Our system is 3 years old. I have noticed 10 panels have gone yellow, 2 panels have remained white. The system is just over 2KW. Will the discolouration be affecting the performance? I feel it is not as good but I have not kept strict records. We are getting a max of 1.5kw at peak now I remember when it was installed we would get 1.65KW. or more. In 3 years we have generated 8600.KW. Reading on inverter.
Solar Panel Quality
(11 posts) (6 voices)-
Posted Monday 24 Sep 2012 @ 8:30:11 pm from IP #
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alfresco24
MemberShort answer, no they shouldnt go yellow, or any colour, but stay water clear.
Is it changing colour across the whole panel, cells and all, or just around the edges?
This is a sign the epoxy sealant is poor quality or suffering from moisture ingress due to poor backing material or side sealant. In another couple years they may wind up looking quite opaque.The nearly 10% reduction in power in 3 years is almost double what is normally expected.
If I were in your position I would contact the supplier and lodge a complaint, requesting inspection and testing of individual panels and associated hardware, wiring and connectors. This may be a sign the other components may also be poor quality.In this forum we like to name names, so what brand are the panels, who sold them, etc...
Posted Monday 24 Sep 2012 @ 10:13:38 pm from IP # -
Thanks for the prompt reply.
The panels are EOPLLY 170 watt. Supplied by Ecovation on the Gold Coast Qld. I did have a chat to one of the technical advisors who assured me that this was quite normal. The reason I called,the company in the first place, was the red light came up saying the inverter had PV overvoltage. I had someone take a look at it and he advised that the panels should be wired 6 at a time into inverter not all 12 going into the inverter at the same point. CMS inverter.Posted Tuesday 25 Sep 2012 @ 4:14:10 am from IP # -
alfresco24
MemberJesus Christ, who wired the 12 panels all in one string? That's nuts.
You'd have perhaps up to 540 volts DC across that string on a bright cold day.I would seriously get the system checked by a Clean Energy Council accredited installer or better still inspector/auditor.
Whoever did the original installation should have their licence pulled, that is if they even have one.Posted Tuesday 25 Sep 2012 @ 5:48:55 am from IP # -
That is exactly what happened, a bright cool morning!!! Where do I get an inspector from?? I got told by consultant at Ecovation that was OK. by the way the panels are yellow where the silicon is in the middle of the panels.
Posted Tuesday 25 Sep 2012 @ 6:06:58 am from IP # -
alfresco24
MemberThe Yellowing is a sure sign of premature aging of the epoxy/silicon sealant. If the discoloration is only between the cells (I'd be surprised) then it's not so bad, but frankly it's likely to creep across the cells and decrease conversion performance as well as lead to further degradation of the joints from cell to cell.
http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/
You can find lists of accredited installers and also lists of approved panels and inverters.
That your inverter hasnt failed is perhaps a good sign - it must be designed well enough to stand up to the strain of such an overloaded input.Posted Tuesday 25 Sep 2012 @ 6:22:26 am from IP # -
markeshake
MemberYou can make an inquiry with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) formerly, Office of renewable energy regulator (ORER) about audits but they state they do not do audits on request, or lodge a complaint to the CEC about the system design. Get some good advice, if this is a CMS 2000W inverter you can't have 2 strings of these modules as the max current rating is 10A.
Contact the supplier or the manufacturer about the clouding issue, they might come to the party and service under warranty, at some point it is likely that the panel will fail.Posted Wednesday 26 Sep 2012 @ 3:16:43 am from IP # -
Thank you for all the advice so far. I will act on it and give you feed back on how I get on.
Posted Wednesday 26 Sep 2012 @ 7:35:32 am from IP # -
Inspector
MemberTwo parallel strings will not harm the inverter whatsoever. The inverter will only draw up to it's maximum current rating (it's maximum LOAD) due to design, regardless of how many amps are available from the array - proven by people with three strings in parallel for many months without ill effect. CMS themselves install their inverters wired with two strings of 6. Anyone installing them as 12 in series immediately voids the warranty as per the installation manual and is very lucky the inverter hasn't blown up yet!
Yellowing of panels has been discussed at length on WP forums; it is the visible sign of advanced degradation due to contaminated/mis-matched additives in the EVA backing, and will only be a matter of time before water enters behind the glass and panels would be expected to rapidly fail once this occurs. Any company claiming this is "normal" is merely trying to cover themselves against a warranty claim; other companies and manufacturers are aware of this problem and have been replacing them under warranty. One brand has been claimed to be like this immediately out of the box, but I find this difficult to believe. Some have shown evidence of this phenomenon in as little as 6 months. I've been told that the Voc of affected panels varies drastically from (lower than) the manufacturer's Voc - so this is a good way to test to see how far damaged they have become.
Good luck.
Posted Thursday 27 Sep 2012 @ 8:56:06 am from IP # -
dwc1984
MemberReport these installations to the ORER and other regulatory bodies, but what ever you do dont report them to the Clean Energy Council (CEC).
The Clean Energy Council are probably the most useless sector of officials in this industry.
They are sponsored by a lot of the Chinese solar manufacturers and other Australian companies using these products and therefore wont risk loosing their $20,000 per year sponsor fees by issuing non compliance on these dodgy companies and installers.
The CEC are the biggest reason why the industry is in the state that is is with so many inferior products on the market.
They are not willing to get off their asses and do their job properly by policing this industry.One indication is the 1170.2 Wind Loading Standards on the framing. These standards have been around since 2002 and when a standard is introduced into an industry it is a LAW and has to be followed.
The CEC didn't bother issuing non compliance on systems without this certification until September 2009, over 7 years after the standards were introduced into law.
If the regulators of this industry aren't going to do their job properly what hope do we have of this industry continuing to prosper. This industry will be just like the Insulation debacle where everyone jumped on the band wagon to make a quick buck, and in a few years time when the shit hits the fan they will be long gone enjoying their life on your dime.Posted Friday 23 Nov 2012 @ 6:56:37 am from IP # -
franks
MemberThe CEC are clowns..the sooner accrediation registration is opened up the better..it should be like ACMA for Telecomms cabling & equipment..there are 4 cabling registers and only costs $120 for 3 years registration..unlike the CEC $880 for 2 years..go figure!
Posted Sunday 25 Nov 2012 @ 11:39:09 pm from IP #