[RE-wrenches] module / panel

Wed Feb 9 08:20:08 PST 2011

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:solar1online at charter.net>Bill Loesch
>To: <mailto:re-wrenches at 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.davidson at sbcglobal.net>Joel Davidson
>To: <mailto:re-wrenches at 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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-- 
Ian Woofenden <ian.woofenden at homepower.com>, Senior Editor, Home Power magazine
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