Best Solar Panels – Global Ranking Of Manufacturers
Posted by admin on Aug 16, 2009
In 2007 ENF Ltd., a reputable China and UK based photovoltaic information company, took a brand survey of photovoltaic installation companies in 45 different countries.
ENF is a photovoltaic information company located in China and in the U.K. . Those were the results:
Best Solar Panels
Global No.1 Brand: SunPower
Global No.2 Brand: Schott Solar
Global No.3 Brand: Solar World
No.1 Product Quality: Sanyo
No.1 Value for Money: Suntech Power
Best Solar Panels Inverters
Global No.1 Brand: Kaco Solar
Global No.2 Brand: OutBack
Global No.3 Brand: Mastervolt
No.1 Product Quality: OutBack
No.1 Value for Money: Kaco Solar
Best Solar Panels Mounting Systems
Global No.1 Brand: Direct Power & Water
Global No.2 Brand: UniRac
Global No.3 Brand: Schüco
Best Solar Trackers
Global No.1 Brand: Zomeworks
Best Solar Systems
Global No.1 Brand: Sharp
ENF is a photovoltaic information company located in China and in the U.K.. Their 3 core activities are:
1. Photovoltaic Company Directory
2. Photovoltaic Market Research
3. Trade Services
CEO: Kit Temple Website: http://www.enf.cn
How can you find the “best solar panels” for your purpose?
A good way to start finding out is to ask yourself: Do I want to produce electrical power to run electrical devices in the house, in the garden or on the way, e.g. Lights, Stereos, Computers etc.? Or do I want to produce heat / hot water for house and pool? In this article you will learn how to choose the best solar panels and do both.
Electrical Power with Photovoltaic Panels
Strictly speaking “Solar Panels” are Photovoltaic Panels or Photovoltaic Modules. Solar Panels in this respect convert shortwave radiation, mostly sunlight, into electrical power. They consist of Photovoltaic Cells made of Silicium or other semiconducting materials. (Silicium is worldwide most frequently used). These Solar Panels are available in different sizes, (falling) prices and, depending on size and material, different degrees of efficiency and amounts of wattage they can produce.
Now how to choose the best solar panels out of this wide range of electricity producing modules? Please consider two more things:
- The bigger the solar panel, the more electricity it will relatively produce
- The higher the degree of efficiency, the more electricity it will realtively produce
So, if you have a small rooftop and a lot of money, you may get Gallium-Arsenik-Solar Panels installed. They have the biggest commercial available degree of efficiency (30%) and produce 50 Watt / Kilogram. They are perhaps the best solar panels and very, very expensive.
If you have an average roof and average money, you may consider multicristalline Silicium Panels. Their degree of efficiency is circa 16% and are the best solar panels in cost/performance ratio at the time. Further alternatives are:
- Monocristalline Silicium Panels (degree of efficiency is over 20% at 20 – 50 Watt per Kilogram
- Amorphous Silicium Thin-Film-Panels (degree of efficiency at 5 – 7 %, best solar panels in sales at the time)
Hot Water with Solar Collectors
Solar Thermal Collectors or Solar Collectors, on the other hand, are devices that also utilize the sunlight. They generate heat / hot water and use a technology that is very different to Photovoltaic Modules. Nevertheless are they commonly named “Solar Panels”, too. That especially when they are non parabolic flat and installed on rooftops. Solar Collectors can produce heat / hot water with a high degree of efficiency. Residential installations provide hot water for heating and shower. Industrial Solar Collectors can use the produced hot water even to run electrical generators and produce electrical power. Depending on the different ways of damping the Solar Absorber there are 4 major kinds of Solar Thermal Collectors:
- Flat Plate – Uses common insulating material
- Evacuated Tube – Uses vacuum for damping, is more expensive
- Vacuum Flat Plate – Is flat, has a good gross/net ratio and is vacuum damped. The best Solar Panels for hot water.
- Low Temperatur Absorber – Is a simple absorber, mostly used to heat swimming pools, mostly consists of plastic material and is in the majority of cases undamped. But belongs to the best solar panels for pool heating.
There are some other kinds of Solar Collectors such as Air, Asphalt and Volumetric Thermal Collectors. The latter may be the earliest Solar Collector in human history but in real life you may use one of the 4 common Collector-Types mentioned above to produce heat / hot water.
