solar panel diy power boost 30% from mirror panels

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

These have the newer MC Connectors which are designed for solid connections but you need the conversion kit. I suggest 12 gauge per panel.

[@1madcap]

You need to watch the temperature of the pv cells, higher temperatures decrease their life span and overall output. Temporary gain , long term loss. In colder climates this is a good idea up to a point obviously, In arizona, we see a decrease in our panels during the heigth of summer

[@JD_Mortal]

You also shorten the lifespan of the cells, by 4x with 2x light, getting only 50% gain, but in the end, you get 25% less in the end. (Under normal conditions.) However, "cooled", using 2-10% of the abundant power, you gain closer to 65% from 2x more light, and only shorten life by 2x. (Eg, 30 year panel will die in 15 years, not 7.5 years, if cooled.) If super-cooled, you extend the life and triple the output. (That is what solar focusers try to do, but generating steam for a turbine is much more efficient.) Mount the solar cell on an aluminum sheet, bend the ends down and bond more "fins" along the back... Set it in water, and now you have a cooler/heater. Cools the solar cells, heats the water, gives you hot water and water distilling all at the same time. (Exhaust the hot steamy water over thin sheets of aluminum, not connected to the solar-cell and in another cooler source of water. The water will condensate and collect there. Perfect in a kiddie-pool with a cover over it.) Hack-a-day, survivalist. Compounding all ideas into one large idea is better than having 100 independent ideas that are partially functional.

[@InvisibleCitizen]

Thanks for keepping the novice viewers thinking outside the box Dan! And thanks for using the K.I.S. (keep it simple) rule. Many of those who make their living off PV installation and maintenance who everyone to beleive that this is rocket science. Great video!

[@christo930]

If you put an IR film on the mirror(s) wouldn't it still work and block the heat? From what I understand (which really isn't much), the PV cell uses the visible part of the EMS and so blocking the IR would allow you to have a number of mirrors without heating up the panel. Of course, I don't know how much light the cell could handle, there are built in limitations. Could you possibly double the amount with several mirrors in this way?

[@d.e303-anewlowcosthomebuil7]

I worked with that years ago and doubled it, but it gets hot, and to cool it with h2o on the back is tough.

[@AbuAbdullah2014]

It is not worth adding mirrors but it was an excellent experiment. Thank you..

[@jimleone449]

This is a fabulous video. Thank you for sharing, and thanks for articulating the different examples! Keep up the GREAT work!

[@rceldib]

Dan, Ive been watching your videos for a long time & love them. Thx for your efforts. Ive a 3.8kw solar array on my house pointing SW & have a time of use meter with Los Angels DWP. Since the power peaks in the afternoon when DWP pays the most and we are away from home in the afternoons we end up sending power to the grid at peak time. This really seems to be working well as DWP pays high peal rates at that time. Keep up the good videos. Ramsey

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Agreed, the have the MC connectors, bought some MC to pigtail bit they did not fit. Same side, different manufacture. So I will just rip the connectors off.

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thank you for the nice comment. Mirrors are better as the Fresnel lens needs to be larger than the solar panel and that costs more than buying and additional solar panel. Mirrors are free and redirect light. Focusing many page magnifiers do nothing. The goal is to increase light to the panel. So either a lens larger than the PV PANEL or redirected sunlight with mirrors.

[@socratesraramuri5040]

CPV, or Concentrated PhotoVoltaics, is explained in the SciShow episode titled "Solar Energy" at 7:30 min. Hank Green says they're using mirrors that are 10 x larger than the photovoltaic cells and in this way they cut down on costs and get a much more efficient use of the expensive solar cells. Judging by the above experiment, this requires better wiring? Better cooling? My fresnel lenses are 4 x as big as my solar panels [small ones] and i hope to increase my output in this way but i appreciate the warning about overheating!

[@VictorPoulin]

I have bifacial panels. I would like to add mirrors to bounce the sunlight on the backside of my panels. Going to do some experimenting.

[@yanirschwartz5142]

Interesting to see what's more efficient; maybe an array of focusing lenses infront of the panel to focus the light beams onto the panel itself might increase the power output. What's your opinion on that? And have you considered an automated motor attached to the mirror that could be used to reflect the sun to the panel at all times regardless of it's place in the sky? thanks for sharing this very informative video

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

It is usually similar to non-reflective glass used for art framing (pebbled surface). The DIY method is a very light scuffing. Testing the light transfer of different methods and sanding mediums.

