4 Solar Technologies That Live In Your Solar Farm
By: Richard Payne
Tags: Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Technology

By Richard Payne, Managing Director, ReNew Petra

Capturing energy from the sun is not a new concept. In fact, solar energy has been around since the 7th century B.C. Today, solar energy is the most popular and affordable clean energy option. To create energy, photovoltaic panels absorb the energy from the sun, pass it to an inverter, and the resulting electricity is used to power our homes and businesses.

Across the United States, we’ve seen an increase in utility-scale projects, commercial and industrial installations, and residential solar due to falling installation costs. But have you ever wondered what technologies support a solar installation? Here are four technologies that allow us to turn the sun’s rays into electricity.

Photovoltaic Cells

Within each solar module, also called solar panels, there are a string of photovoltaic cells (PV). PV cells, also known as solar cells, convert the sun’s rays into energy. Typically, a solar panel can capture about 30 percent of the sun’s radiation. 70 percent of the sun’s radiation comes from infrared light, 25 percent comes from UV light, and the remaining five percent comes from visible light. Each individual cell can produce three or four watts of power. Location, tilt, orientation, and several other factors determine how much sun can be absorbed by the solar cells.

There are two types of PV cells:

Monocrystalline:

Monocrystalline PV cells are made from slowly pulling one monocrystalline silicon seed crystal out of melted monocrystalline. Since they are made from one large crystal versus tiny ones they are more efficient to make and they outperform polycrystalline PV panels by 10 percent.

Polycrystalline:

The second type of PV solar panels is polycrystalline. They are the more commonly known and are less expensive than the monocrystalline panels. Due to the manufacturing process, polycrystalline panels are typically dark blue but have light blue patches.

Inverters

A vital part of every solar farm are the inverters. Inverters supply the generated power to a grid by converting the direct electricity currents (DC) coming from the solar panels to alternating current (AC).

Types of inverters include:

Central Inverter:

A central inverter is prewired electronic equipment that can be custom made for the demands of large-scale utility solar farms, commercial rooftop solar installations, and grid-tied solar farms. A central box inverter has everything a solar site needs for distribution, automation, security, and monitoring. Since central inverters can withstand almost any climate, customers benefit from the low installation costs and project cycle times.

String Inverter:

String inverters are essentially smaller versions of central inverters. They are extremely efficient, are much easier to install, and have a lower installation cost per peak watt than the other types of inverters. In the past, string inverters have cost more than central inverters, however, costs are continuing to fall as more large solar farms start using more string inverters for better overall solar farm up time.

Micro Inverter:

Small but mighty, micro inverters work panel by panel and are user friendly for customers. Micro inverters can be found on residential rooftop installations and operate at a 190 to 220-watt power point. Despite their size, they have created more opportunity to harvest energy on a smaller level.

Combiner Boxes

Combiner boxes are installed between the PV panels and inverters and offer protection for the systems. The combiner box brings several output solar wires together and have added features integrated into the box such as rapid shutdown, sensors, and monitoring equipment. Combiner boxes cut labor and material costs since they consolidate the wire string output. They offer a reliable, safe solution to maximize the voltage emitting from the system.

Racking

A racking system is used to safely mount solar panels on different surfaces like roofs or in the ground. They can be seen on top of warehouses, business facades, fields, and other locations. There are various types of racking available depending upon the application. For instance, ballasted racking systems are the best fit for slightly uneven surfaces or surfaces that can’t be penetrated, like a roof. Another option is the ground mount which requires additional engineering for various topography. Ground mounts are used in larger utility solar farms, typically between five and 500 acres.