Summary:
If you want to produce electricity, the best solar panels are photovoltaic panels. If you want to produce heat / hot water, the best solar panels for you are Solar Thermal Collectors. There are a lot of differences in price and performance in both categories, depending on several factors mentioned above. Consider consulting one or several local Solar-Specialists to get advice on location. Consider as well building your own solar panels, save a lot of money and get a lot of fun.
9wuank75mi
New Generation Of Best Solar Panels For Rooftops
Posted by admin on Oct 6, 2009
The Dow Chemical Company unveiled their new revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels yesterday (05 October 2009).
Dow’s PowerhouseTM product line provides solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. These new best solar panels for rooftops use low-cost thin-film CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium (Di-)Selenide) solar cells.
Thin-Film solar panels are certainly not the best solar panels in respect of efficiency. They reach an efficiency of 20% in the laboratory and 10% – 12% in photovoltaic modules. For comparison: The most efficient best solar panels, using GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) solar cells reach more than 40% efficiency. The second best solar panels in respect of efficiency use Monocrystalline Silicon solar cells (c-Si) and achieve circa 20%.
The Dow Chemical Company has not yet reported, what degree of efficiency their new solar shingels will obtain. But even with rather low conversion rates, Dow’s solar shingles are a very interesting alternative to rigid roof installed solar panels out of these 5 Reasons:
1. CIGS-Thin-Film solar panels are cheaper than silicon and GaAs solar panels. Yet today they are the best solar panels in respect of sales numbers worldwide.
2. Dow’s Powerhouse solar shingles do not need any mounting systems and thus reduce installation costs.
3. Conventional roofing shingles and electric solar panels shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors.
4. The solar shingles can be installed by DIY homeowners, since not specialized skills or knowledge of solar panels installations are required.
5. Single shingles may be replaced easily if damaged.
The best solar panels, which are not really “panels” anymore “are expected to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected to be more widely available in 2011″. For more information visit Dow Chemical’s website here: Dow PowerhouseTM solar shingles.
P.S.:
If you like this article “New Generation Of Best Solar Panels For Rooftops”, please leave a comment. Thank you.
Not really the world’s best solar panels, but your first DIY low-cost low-tech solar panels experience
Posted by admin on Sep 29, 2009
This is an experiment you can easily conduct at home. Build your first low-tech anti best solar panels and learn the basics of how photovoltaic devices work.
Chances are good that you have all the stuff you need at home.
- Copper flashing or sheeting
- Tin snips
- Steel wool
- Table salt
- Micro-amperemeter
- Empty 2 liter plastic bottle
- Tap water
- Alligator clips
- Electric stove or propane torch
With this equipment you can build a solar device which is definitely not among the world’s best solar panels. It generates a humble 50 microamps at low voltage which may not even be enough to run a tiny light bulb. But try it. It’s fun and prepares you for bigger DIY projects to make your own best solar panels and drive electric devices in home and garden.
Watch this video. It leads you step-by-step to making your own low-tech non best solar panels. Have fun.
Best Solar Panels By Ascent Solar: 67 MW Agreement Signed
Posted by admin on Sep 24, 2009
Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. produces lightweight, flexible and high effiency flexible thin-film photovoltaic solar panels. They are among the best solar panels in the world.
Now Ascent Solar has announced that it has signed a multi-year direct supply agreement with TurtleEnergy LLC. TurtleEnergy LLC is a premium photovoltaic systems integrator and has access to the best solar panels components. Ascent Solar is to deliver up to 67 MW (megawatts) of it’s high efficiency flexible CIGS (copper indium gallium (di)selenide) best solar panels over the next five years.
CIGS solar cells are less efficient than crystalline silicon solar cells. But the advantages of CIGS thin-film electric solar panels are lower prices, their flexibility and thus larger versatility.
For more information on best solar panels click www.ascentsolar.com and www.turtleenergy.com
Posted via email from bestsolarpanels’s posterous
“MindMap on Solar Road Panels (TM), the electric solar panels for roads!”
Posted by admin on Sep 17, 2009
Solar Roadways (TM), founded by electrical engineer Scott Brusaw and his wife Julie, wants to replace asphalt roads by electric solar panels.
