YashMay was the best month for our grid-tied solar despite the heat wave in the northern part of the India.
The day temperature is soaring as high as 47°C.
The high heat can affect the performance of the solar panels.
This ambient temperature can raise their temperature to another 25°C to 30°C degrees, making them operate over 75°C, reaching close to the maximum operating range of the solar panels of 85°C.
This is quite a high temperature for the solar cells to perform.
Why do solar cells operate at such high temperatures despite the ambient temperature being 47°C?
Because the solar cells are encapsulated in the glass.
The glass has the property of trapping the heat.
Imagine a noon time and you are sitting in the car with all the windows closed.
After some time, you will feel more heat than the outside environment.
Because the glass has trapped the heat and prevented it from going outside the car, resulting in higher temperature inside the car.
A similar phenomenon happens with the solar cells.
The solar cells are encapsulated in the glass. This glass coating allows the sunlight to fall on the solar cells but also traps the heat.
Resulting in raising the solar cell temperature.
A rough math indicates that the solar cells in the daytime might be performing at 25°C to 30°C higher than the ambient temperature.
The high temperature affects the performance (negatively) of the solar panels.
With every degree rise in the cell temperature beyond 25°C, the solar panels start losing their power.
Still, our solar panels performed very well in May, or rather I would say that the performance was the best since we installed the 5-kW solar power system on the rooftop.
Despite the high temperature, the sunlight intensity was also very good in May.
Which made our solar panels produce the highest solar units so far.
The effect of sunlight intensity was more than the negative effect of the heat on the solar panels.
Performance of Solar in May
In May, our solar panels produced 731 units and saved us over Rs. 5,800.
Although the last two months (March and April) were also very good. But it was May which produced the highest number of solar units.
- March: 724 units
- April: 714 units
- May: 731 units
This was the highest savings in a month since August 2023.
The per-unit grid rate in our area is close to Rs. 8 per unit.
Therefore, the total savings of the month is:
Rs. 8 per unit x 731 units
= Rs. 5,884
While it was Rs. 5712 in April and Rs. 5792 in March.
The operating range of the solar panels
Every solar panel has a temperature range under which it operates effectively without losing much power.
Once the cell temperature crosses that range, the solar panels lose power significantly.
Our solar panels have the temperature operating range of -40°C to 85°C.
You saw that the solar cell temperature reached 75°C.
Uncertainty in the Climate
We all are aware of the climate change.
It is disturbing the weather pattern.
We are witnessing the extreme climatic conditions more frequently than before.
The temperature is soaring and breaking the maximum values of the past.
It is all due to global warming.
You can mitigate the carbon emissions from the air by installing solar panels on your rooftop.
Did you Know?
“A 5-kW solar power system can mitigate over 7 tonnes of carbon emissions from air”
What do solar panel manufacturers need to do?
It is more likely that we will witness higher values in the future.
Making solar cells operate at even higher temperatures than 75°C.
The solar panel manufacturers need to consider this aspect and work on increasing the maximum temperature operating range from 85°C to 90°C.
So that the solar panels can work effectively at higher temperatures.
Conclusion
A proactive approach needs to be adopted by the solar manufacturers.
The high temperature may also impact the durability of the glass coating over the solar cells.
The high temperature may crack the solar cells and the joints.
I too feel that May is the highest-performing month of the year for Ghaziabad for solar panels.
As June arrives, there is an increase in the humidity in the northern part of India.
With the increase in the water content in the air, the sunlight falling on the solar panels reduces.
Because the water droplets obstruct the sunlight and reduce its intensity falling on the solar panel.
Let us wait and watch the solar performance of June.
Would it be better than May or not, the time will tell.
See you in the next post.
Bye!
