PV Gap

Douglas Said:

What does the term'solar panel' means to you?

We Answered:

About any thing can be a panel. Just depends on how you want to look at it.

I'm going to twist this in about three ways and if you can follow it you will be either confused or understand that every thing is a panel long as there is more then one hooked together to make one unit.

A solar cell is normally one but could be called a module if it were made in a way where it connected to others to make a whole. So the whole (many cells) then would be called a panel.

But then again if you think about it when you put 36 solar cells together you do have a panel of cells or a module because it is now in a frame that makes it into a single unit that hooks together with others to make a panel.

Now we have a group of 36 cells grouped together to make a panel of cells which is now a module that is grouped together to make a panel that is now called an array.

So lets take a solar array built from 36 solar modules/panels that are each built from 36 cells/panels/modules. And hook it to a second solar array of the same build and now they are no longer each called an array but they are two modules that are hooked together to make a single array. If both arraies are hooked together to make a single unit on one stand would they not be just a large panel and at the same time a single array?

So what ever you want to call a "solar panel" is a solar panel as long as there are more then one hooked together to make a single unit.

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