Roads floored with electric solar panels interconnect to an intelligent, decentralized, self-healing and secure power grid. It will be able to collect, store and distribute energy to houses and businesses. It even will recharge all-electric-vehicles. Using these road electric solar panels throughout the United States, so the Brusaw’s vision, would produce over three times the electricity currently used in the entire U.S.A. This Mindmap shows the advantages of Solar Roadways’ electric solar panels at a glance (click Mindmap to enlarge):
Mindmap on Solar Roadways (TM). Click to enlarge.
For more information on Solar Roadways’ solar road panels, electric solar panels for roads, click http://www.solarroadways.com
“Take Me Home, Solar Roads. Best Solar Panels to Drive on!”
Posted by admin on Sep 15, 2009
Scott Brusaw, an electrical engineer from Sagle, Idaho, USA, was a kid when he first envisioned “electric roads”. Today, decades later, he and his wife Julie run an organization called Solar Roadways (TM) to make his dream reality
Solar Roadways is planning to establish a decentralized, secure, intelligent, self-healing power grid based on the best solar panels for that purpose. Solar Roadways now has been rewarded a DOT (Department of Transportation) contract that will enable them to prototype the first ever Solar Road Panel, the only and best solar panels for roads.
Scott Brusaw explains the concept of Solar Roadways (TM)
Scott and Julie Brusaw have calculated, that Solar Roadway will pay for itself through the generation of electricity. Based on very conservative numbers, where the used best solar panels have an efficiency of only 15% (for comparison: the best solar panels available have efficiencies of 40%), solar roadways could generate threetimes the electricity that is currently used in the United States.
One plate of the best solar panels for roads, called Solar Road Panels (TM), is supposed to have the size of 12 ft x 12 ft (4 m x 4m) and to consist of 3 layers:
1. The road surface layer is translucent to let sunlight shine through on the solar panel. At the same time it is weatherproof to protect the electronics layer below, it can bear heaviest loads and it is rough to provide great traction even when it is wet.
2. The electronics layer consists of arrays of different cells and a microprocessor. The solar collecting cells convert sunlight into electricity, which is stored by “Super” / “Ultra” Caps. LEDs in the layer “paint” the road surface with road marking, traffic signs and actual warning signs. The LEDs can even illuminate the entire panel. A microprocessor controled communications device is built in every single panel. The micorprocessor also controls lighting, monitoring and heating of the panels. The heating keeps the solar road free of ice and snow in nothern climates.
3. The base plate layer distributes the power, collected from the best solar panels in the electronics layer, and data signals like phone, TV and internet to the homes and businesses that are connected to the solar roadway. It is weatherproof to protect the electronics layer above it.
It may take some years to see roads floored with best solar panels, but Scott and Julie Brusaw’s solar road panels are a good start and a possible way to cut greenhouse gases in half and get rid of dependency on foreign oil. For more information click http://www.solarroadways.com
“New Best Solar Panels by Solar-Fabrik Group!”
Posted by admin on Sep 7, 2009
What do you get, when you connect 60 monocrystalline silicon solar cells together in one solar panel? Right. One of the best solar panels in the world.
As part of its new 200/3A module series, Solar Fabrik has now released photovoltaic modules with an output up to 240 watts. Compared to their size, they are the most powerful and best solar panels in the Solar Fabrik product range. They are suitable for either private systems installed as roof solar panels or for large scale solar power systems. Check out this mindmap to learn more about one of the world’s best solar panels:
Mindmap: Solar Fabrik’s new series of best solar panels (click to enlarge)
Best solar panels: 7 important points you want to pay attention to (plus video)
Posted by admin on Sep 6, 2009
If you are in search for the best solar panels for your individual needs, these 7 important points may be helpful to make the right decision.
Sometimes minor varieties make a big difference. The production of best solar panels needs some more production steps to ensure highest quality. Ask your dealer or manufacturer, if their “best solar panels” comply with these points:
- Best solar panels are carefully and durable connected.
- Manufacturers of best solar panels verify the voltage of each module individually.
- The layers of glass, laminate and ceiling film in best solar panels consist of high tech materials to stabilize and protect the photovoltaic panel. They must be durable over time in all weather conditions and temperatures.
- The baking process of the best solar panels is engineered very accurately to make sure that the right temperature and baking time are being held exactly.
- The best solar panels are tested in a solar simulator to ensure that they output the guaranteed performance.
- The frame of best solar panels is applied carefully to avoid tension of the panel.
