Solar Photovoltaic modules are made up of a number of silicon cells which produce electricity as result of a chemical reaction between silicon and the suns irradiation. Further technical information can be found on YouTube.
Photovoltaic technology has been around for over 100 years but social cultures and the love of the internal combustion engine has kept this means of electrical generation dormant. It has only been recently (in the past 15 years) in the search for alternative energies, that Solar PV has re-emerged as a reliable, clean, cost effective alternative.
Within Solar PV there are many different types of technology and many different manufacturers. Simply it is all put to how the silicon is made to create the module. Mipower Ltd. uses Mono-crystalline, Polycrystalline, Hybrid and Thin Film solar PV modules. Each have a different method of production and thus different efficiencies.
|
Type |
Efficiencies |
|
Mono-crystalline (Single Crystal) Silicon Cells |
15 - 18% |
|
Polycrystalline Silicon Cells |
13 - 16% |
|
Hybrid Cells: HIT Solar Cells |
18.5% |
|
Thin-Film Cell Technology |
5 - 7% |
*Figures taken from Planning and Installing Photovoltaic Systems: a Guide for Installers, Architects and Engineers. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd, 2008
Furthermore, it isn't just the efficiencies that must be taken as most important when choosing which type of solar Photovoltaic system you wish to install. Equally as important is the module performance guarantee, as the module performance will ultimately influence how much income a Photovoltaic system can generate.
For instance, a Solar Photovoltaic Module loses around 5% of its overall performance in the first 6 months of its operation. This is due to the silicon effectively "bedding in". However, once this initial drop has taken place the cell degradation is fairly minimal over it's life.
Each module manufacturer has different module performance guarantees. Mipower Ltd. has an extremely good working relationship with BP Solar, Sharp, Solar World, Schueco and Sanyo which thus helps to keep our install prices very competitive.
|
Manufacturer |
Product Guarantee |
Performance Guarantee 1 |
Performance Guarantee 2 |
|
BP SOLAR |
5 Years free from defects |
93% power output over 12 years |
85% power output over 25 years |
|
Sharp |
2 Year free from defects |
90% power output over 10 years |
80% power output over min. 20 years |
|
Solar World |
5 Years Free from defects |
Maximum degeneration in performance of 0.7% per annum for more than 25 years |
|
|
Schueco |
5 Years free from defects |
90% power output over 12 years |
80% power output over 25 years |
|
Sanyo |
5 Years free from defects |
90% power output over 10 years |
80% power output over 20 years |
For further information on the various modules Mipower prefer to use please see the attachments below.
Installing Solar Photovoltaic on roofs requires 3 key ingredients:
1: The Technical knowledge of Solar Photovoltaic
2: An extensive knowledge of electrics
3: The experience and knowledge of How a Roof "works"
Although the company is still in its infancy the directors and personnel working within it have over 12 years experience working with Solar Photovoltaic along with a combined knowledge of electrics over 30 years and an extensive knowledge of roofing with over 50 years experience. This wealth of knowledge and experience with the 3 key ingredients when it comes to installing solar Photovoltaic on roofs is that which MiPower relies on to separate itself from the competition.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| BP Solar Mono-crystalline Module Data Sheet.pdf | 280.09 KB |
| BP Solar Polycrystallline Module Data Sheet.pdf | 369.37 KB |
| Sanyo Hybrid Module Data Sheet.pdf | 480.14 KB |
| Schuco Mono-crystalline Module Data Sheet.pdf | 311.74 KB |
| Sharp NU Series Data Sheet.pdf | 296.28 KB |
| Shueco Polycrystalline Module Data Sheet.pdf | 1.48 MB |
| Solar World Mono-crystalline Module Data Sheet.pdf | 838.92 KB |
| Solar World Polycrystalline Module Data Sheet.pdf | 834.93 KB |
| SANYO HIT-240HDE4.pdf | 366.41 KB |