[RFI] SolarEdge Finds New Source of Solar System RFI

[Roger (K8RI)]

It has been years since I was associated with the Silicon industry. I 
left in 87 to go to college full time.

The only thing I can think of that would cause a panel to be noisy would 
be a faulty cell or cells in a panel.
Although I've been away from the industry for 32 years the architecture 
of typical photo-voltaic has changed little.
Stretching my nearly 89 year old memory 32 years is not terribly 
reliable, but IIRC the things that can cause panel to be noisy are 
either physical connections to, or within the cell, physical 
imperfections (microscopic cracks), or imperfections within the crystal 
called twinning.
When I left the industry the largest Single crystal Silicon wafers were 
about 8" in diameter. Now I believe they are somewhere around 13 to 16" 
in diameter, so many more devices with the same characteristics can be 
made from one slice.  Overall this reduces the amount of poly 
crystalline Silicon needed.

The construction is relatively simple, but it requires a great amount of 
energy and a lot of nasty chemicals and solar cells do not have an 
infinite lifetime.

   73, Roger (K8RI)


On 6/1/2019 5:59 PM, Tony wrote:
> All:
>
> I recently spoke with an engineer from SolarEdge who said that they 
> discovered a previously unknown source of RFI which turned out to be 
> the solar panels themselves. They found that the panels were producing 
> noise while physically disconnected from the system at a few 
> installations.
>
> They are now working with the panel manufacturers Hanwha and Trina to 
> determine why a certain batch of their panels are producing RFI. The 
> goal is to locate installations with the defective panels and replace 
> them.
>
> Cumulative RFI from multiple panels is apparently enough to cause 
> serious RFI and may be the reason why my neighbors installation still 
> makes noise during  the day while the system is turned off. It could 
> also be the reason why the choking the Optimizers had little effect.
>
> Tony -K2MO
>
>
>
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-- 
Roger (K8RI)