- The frame is lightweight and durable (especially at edges) at the same time
This video shows you the production steps of awafer based silicon solar panel
0:08 Introduction of silicon solar cells, basis of the best solar panels.
0:27 Several photovoltaic modules need to be connected together to make a photovoltaic panel.
1:32 The voltage of each module is being verified.
1:58 The solar panel modules are being connected.
2:17 Transparent sheet of layered glass is being put on to support the modules.
2:32 Laminate increases rigidity and solidity of the best solar panels
2:42 Application of ceiling film for protection.
2:53 Baking of the solar panel at 80°C / 176°F for 15 minutes.
3:14 Solar Panel is being tested in solar simulator.
3:45 (excursus) Amorphous solar panel assembly
4:24 Framing of the crystalline silicon solar panel
Best Solar Panels for iPhone and iPod
Posted by admin on Sep 4, 2009
How to never run out of power regardless where you are with the best solar panels for iPod touch 2nd generation or iPhone 2G, 3G and 3G S?
Great! Whether you are on the beach, traveling, fishing or camping, whether you are walking, running, hiking, biking or sailing: as long as it is sunny you now can power up your iPod touch or iPhone with Novothink’s eco friendly surge hybrid solar charger case.
As it is a lightweight, durable and harness free case and a clean power charger all in one you have your iPod or iPhone charged with best solar panels and protected while having full access to the touch screen.
The solar panels are being described by Novothink as “state-of-the-art”. Best solar panels with an output of 5.5 volts at 100 mAh (milliampere-hours) in full sun. 2 hours of direct solar exposure provides about 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network or 60 minutes of talk time on a 2G network.
Further information on the particular built in solar panels are not available at the time and may remain a company secret even in the future. To me it looks like a new generation of thin-film solar panel. In fact, Novothink states thtat it “takes pride and dedication to making the best solar products in the market.”
Surge’s best solar panels charge a rechargeable 1500 mAh 3.7 V lithium-ion polymer battery. It’s technology prevents overcharging and provides protection from extreme temperatures, which makes it perfect for outdoor use. And you do not have to watch any charging durations, because it is a “smart solar charging device”. So the best solar panels charge the battery only if necessary. The accumulator more than doubles the battery life of iPhone 3G / iPod touch and offers 120% capacity of iPhone 3G and iPod touch.
Novothink’s Surge Solar Charger is the only Apple licensed solar charger case and both, iPod version and iPhone version, have built-in Apple certified 30 pin connectors.The Surge Charger Case has a 4 LED battery status indicator and keeps you informed about the actual power status. Both versions come with an USB 2.0 cable for high capacity charging and data exchange. With this, you do not need to remove your iPod / iPhone from the case to synchronize with iTunes or to power up.
Novothink Inc. is a California based company from San Leandro, CA. That’s what they state in the About-us-section of their website:
“Founded by both technology industry veterans and environmental enthusiasts, NOVOTHINK began with a clean and simple vision to bring solar technology together with portable electronic devices. Through our efforts, we are focused on promoting solar energy awareness while offering the latest solar technology for today’s most in-demand consumer products. We strongly believe that we are all responsible for nurturing, protecting, and respecting our planet and its natural resources, and that through our efforts we are making a difference and improving lives today and for those of future generations.“
I like that very much. Thumbs up for the best solar panels manufacturer to charge Apple’s mobile devices. For further information check out Novothink’s website
P.S.: The iPod version of the Surge Charger Case is offered in 4 different colours, the iPhone version in 8 different colours. Surge will be priced at circa $70 and it will be available soon.
“Mindmap on Photovoltaic Modules to Find the Best Solar Panels!”
Posted by admin on Sep 3, 2009
Mindmaps are an easy way to get a general idea of a particular topic. This mindmap gives you an overview of photovoltaic modules to find the best solar panels for your personal needs.
Mindmap “Photovoltaic module” (click to enlarge) Find the best solar panels for your individual purpose
This image is a minimized version of the original mindmap, which you can see in full size here: best solar panels. It is a mindmap based on the wikipedia article “Photovoltaic module“, made with wikimindmap and exported into XMind.
Click “outline” in the bottom left-hand corner of the full size version to see the links to the respective articles. Adjust size with the toggle in the bottom right-hand corner. If you are in search for the best solar panels for your personal needs, this mindmap may be helpful. Please share, if you like it.
