Not really wrench talk, but as long as you guys are talking about one
of my pet peeves...
I think the phrase "solar panel" is what editors would call a
"skunked term" -- abused and confused so much that it's better to not
use it. It's not understood by many audiences in many situations;
it's ambiguous in many situations.
"Solar panel" can mean:
* PV module
* Solar hot water collector
* Subarray (by silly NEC definition that almost no one in the real
world uses...)
* Breaker panel that handles PV
* Richard Perez, Windy Dankoff, and Cully Judd sitting up on the stage at MREF
I like to use "solar-electric module" and "solar hot water
collector", and "PV" and "SHW collector" for short.
Back to wrenching words,
;-)
Ian
At 7:51 AM -0800 2/9/11, Joel Davidson wrote:
Hi Bill,
The module operated at approximately 450 degree F. When the flame
became yellow, the PV cell would conduct more and the light power
would change the orifice size to get the flame back to blue.
There are lots of unusual ways to use cells, modules, and
panels. Solar modules used as desks, tables, and conference room
tables by several PV contractors. From my office, I can see a nearby
office building with vertically mounted solar panels in portrait
mode used as screens to hide roof-mounted air conditioners. Not very
efficient mounting panels at 34 degrees latitude, but it's always
nice to see more PV.
Here's an interesting solar module as a piece of art. With
Valentine's Day coming up, you might want to give your honey a solar
rose. Tell them Joel sentcha. They may give you a discount. See
<http://www.sunbrothers.com/portfolio/flower.htm>http://www.sunbrothers.com/portfolio/flower.htm
Joel Davidson
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:solar1onl...@charter.net>Bill Loesch
To: <mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>RE-wrenches
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 5:02 AM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] module / panel
Hi Joel,
Interesting applications.
I'm not trying to be pedantic but (in the '93 application) did you
mean the module was seeing the flame and keeping the _gas valve_
open? Do I understand correctly that it was capable of keeping the
electromagnet energized on only pilot flame? Essentially
substituting for a thermocouple or thermopile?
Not exactly an ideal cold temperature application.
TIA,
Bill Loesch
Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar
314 631 1094
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:joel.david...@sbcglobal.net>Joel Davidson
To: <mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>RE-wrenches
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 10:01 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] module / panel
Cells? Modules? Bell Labs use to call them solar batteries. Call
them what you will, but please buy and use them.
Nomenclature from micro to macro: Cell > Module > Panel >
Sub-array > Array > Power Field.
From Solar Photovoltaic Applications Seminar: Design, Installation
and Operation of Small, Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems, July 1980,
DOE/CS/32522-T1 (with thanks to Jim Fortenberry for his copy when
the DOE shut down the PV Division of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in 1984):
A PV array is composed of many subarrays, panels, modules, and cells
in various series, parallel, star, and delta combinations.
Individual cells are wired together and mounted to produce a module.
From UL 1703:
2. Glossary
2.13 Module (Flat-Plate) - The smallest environmentally protected,
essentially planar assembly of solar cells and ancillary parts, such
as interconnects and terminals, intended to generate dc power under
unconcentrated sunlight. The structural (load-carrying) member of a
module can either be the top layer (superstrate), or the back layer
(substrate), in which:
a) The superstrate is the transparent material forming the to
(light-facing) outer surface of the module. If load-carrying, this
constitutes a structural superstrate.
b) The substrate is the material forming the back out surface of a
module. If load-carrying, this constitutes a structural substrate.
2.15 Panel (Flat-Plate) - A collection of modules mechanically
fastened together, wired, and designed to provide a
field-installable unit.
Cell/Module/Panel factoids:
There are such things as non-solar PV cells and modules. In 1983, a
UCLA researcher used a silicon solar cell to measure
the contractions (beats) of a heart cell. The heart cell was viewed
on a television screen that was connected to a microscope. The solar
cell was taped to the TV screen. When the cell contracted, the
photons emitted by the TV screen changed causing the solar cell to
generate current that was then recorded.
In 1993, while at Solec International, I had a customer who used a
small custom solar module mounted near the combustion chamber of a
natural gas heater. The solar module used the photons emitted by the
combusted gas to power the gas flow regulator.
In 1994, while at Solar Integrated Technologies, I got the first UL
listing for a photovoltaic panel (not module).
Joel Davidson
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