Bi Facial solar panels

[RunAgroundHard]

I'm sorry that you feel that way.

Not a fake image. Scattered damamge is normal with hail.

No need to be sorry for my feelings, they are entirely down to myself! Perhaps you are right, and maybe if the hail came through in patchy cloud bursts, that would happen. It just doesn't look consistent to me with the amount of damage over such a large area. Anyway, its rather a pointless point of view as hail damages stuff.

 

[lektran]

My 2p of data:
I have two panels on my arch, both installed at the same time with their own mppts. One is a 430w bifacial and the other a regular 295w, I just bought whatever was going to fit on my arch.

Over the last almost two years, the 430w bifacial has yielded 878kWh and the 295w has yielded 506kWh. So that's 2.04 vs 1.72 kWh per rated watt or about 19% more from the bifacial.

 

[geem]

My 2p of data:
I have two panels on my arch, both installed at the same time with their own mppts. One is a 430w bifacial and the other a regular 295w, I just bought whatever was going to fit on my arch.

Over the last almost two years, the 430w bifacial has yielded 878kWh and the 295w has yielded 506kWh. So that's 2.04 vs 1.72 kWh per rated watt or about 19% more from the bifacial.

Can you confirm what type of panel they are? N type of P type?

 

[alan_d]

Bifacial have glass on both sides. Monofacial have a plastic film on the back. Our insurers POV is that bifacial therefore have a lower fire risk*

*I should point out that I won’t touch less than 250kW scheme and typically deliver >1MW schemes.

Thank you. That makes sense.

 

[Neeves]

Not every one who posts on YWB is located in the UK. As far as I am aware its an international forum and not geographically restrictive.

Many who post base their information on their experiences in the Med, others might be based in the Caribbean. We even have one notable member who is a source of sailing knowledge in Patagonia, Others have developed a reputation for their published work in N America, specifically The Chesapeake.

I confess to being an Australia citizen.

The forum would be much poorer were they, people offering an 'international angle', to consider their contribution is described as 'false' - how dare you. You honestly believe people go round smashing holes in solar panels for impact on a forum. The member making the report is a colleague and your suggestion is offensive. You tarnish YBW.

Within the last week a large area south of and round Brisbane (for those who are UK centric, - its.a large Oz city) suffered 10cm hail - and the area is a centre of sailing and the southern end of The Coral Coast'. Damage to yachts did not merit much attention - compared to the number of vehicles written off from hail damage. 3 days ago we had a 15 minute Storm force event (in Sydney), 150,000 people were without power and for some the power is still out, roads blocked with fallen trees - and I counted 2 shredded sails. Yacht damage did not merit mention on The News, nor mention on this Forum.

In the recent Sydney storm event we had strong wind, much rain - and no hail. 30km inland, still in Sydney, they had hail. Maybe as global warming takes hold and impacts negatively on weather our historic knowledge base is being tested

Jonathan

 

[RunAgroundHard]

... to consider their contribution is described as 'false' - how dare you.

How dare you opinion about censorship of opinion. There are folks on here who post information that is both dangerous and wrong, and get called out by experienced and knowledgeable forumites, yet you don't comment on that. How dare you indeed, you false prophet.

 

[lektran]

Can you confirm what type of panel they are? N type of P type?

The bifacial is N type, the 295w doesn't say on the datasheet.

I do note the stated efficiency is lower on the 295w, 19.5% vs 22%.

The models are:
JA Solar JAM54D40-435/GB
Perlight PLM-295MB-54

 

[geem]

The bifacial is N type, the 295w doesn't say on the datasheet.

I do note the stated efficiency is lower on the 295w, 19.5% vs 22%.

The models are:
JA Solar JAM54D40-435/GB
Perlight PLM-295MB-54

N type are the latest type. They use a different coating on the cell that doesn't degrade so quickly and is more tolerant off temperature.
I researched the hell out of bifacial performance and I couldn't find a research paper that suggested more than 6% benefit over water. However, located them over a shiny surface like white grp of a boat is likely to improve on the 6%, but no idea by how much

 

[lektran]

Yeah I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to source a bi facial but if I can find one that fits and can be delivered for a reasonable price then I think it makes sense even if the improvement is minimal.

I was pretty constrained on my arch because we have a narrow stern and I didn't want any overhang given we were about to go through the dutch canals and needed to be able to spring off walls.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

It’s odd that every so often there are whole panels that are not damaged beside panels, on each side, that are destroyed with damage from top to bottom of the panel. If the panels had one or two hits, it might be reasonable to see the odd panel fully intact, but not for this amount of damage. I wonder if the image is fake.

It's normal, I suspect it is down to the combined effects of

Difference in manufacturing tolerances on different batches of panels.
Twisting of the panel due to the mounting rails not being absolutely flat, putting the glass under tension or compression when mounted
Hail is usually a mix of sizes. a hit from a large hailstone can cause the initial break, and then the smaller hailstones extend the fractures until the panels is totally destroyed.

We see a lot of it here in southern Germany, Austria, and Northern Italy - "Hagelschaden" is a real fear for anyone who keeps a car outside or has solar panels.

If you do a google picture search for "solaranlage hagelschaden" then there are hundreds of pics with intact panels next to destroyed ones, I don't think they have all been doctored, and they also appear on reputable web sites like news organisations all showing their own pictures of the same damage from different angles.




I was in a small village in Bavaria, Bad Bayersoien on a works team building event in 2023, just after one of the heaviest hail storms, supposedly a 100 year event, totally destroyed the village.