Куц Тина

Silicon solar panels have metal rectangles in their structure. They are called tires. The photovoltaic solar cell has printed tires on the front and back sides. The main function of the tires is securing the direct current. It in turn is generated by a solar electric cell.

Often, this element of the solar panel is made of silver plated copper. The silver that creates the shell serves to improve the conductivity if the bus is located at the front of the panel. At the same time, the silvered coating reduces the oxidation processes, located on the back of the panel.

At a 90-degree angle to the tires, there is a thin network of strips of similar elements made of metal. They form a grid. The function of these bands is to collect current and deliver it to the tires. The elements described above are called current contacts. They are applied to the sunscreen due to screen printing.

To get some voltage in the panel, the components must be connected in an established sequence. For comparison, you can imagine a consistent combination of batteries – each of the following adds voltage to the general scheme.

Soldering of conductors is made by hand or robot-stringer. They are combined with the tires and conduct the connection of individual elements (the resistance must be low and consistent; the operation is carried out serially with it).

The manufacture of conductors is made using the main material of copper wire with a rounded section. The process is made possible by the rolling of a wire, which is additionally coated with a solder, which ensures easy joining.

From solar cells lead conductors. The tapes are grouped together and connected to the tires (they must be in parallel in parallel). Tires, in turn, supply the total volume of current to the box unit of the modular device.

Wire tires are wider and thick compared to wires of conductors. This is because it has to withstand significantly higher voltage and current strength. Tires are made from copper raw materials.

When designing an external contact, an important role is played by maintaining the balance of loss of conductivity – reducing reflection. Losses of conductivity are caused by a rather wide dispersion of strips when forming a grid of a solar cell. Reduced reflection is due to the high proportion of metal in the surface coating.

The main parameters that are taken into account above all are:

– height of lanes;

– “cilia” of the solar element, more precisely, indicators of their width;

– bandwidth;

– the location of stripes and stripes (the distance between them);

– qualitative indicators of metal.

The production of solar cells is currently in the phase of rethinking and changing the design principles. In the future, this approach can significantly increase the efficiency of panels and their reliability. In addition, there may be a reduction in financial costs. This, above all, concerns the silver paste used for the production of tires.

Each product purchased by us, and solar panels including, should have a number of potential characteristics. The most attractive purchase is with a good price-quality ratio. And if the cost is immediately visible to us and with the naked eye, then it is much more difficult and sometimes impossible to determine the qualitative characteristics of a solar device in the same way. This issue becomes even more urgent if the purchase is made through the Internet.

In order to properly assess the quality characteristics of solar panels, it is worth paying attention primarily to two main factors: “Tier” and “grade”. The first characteristic is a direct indicator of the level of the manufacturer, the second – the quality of the components and the immediate assembly of the device.

Rating Тіеr – an indicator of the level of the manufacturer

The name Tier has migrated to alternative energy from the economy. This rating allows investors to select the most attractive companies financially. In solar energy, this term gives a characteristic of the level of the manufacturer, taking into account:

– product quality;

– automation of production lines;

– the total volume of produced devices;

– the amount of the company’s investment in the research work of its own production;

– the company’s reputation in the market, etc.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that various analysts make up a lot of ratings on this topic. But the most popular of all is the rating from Bloomberg.

This rating subdivides the manufacturing companies into three subgroups: Тіеr 1, Тіеr 2 and Тіеr 3.

So, Тіеr 1. In this subgroup there are about two percent of the world’s largest and most popular manufacturing companies. Their production produces about one gigawatt of solar power. Often, the production process for them covers the whole cycle, including growing the silicon component. Their investment in research is quite impressive, and production lines are difficult to robotize. The term of work in the market for such companies is not less than five years.

By Тіеr 2 are medium and small-sized producers that have their own production lines. Most often these companies do not want to spend money on research. Most of the production process involves manual work, and only a small part is the use of robotic lines. The market such companies have mastered at least two years ago.

Тіеr 3, in turn, includes manufactures engaged in assembling solar panels from the details of other companies. This list includes about 90 percent of the manufacturing companies on the market. About the research in these firms it does not go, as well as about robotization. Mainly handwork is used.

It is important to note that this rating has a direct relationship to the manufacturing companies, but does not characterize the quality of the solar devices themselves. Each company can develop a whole line of panels, starting with budget options, where the price and quality correspond to the declared category, ending with the panels of the premium class. And yet, the ratings of Tier provide an opportunity to indirectly assess the quality characteristics of the products produced by the manufacturer, as well as to assess the measure of responsibility with which the company refers to its business.

