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SolarPanels(PV)andVoltages
Unlockthemysteriesbehindthejargonandacronymsofvoltage!
writtenbyJamesCormican
Forfolksthatarenewtophotovoltaics(PVorSolarPanels),unlockingthemysteriesbehindthejargonand
acronymsisoneofthemostdifficultearlytasks.RegardingVoltage,PVmoduleshavemanydifferentvoltage
figuresassociatedwiththem.Wellstartwiththeeasyonesandgoonfromthere.
Inthisarticle,you'lllearnabout:
VoltageatOpenCircuit(VOC)
VoltageatMaximumPower(VMPorVPM)
NominalVoltage
TemperatureCorrectedVOC
TemperatureCoefficientofVoltage
MeasuringVoltageandSolarPanelTesting
VoltageatOpenCircuit(VOC)
Thisisthevoltagethatisreadwithavoltmeterormultimeterwhenthemoduleisnotconnectedtoanyload.
YouwouldexpecttoseethisnumberlistedonaPVmodule'sspecificationsheetandsticker.
Thisvoltageisusedwhentestingmodulesfreshoutofthebox,andusedlaterwhendoingtemperature
correctedVOCcalculationsinsystemdesign.YoucanreferencethechartbelowtofindtypicalVOCvaluesfor
differenttypesofcrystallinePVmodules.
12 21 17 36
18 30 24 48
18 33 26 54
20 36 29 60
24 42 35 72
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VoltageatMaximumPower(VMPorVPM)
Thisisthevoltagethatoccurswhenthemoduleisconnectedtoaloadandisoperatingatitspeak
performanceoutputunderstandardtestconditions(STC).Youwouldexpecttoseethisnumberlistedona
modulesspecificationsheetandsticker.VMPisattheplaceofthebendonanIVcurvewherethegreatest
poweroutputofthemoduleis.
Itisimportanttonotethatthisvoltageisnoteasilymeasured,andalsonotrelatedtosystemperformanceper
se.ItisnotuncommonforaloadorabatterybanktodrawdowntheVMPofamoduleorarraytoafewvolts
lowerthanVMPwhilethesystemisinoperation.
TheratedwattageofaPVmodulecanbeconfirmedincalculationsbymultiplyingtheVMPofthemodulebythe
currentatmaxpower(IMP).TheresultshouldgiveyouP@MPPorpoweratthemaximumpowerpoint,the
sameasthemodulesnameplatewattage.
TheVMPofamodulegenerallyworksouttobe0.5voltspercellconnectedinserieswithinthemodule.You
canreferencethecharttofindtypicalVMPvaluesfordifferenttypesofcrystallinemodules.
NominalVoltage
Thisisthevoltagethatisusedasaclassificationmethod,asacarryoverfromthedayswhenbatterysystems
weretheonlythingsgoing.YouwouldNOTexpecttoseethisnumberlistedonaPVmodule'sspecification
sheetandsticker.Thisnomenclatureworkedreallywellbecausemostsystemshad12vor24vbatterybanks.
Whenyouhada12vbatterytochargeyouwouldusea12vmodule,endofstory.Thesameheldtruewith24v
systems.
BecausechargingDeepCycleBatterieswastheonlygameintown,theneedsofthebatteriesdictatedhow
manycellsinsidethePVshouldbewiredinseriesandorparallel,sothatundermostweatherconditionsthe
solarmoduleswouldworktochargethebattery(s).
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Ifyoureferencethechart,youcanseethat12vmodulesgenerallyhad36cellswiredinseries,whichoverthe
yearswasfoundtobetheoptimumnumberforreliablechargingof12vbatteries.Itstandstoreasonthata24v
systemwouldseethenumbersdouble,anditholdstrueinthechart.Everythingworkedreallywellinthisoff
gridsolarsystemastheChargeControllersandInvertersevolvedalongthesamenomenclaturesothatwhen
youhada12vbatteryandyouwantedsolarpower,youknewyouhadtogeta"12v"moduleanda"12v"
controller.
Eventhoughthevoltagefromthesolarmodulecouldbeat17vdc,andthechargecontrollerwouldbecharging
at14v,whiletheinverterwasrunninghappilyat13vdcinput,thewholesystemwasmadeupof12v"nominal"
componentssothatitwouldallworktogether.Thisworkedwellforagoodwhileuntilmaximumpowerpoint
technology(MPPT)becameavailableandGridTieInvertersstartedpoppingup.
ThismeantthatnotallPVwasnecessarilychargingbatteries,andthatasMPPTtechnologyevolved,even
whenPVwasusedinchargingbatteries,youwerenolongerrequiredtousethesamenominalvoltageasyour
batterybank.
StringinvertersandMPPTSolarChargeControllerschangedthegameformodules,astheywerenolonger
forcedintheirdesigntobebeholdentothevoltageneedsofdeepcyclebatteries.Thisshiftallowed
manufacturerstomakemodulesbasedonphysicalsize,wattagecharacteristics,anduseothermaterialsthat
producedmodulevoltagescompletelyunrelatedtobatteries.
Thefirstandmostpopularchangeoccurredinwhatarenowgenerallycalled18v"nominal"modules.Thereare
no18vbatterybanksforREsystems.Themodulesacquiredthisnamebecausetheircellcountandfunctional
voltageratingsputthemrightinbetweenthetwoexistingcategoriesof12vand24v"nominal"PVmodules.
Manymodulesfollowedwith48to60cells,thatproducedvoltagesthatwerenotadirectmatchfor12or24volt
nominalsystemcomponents.
Toavoidbadsystemdesignandconfusion,the18vmonikerwasadoptedbymanyintheindustry,butultimately
mayhavecreatedmoreconfusionamongnovicesthatdidnotunderstandtherelationshipbetweencellsin
series,VOC,VMP,andnominalvoltage.Withthisunderstandingthingsgetaloteasier,andthechartshould
helptounlocksomeofthemystery.
TemperatureCorrectedVOC
ThisvalueisrequiredtoensurethatwhencoldtemperaturesraisetheVOCofanarray,thatotherconnected
equipmentlikeMPPTcontrollersorGridTieinvertersarenotdamaged.Thiscalculationisdoneinoneoftwo
ways.ThefirstwayinvolvesusingthechartinNEC690.7.Thesecondwayinvolvesdoingcalculationswiththe
TemperatureCoefficientofVoltageandthecoldestlocaltemperature.
TemperatureCoefficientofVoltage
Thisvaluerepresentsthechangeinvoltagebasedontemperature.GenerallyitisusedtocalculateCold
Temp/HigherVoltagesituationsforarrayandcomponentselectionincoolerclimates.Thisvaluemaybe
presentedasapercentagechangefromSTCvoltagesperdegreeorasavoltagevaluechangeperdegree
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tempchange.Thisinformationwasnoteasilyfoundinthepast,butisnowmorecommonlyseenonspecpages
andsometimesmodulestickers.
MeasuringVoltageandSolarPanelTesting
VoltagescanbereadonaPVmodulewiththeuseofavoltmeterormultimeter.
Whatyou'llseeovertotherightisanexampleofavoltmetermeasuringVOCwithajunctionbox.Thiswouldbe
theviewfromthebackofthePVmodule.
Tolearnfurtheraboutsolarpaneltesting,checkoutourVideoTip!
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