Testing Gains From Bifacial Panels | Round 2
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- Опубліковано 10 бер 2024
- Calculate Solar Panel Cost For Your Home - www.solarreviews.com/solar-es...
Trina 395W Bifacial Panels- shopsolarkits.com/collections...
EG4 Ground Mount - signaturesolar.com/eg4-bright...
Continuing on testing I performed a couple weeks back and I wanted to see if I could beat the 4% gains I saw from bifacial panels in Round 1. I took the feedback from the viewers of the round 1 testing and made the following changes:
Changes from Round 1 to Round 2
1) Panels Mounted at 36 degrees on an EG4 Ground Mount
2) Double layer of tape on the "standard panels" to ensure no bifacial gains are being seen
3) Panels higher off the ground on a ground mount compared the flat roof
Round 1 Testing: • Testing Gains From Bif...
DISCLAIMER: This video is for entertainment purposes only. Also, this video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. - Навчання та стиль
I think you’ll have to do a full day comparison to get the most accurate results. I have bifacial panels set up to run one of my campers and regular panels on another. The bifacial panels start charging earlier in the morning and continue later in the evening.
I agree.
Several reasons for the low additional gains of the bifacial panels:
1. Your mounts provide shading
2. The ground under and behind the panels doesn‘t provide a high albedo
3. The most important reason is, your panels are already maxed out by the direct sunlight. They are in their steady state under the given conditions and can‘t generate much more because of the temperature they reach.
They are 395 Wp which would mean about 1580 Wh of Energy in 2 hours IF they could sustain that for the whole time, which they can’t due to heating up. The maximum sustained power is usually around 90% of the peak power with moderate air temperature. That would give you about 1422 Wh in 2 hours which is pretty darn close to your results.
Bifacial panels can not shine, when the front side can already max out their long term power cap.
Yes, please test them in overcast conditions!
For me the big advantage that bifacial panels is that they can be used in vertical east-west orientation. This is the gamechanges since they can now be used for fences in roads and in agriculture. Unfortunately the backside only has 60% the peak capacity of the front side. Hopefully it will eventually get to 100%. And that would mean that a bifacial panel in vertical east-west orientation will be able to produce close to 90% of what a monofacial panel with angled south orientation would have.
Furthermore east-west orientation will definitely help with the duck curves we are seeing all over the world.
Absolutely agree. Would like to see a comparison of vertical east west aligned bifacial panels with south aligned non bificial at the ideal tilt for your location.
So I'm about to purchase panels would you recommend these? Yes I guess?
I agree. A vertical EW orientation test would be the next one I would do.
The best bang for the buck panels I see right now are the REC 370W signaturesolar.com/rec-370w-mono-split-cell-solar-panel-silver-rec370tp2sm72/?ref=tWl8ELLgfBNOCr these are not bifacial but the price is great, looks like there is a 10 panel minimum.
The statement about 60% back side efficiency is false. Trina's NEG21C.20 Topcon panels have >80% bifaciality.
Bifacial is going to give you much more benefit if you test it for a full day. Of course, during the two hours when the sun is just burning down on that south side, you won't see much difference, but the sun moves around in a large arc, and will sometimes hit the back of the panels directly, especially if they are angled as steeply as you have them there. That's where the bifacial factor will come into play.
I see the same issue over and over again - the ground mounts that are not optimized for bifacial gain are used in majority of cases. The transverse bar is shadowing through the whole width of the panel greatly reduces the gain. Try to put a beam accross the panel on the front side to see the equivalent effect of shading.
It is true that the backside light is much more diffuse, but still the mounts are waay suboptimal.
Ive never had a monofacial panel hit 100% of its rated output, ehile ive never had a bifacial not hit at least 10% over its max output rating. I also use them on the brightmount arrays 5 feet in the air
Love doing the DIY projects and especially the projects you've been doing. 👍👍
Thanks for the feedback and I will keep poking around and sharing my projects 🙌
You need something to reflect light behind those panels like white rocks or reflective material to get actual gains
I was going to say the same thing, needs to lay something white under and around the panels.
Agreed, need something light colored to reflect the sun light
Sounds like a good test 👍 Thanks for the feedback.
@everydaysolar I was going to come in to suggest that maybe these bifacial panels are really intended to perform best in large-scale solar farms. The panels could be set up in such a way that what sunlight reflects from the row behind would shine on the backside of the row in front of them and you would really get some more production out of the backside of each row.
Scott, I have one of those power meters( actually several). I have found them to be terribly inaccurate in both low current and high current conditions. One of them doesn’t show any current until it exceeds 2 amps! Just suggest you test them and get a feel for their accuracy.
Love your channel.
EG4 now has an extension kit for the Brightmount rack kit. It adds 5 inches to the length and is fairly inexpensive at about $12 US. I've used it to get my four 44.6" Bifacials mounted.
Good test, I was expecting more on this one. I read about a test with bifacials and height. They need a minimum height raised off the ground to hit that max gain. I believe it was like 6 feet so like a full commercial rack would do it.
I built a similar temporary base for my Brightmounts but I used 4x6's. Also due to the location requirement I didn't connect the two halves together in the middle so each rack is a two panel rack.
I think you made a good, crucial point about the performance in all conditions(sunny, partial sunny, all clouds). What is the difference then? Also, I think a long term test, say a whole week, would be good and might yield better gains for the bi-facial panels. Also, as a few of us have said, a vertical East-West setup.
Diy, roof mount on a large pole barn, grid tied, but big enough to reach a zero power bill minus service fees and battery backup for atleast a few days. I've been interested in the qcell bifacial 480w panels and the (i think its called) eg4 pro system. Little fuzzy on the exact name of it but its the grey and black all in one system. Worst part of the setup is about a 200ft run from the roof of the pole barn to the house where the inverter and attery setup would be.
Can you test and compare the energy production by placing various materials beneath it to reflect sunlight onto its rear side? Materials such as white-painted sheet, aluminum-painted sheet, aluminum foil, mirror, etc.? It would be great if you could set up the panel at least 5 feet above the ground.
6:08 RuttRo - It’s ok, at least for now bifacial is the way to go on ground mount. The EG4 Bright mount is great, I have two of them. Kinda curious about the width issue. 45” would be better, they offer a 6” extension kit too.
have you ever tried using a light guide to direct the sunlight directly from the sun at the bottom of the panels? in such a way that both the sides of panel are LIT properly?
The white tape on top of the blue tape is still not enough. When the camera is behind the panels, you can still see right through that white and blue tape. I can clearly see the grid. Cover it with black tape. Fully block out any light coming through.
I only have the EcoFlow Bifacial panels. Did not really see much of a gain on sunny days. I mainly use them at the beach where the sun can reflect some from the sand. At most I got about 200 watts out of the panel. If any advantage to my bifacial panel is that on cloudy days it produced 22 more watts over my 160 watt panel. Don't know if it is because the bifacial is a 220 watt panel. Regardless it was enough to maintain my 12V fridge over 4 days in cloudy conditions running. I might have run out of battery power had I only used my 160 watt panel by the 3rd day.
I wonder how well a white background behind bifacial would work.
Hi Scott - not so practical for suburban roof or yard spacing, but what if you had panels spaced out behind panels, so the rear panels would be able to absorb direct sunlight, but they could be angled to reflect some of that light onto the back side of the forward panels for at least a part of the day. This would make the forward double faced panels way more efficient for some of the day if you could get the sun angle for the reflection figured out?
Heh...I said the same thing in another reply😂
maybe the tape lets the heat reach higher numbers losing a bit more power for the covered ones... but it depends the climate at your place....
I'm thinking about DYI bifacial panel on a sun tracker system of some type. Thanks for doing these types of comparisons. Very interesting.
You bet, thanks for the feedback!
I wonder how tracking bifacial panel can be since the surfaces are facing opposite. May be you try tracking and compare with monofacoal panels.
Bifacial panels, mounted above snowy ground, on a very bright day, perhaps even with a vertical, east-west orientation. Most of the time, under normal conditions, they seem like an added expense without much added value.
I just watch another video on the benefits of bifacial panels and they were explaining that bifacial panels have 2 collection layers so any light the first layer misses or lets through hits the second layer to increase production. If this is true, your test can't block the second layer from the front at all.
Bifacial make the most extra gains compared to monofacial panels on cloudy days when light is being dispersed all around
Thanks for the feedback!
Do a full day comparison with them in an area that can get east and west exposure so the back side of the panels have more light hitting them.. Your only testing with the sun primarily directly over the panels so they can only get minimal reflected light and direct sun on the back side of the panels.
Fair point and thanks for the feedback!
How much light gets through? We have a patio on the south side of our house that my wife wants covered. I’m thinking that something like these would be a unique way of creating a roof system.
Yeah, I still have a “Solar Pergola” on the list of projects I want to do. I think it is a cool idea. 👍
I am doing the DIY off grid pair with DPU, 2 batteries, used Qcell panels. I feel good and keep looking at the input data, feeling I was mining gold coin. 😂
There is something about harvesting energy from the sun 💯
Also, having the panels right next to each other also prevents sunlight from reaching the backside of the panels.
I'm open to a commercial company doing my project if it is reasonable but if i can do it myself for half I'll do it myself. I'm looking to reduce or eliminate my power bill as much as possible.
I think the solar panels will give more of a percentage increase if possibly it is domed in aluminum backing... as far away as solar panels' height to "domed backing." I believe these reflective backings will greatly enhance the output to charge or usage. I will be testing my own project like this as I am about to build my Ecoflow unit.
(I also think these solar panel companies would benefit in wind turbine power as well. It would be a great ad on revenue due to power = sun, power = wind (when the sun may not be out, or it may be night). Every source is building a greater energy future.
That is my approach to this project of mine.
I've had my system for 9 months and since we been having sun every day now ...I'm tripping the breaker on my combiner box....what could be causing it
What is the setup of your system? For instance on this test the DC is going directly into an adapter cable that takes the MC4 connectors to XT60i into the solar input for each of the Delta Pro units. Do your panels have micro inverters that then go into a combiner box for a AC coupled system?
I'm thinking I'm producing more power then my breaker can handle...it melted the wire and breaker
my experience with my DIY solar is that one can never have to many panels.....no really! I bought 20 used 250w panels thinking i would never even use them and now a year later i am again looking for more panels. Looking back what i would recommend is decide how much you can spend and then build that system as a matched battery/solar setup, then after you have lived with it you will have a good idea what or if you need to expand it. As for the bi-facials they are not for every application. In the right setting they are a better choice such as a fixed ground mount in the winter will benefit when there is snow on the ground(a time when every watt is needed) and in the summer a ground mount will actually have the sun rising and setting behind the panels and bi-facials will take advantage of this. And there is growing evidence of using them vertically like fencing which opens up new mounting possibilities.
Those bifacial panel have advantage of conserving space, but how do they compare with tracked standard solar panels back to back.,?
Bifacials are a good idea if you don't like tracking the panels and you wonna save space.
What is that small energy monitor dongle you are using?
Little power monitors usually used for RC battery monitoring. Here is a little deep dive on the units
ua-cam.com/video/y6Dmn69pbm4/v-deo.html
@@everydaysolar Thank You!
I'm curious why your test was only a few hours and started from 3pm. I feel like a reasonable test would take several days (with results for each day) or at the least be a full day.
Especially for bifacial panels, my assumption is that the extra power is generated when the panels aren't in the ideal position during the day.
I like youe channel! But this video didnt really answer the questions I jas about bifacial panels. I would definitely watch a more indepth test over several days.
Thanks for the feedback and agree extending out the test duration would help validate the end results. I am working on a ground mount where I can swap out different panels for testing. More to come 👍
How do I know if I need to ground my panels?
The short answer is you need to ground all solar panels.
@@readyplayer2 would having my panels set directly on the ground count? I have 400 watts sitting outside propped up against my house and run a cord into my Ecoflow delta 2 lol
Most people would not ground that type of setup. At least from my opinion I would not worry about grounding.
literally every single video you talk about your home roof installation. its been like 2 years. enough already lol
Thanks for the feedback and appreciate the support. The challenge is only 4% of our views come from subscribers so that is the thought process of keeping the same message in every video.
I used Nasa Vapor Barrier Material Stapled on Cheap Pallets and found massive gains due to this material reflecting almost like a Mirror behind My Panels
Hi GreatDane, sounds interesting! Could you tell a bit more please? Tnx
GOOGLE OR EBAY search NASA VAPOR BARRIER Material Rolls
The only thing that matters is amps
Ohms law shows us your panels are only putting in about 14% of your maximum rated output
And clearly displays what a rip-off solar is
Please please put an amp meter between controler & battery
Your attention to and explanation of details is amazing. I'm more interested in a DIY, ground mounted grid tie system.
lol are you purposely being silly? why would you choose WHITE duct tape to go over the blue paint tape? just use black to 100% guarantee no light leaking through!
Won’t be truly convincing until you actually compare it to standard panels, not taped bifacial panels…
Yeah, I need to get 2 sets where they are both the same brand, dimension, but only difference is one is monofacial and bifacial.
You were told this in your last test and I do not understand why you do not seem to understand that bifacial panels need to be up so sunlight can reflect onto the back side. This test is hardly different from the first test and you have a dark background. Given your test setup I do not understand why you would expect hardly any improvement. Frankly, if I was considering hiring you to do a solar set up for me these two videos would convince me to look elsewhere. Take care
The Ecoflow can take a maximum solar input of 800W, which is pretty much what your panels are without the bifaciality. Perhaps the Ecoflow is the limiting factor, not the panels. Maybe just run one panel into each Ecoflow, and do the test over a longer time.
The Delta Pros can go up to 1600W for solar but a longer test would help and would be nice to have time-series data as well to see the differences through out the day.
I'm in an RV living Full time in a RV PARK..... it sucks paying their Electric bill every month...! They don't even read my Meter half the damn time so they guess here and they guess there...... they even told me last July that my Electric Meter jumped 400 to 500 Kw and gave me an $83.00 Electric Bill.....! Thankfully, I read my Meter every evening...! I had Proof that they were full of crap. So I'm a DYI person could never afford the full Roof Solar Panel deal, too freaking expensive..! I got an ECOFLOW RIVER PRO.... Refurbished Power Station and the Extra-Smart Battery w/the ECOFLOW Cable for 1440 Watts of Power w/2-100 Watt Panels, ground mounted for now, expanding slowly as $$$ allows...! =)
why did you do
Tape?? Ok
Keep testing wrong, someday you'll find it by accident.
People have already patented it.