The characteristic of Tier allows drawing a conclusion about the conformity of the claimed quality characteristics of the panel and its real indicators. Here is an example: a company ranking in line Tier 1 guarantees to the buyer that within 12 months of the loss, the amount of generated energy with their panels will not exceed 0.8 percent. This suggests that in a decade or so the power of the solar module will not fall below 8-10 percent compared to the newly purchased one. Companies of the same group of Tier 3 do not guarantee a gradual reduction in the power of the panels. It may happen that generation will drop sharply by 10 percent, but not 10 years of device use, and after 2-3 years. The same applies to other characteristics of the panels.

The higher the company’s rating, the greater the likelihood of compliance with warranty obligations and the better the quality of maintenance and user support

The concept of “Green tariff” has long been known, but what is it really? Why is this one of the ways to achieve Ukraine’s energy independence?

Advantages of generating new, alternative energy

Any transmission network is “costly”. In Ukraine, the losses of old, even Soviet substations are up to 35%, and in the absence of generation within the green tariff, the losses are paid by the subscribers of power networks. The creation of alternative energy production points in populated areas will allow unloading high-voltage power lines, at the same time reducing the need for urgent reconstruction of heating mains.

Let’s give a rough example, for any power system: during the day, fluctuations in electricity consumption are up to 300%. In the evening everyone comes home, includes a lot of appliances. During these peak hours, the network experiences overload, and while we at work “to dump excess electricity” there is nowhere. At night, consumption falls almost to zero and the Ukrainian energy sales company dumps surpluses into a single European grid for a penny. This squandering of resources and prevents the introduction of a green tariff in Ukraine, which allows you to balance energy consumption, introducing the concept of accumulation and additional generation in private ownership. But the introduction of such benefits required a legislative framework. Its foundations were developed in Brussels, from 2003 to 2009.

The basis that showed the benefits in the “green” energy, was the experience of GermanyThe law “On Renewable Energy Sources” introduced several new concepts, which later formed the basis for the concept of green tariff in Ukraine, significantly reducing the cost of energy.The law was called EEG, and as a result of its adoption, the EU-2003/30 / EC DIRECTIVES, the 2004 and 2005 amendments were born (EEG 2004, Regulation 2005/33 / EC, EEG 2009).

However, these documents declared only «the participation of a private producer of green energy in stabilizing the operation of energy systems». Within the EU, of course.Brussels adopted the necessary laws, which were supported by 19 countries in Europe. The development of renewable sources has received legislative support, the European Union has allocated investments, zones of intensive solar energy (where the territory of Ukraine fell) and formulated environmental standards for energy.

But Germany went further and offered owners of solar and wind stations not only the reduced cost of electricity. Germany directly (EEG amendment 2009-th year) introduces monetary compensation for the return of electricity to the general network.

In the autumn of 2009, this approach is adopted in Brussels; the strategy of “replenishment of the unified energy system” is formed with compensation to private suppliers. September 2009, and can be considered the birth of a new approach to the balanced energy of any state:

– availability of return generation at the points of consumption;

– сompensation to owners of such generation of the price of kilowatt of consumed electricity;

– payment to them, for the kilowatts supplied to the network.

This is the meaning of the concept of “green tariff”: the cost of the kilowatt taken from the network is lower, and for surplus will also be paid.

The development of alternative energy in Ukraine is backed by legislation – on July 16, 2015, Law No. 514 “On Amending Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding Competitive Conditions for Generating Electricity from Alternative Energy Sources” came into force.

Since that moment the Green tariff in Ukraine has also earned, and the situation in the market of “return energy” has been ordered as follows:

– the power of private generation (up to 30 kW) is limited. Even a large site will not allow us to extract more energy; it will be transferred to the status of “industrial suppliers”;

– the framework for “consumption-transfer of surpluses” has been established. This allows the energy system to “get the right energy” without introducing the owner into the temptation to turn off the lights and count money;

– amendments and additions streamlined the connection procedures, after which the green tariff became a guaranteed return on investment, at the same time reducing the cost of the “bought” from the network of energy;

– introduction of the responsibility of the “private supplier” for the disruption of energy recovery, up to monetary penalties.

Today, Rada is preparing to welcome new amendments. All of them are aimed at developing alternative sources of generation, conservation and sustainable use of electric and thermal energy. So there is a green energy in Ukraine. And you can save a lot, at the same time decently earned.