On Mon, 27 Jan 2003, Olin Lathrop wrote:

*>> I have also seen parallel regulators for panels but only for small ones
*>> (<200W). I do not think that the panel stays cooler if under load, its
*>> internal resistance will heat it up under load. Maybe I am missing
*>> something. The efficiency of the panel is too low for the energy
*>transfer
*>> to affect temperature afaik.
*>
*>I was just guessing, but the panel should be slightly cooler under load.
*>Under no load, all the absorbed sunlight gets converted to heat.  Under
*>load, the panel still absorbs the same amount of sunlight, but some of it
*>(15% or so) gets converted to electrical energy and transferred to the
*>external circuit.  That 15% obviously can't be heating the panel no matter
*>what its internal resistance is.

That makes perfect sense. I had not thought of it like that (they do 15%
now ? - good). Maybe the power can be used to run a cooling fan (and blow
the dirt off the panel since it's at it). Small panels in the sun easily
reach 100 degrees C when dry, especially if they have 'helper' reflectors.
This is not good (panels run better when cold - the voltage is also
higher). A fan would make perfect sense.

Peter

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic:
[PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads