SOLAR BASICS

Why Solar power ?

Free electricity from the sun would appear to be the future power of our generation. Now that solar photovoltaic modules are available at much lower prices the ever before, it would be cheaper to obtain electricity directly from the sun. This is especially the case for Malaysia, which has the advantage of unlimited sunshine all year round. With such abundant sunshine we should be using solar powered traffic lights (No more traffic jams every time there is a power cut), solar powered display stands, solar powered billboards, solar highway lights, solar streetlights, and many more applications.

Each stand-alone, solar electricity generating system can provide power for up to 24 hours a day. Solar lights can be designed to provide illumination automatically from dusk to dawn. Each system can charge itself, store and produce electricity even on dull days.

Recreation parks and gardens would solar powered lights light safer if as they operate at 12V DC. At this voltage there is no danger of electrocution, a most beneficial safety feature in places frequented by children.

Moreover solar powered lights can be installed almost anywhere: in rugged terrain, offshore, in remote areas where electricity is needed but not available.

Solar power is now used for outlying telecommunication relay towers, remote sensing equipment, aircraft warning lights on pylons.

Advantages of solar powered equipment

1. No bills to pay
    Buy solar powered equipment and after that your electricity is free.

2. Minimal or no maintenance
    Solar Panels are guaranteed for 15 years and the Deep Cycle Batteries for 5 years.

3. Standalone
    Streetlights can be easily relocated and any occurrence of accidents or failure will not affect the others.

4. Cost effective
    In areas where the National Grid is not available, Solar powered products have a clear advantage. There will     be no cabling costs, no need for substations, which are very costly to put up.

5. Auto on/off Sensors
    No manual operation required to on/off the lights.

6. After Sale Support readily available
    As Solar Voltaic is a local company, there is no undue need to wait for spare parts.

So be environmentally friendly, save money and be first into the future with Malaysian Solar power. It even runs on Malaysian Sunshine.

Specialised Lighting System

Solar Voltaic (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. has developed its own lighting system. A normal incandescent light bulb loses 90% of the power you put into it, in the form of heat. (just touch a light bulb and see how hot it is). The new energy saving fluorescent lamps, still need heated cathodes to work and also lose two-thirds their energy in heating the cathodes. Solar Voltaic uses a cold cathode tube for lighting. This is much more efficient.

What to look for in a Solar power system Overview and checklist For a good solar power system you need : 1. A Solar panel to produce electricity. 2. Correct installation of the panel to obtain full output. 3. A Solar power controller to protect and care for the rest of the circuits.

4. Powers output either a 240-volt inverter or direct DC out.

a. A 240-volt inverter loses 30% power in the conversion process.(Use 12 V DC wherever     possible to save this loss.)

b. change to 12-volt systems if possible, to save costs.

5. Solar power storage.Non liquid, Deep cycle, solar batteries.

6. Use a company that knows about solar power and knows how to install it.

Solar panels: Crystalline or Amorphous

The Thin Film, Amorphous Silicon, Type of panel, is most suitable for Tropical applications.

Warning: The watts peak figure given for any Solar panel, is NOT the output, from that panel. The actual output, depends on the surface temperature, Amount of Light reaching the panel and the angle of the Sun to the panel. Watts peak is a figure obtained under laboratory conditions that can NOT occur in real life. It is the MAXIMUM output of the panel under laboratory conditions.

Solar Panel Characteristics

Crystalline	Amorphous
Crystalline panels, have individual crystalline cells, arranged in a series configuration, Joined by wires, which results in a drastic loss of output, if any one of the small series cells is overshadowed. They have NO shadow tolerance.	Amorphous panels will produce high output when a shadow is cast across the panel surface. They have excellent Shadow Tolerance.
The output of both Amorphous and Crystalline, 100 watt panels, is equivalent, under direct, mid day Sun, below 25C surface temperature. Crystalline panels can not provide power unless under direct Sunlight.	An Amorphous panel, retains a higher voltage output in cloudy conditions and can even provide a small output, in rain. This means that the batteries can still receive some charge in the rainy season, using Amorphous panels.
Average Annual Yield of Crystalline Panels is 1 Kilowatt per Watt Peak.	Average Annual Yield of Amorphous Panels is 1.3 Kilowatt per Watt Peak.
Crystalline panels suffer a high voltage drop when heated by the Sun. (A crystalline panel that is 16% efficient at 25° C will be 9% efficient at 100° C.)(Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S.A.)	Amorphous panels retain a higher voltage output under direct heat and can still produce over 20 volts at 75 degrees surface temperature. This is an average Malaysian surface temperature, never 25C.
Mould Growth occasionally occurs, in-between the individual Crystalline cells, of a standard crystalline panel and quickly overtakes and destroys the Crystalline cells.	Amorphous panels have no internal space and are composed of photovoltaic material impregnated directly onto glass at high temperatures. This prevents mould growth,
Crystalline Cells are Expensive	Amorphous cells are less costly. A great advantage.
Crystalline Panels are very expensive to make in smaller sizes and the increase in cost, prevents them from taking advantage of the Modular Format.	Solar Voltaic use modular, Amorphous panels. This means that they can be spaced with a 2" air gap, between small panels, to avoid wind resistance. It also has the advantage, that if a small panel is broken, it makes very little difference to the total output and no system failure occurs. Also, the cost of replacing a small broken panel is very much less, than replacing a large broken panel. This makes the system maintenance, both cost effective and more reliable with Amorphous panels.
Crystalline panels suffer from an average deterioration of 1.5% per year, from the stated watts Peak Value. Sometimes more, in tropical Climates. Their original output is given as the output before any deterioration.	Amorphous panels suffer from an average deterioration of less than 1% per year, from the stated watts Peak Value. When new, they have 30% more, than the stated watts Peak. This is lost during the first part of the Panel's life. After an initial deterioration of about three months, an Amorphous panel suffers no further deterioration and in hot temperatures, it can increase its output, due to an annealing effect of the Sun, on the Silicon Structure. The Amorphous panel output, is given as the output, AFTER the initial 30% deterioration.
A 100 watt peak crystalline panel would be 25% smaller but produces 25% Less power per Annum, for the same Watts Peak. Due to the extra power produced by Amorphous Panels when conditions are not Ideal, it is possible to get the same amount of power per area, from the Amorphous and Crystalline Panels.	The 100 watt peak Amorphous panel is 25% bigger but produces 25% more Power per Annum, for the same watts Peak

In Malaysia the Sun tracks from North to South during the year and East to West during each day. It is therefore, inevitable that Single panels, will be facing away from the Sun at some time during the year. Always arrange panels on BOTH sides of any structure, to ensure that full output is incoming from at least one set of panels, at any time during the year. You can see from the Chart below that the Panels Have to Face North for 6 Months and then South for the next 6 Months.