ca> wrote:

> Thanks for your question Eli:
>
> It doesn't appear that the electrical lines would be a significant issue.
>  They are likely smaller than the sun's disc.
>
> If you use Enphase module-inverters (one inverter for each PV module) then
> any shaded module wouldn't affect the PV array's performance, because each
> PV string is a PV module.
>
> To clarify:  the industry term that is an internationally-recognised
> standard for PV modules is "module", not collector, not panel.  See attached
> file for pictoral description.
>
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