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thank you for the great comment Gill :-)

[@rashidiigraffiti]

honest experimentation...thanks..

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thank you for the nice comment, :-) Thank you for the invite.

[@yanava]

I'm doing a study on this subject as a masters project. I'm using two mirrors on the sides to increase the output. Some guys who did experiments measure the short circuit current of the panel to determine the increase in output. Can you describe better how your load is better than that? I'm using a fixed resistor for my study, but improving my measurements is always a good thing. Thank you!

[@JJolaine]

Thanks for this video. I had thought about trying this, but don't yet have the meter. If we experience harder times AND can't easily get more solar panels/supplies, this info may prove helpful.

[@ChrisDIYerOklahoma]

Fascinating. Have you done any more recent tests? I wonder how MPPT technology would be affected by using mirrors on a small array (say, 1KW). You could position a mirror on a couple of panels and boost their output, but the other panels wouldn't be affected. The MPPT voltage algorithms who likely be messed up and cause the panels to operate at incorrect voltages. Still, interesting video...thanks! Betcha had fun!

[@mrzack888]

wonderful, another great creative idea to save humanity.

[@SolarPowerEasyTutorials]

great work bro, love to watch your videos

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thank you for the great comment!!!!!

[@SolarPowerEasyTutorials]

welcome bro

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Sorry for the delay, the grid tie inverter gradually draws a max load vs a short circuit so the working load is more realistic for long runs and accommodates for resistance from increased heat with the additional light. If the panel is tabbed (mono-poly-multi crystalline) vs amorphous, make sure the light is balanced over all the cells or the voltage/current can drop even with additional light, like a blocked cell.

[@ManojKumar-io5xx]

Tell me how to implement it in large plants

[@davidjames1684]

Good experiment, bad alligator clip wires. A quick way to alleviate the overheating thin wires are to just double them up so they share the load.

[@sjh7132]

I see this effect in winter when we have a layer of nice white snow on a sunny winter day. The output can go up by as much as 30%.

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Check out the video in the yellow box above the ratings. Also Search "CPV SOLAR"

[@nwstraith]

You have shown in a previous video that submerging the cells in water that you were able to better control the heat. Doing so should allow you to concentrate more mirrors on the cell I would imagine.

[@Good-Enuff-Garage]

luv this thinking outside the box and taking a hypothesis and testing it and not killing us with numbers, and math, and academia and theories, it's all meat and potatoes just the way I like it

[@magna59]

Dan, nice one, you could add plain white painted areas around the solar panel, as you know often used in filming / photography, a cost effective light reflector. If your into green engineering, just add another panel may not be the way forward.

[@101blender]

@iulian28ti The fresnel lens might heat it up a bit much and put too much light in one area. Unless you find a way to spread it to the whole panel, I think that would be too much for a single panel.

[@immortalsofar5314]

Thanks, I was wondering about this.

[@hawkesworth1712]

I don't know why tracking isn't compulsory on all rooftop installations. Here in Australia it's mid-winter and my panels start generating about 7am and continue until about 5pm and if my panels were lifted to face the sun in the morning and afternoon I'd probably get another 2kw/h a day on a 2 kw system. It doesn't need to track constantly - just a morning, noon and afternoon position would do.

[@elguinolo7358]

That's a nice short term solution, but it also causes the solar panel to age much faster, so be aware of that and take it into account into your ROI calculation.

[@hardwaylearnt]

got me thinking about catching the reflection off of windows and lakes/ponds. Very interesting.

[@kenthesolarguy6595]

I'd like to see a test done with panels mounted at a lower azimuth and the sun in the winter's sky then aim the light from that sun onto the panels using a mirror at varying angles while noting the panel output under load. My system is mounted at 150 degrees azimuth at 14 degrees elevation, so it might be interesting to see what happens if I employ the use of mirrors this coming winter. Fun times.

[@12kenbutsuri]

How would this affect the longevity of the solar panels?

[@audiophilephile]

Just an idle thought, the 54 Watts does not mean there's 26 Watts of loss. The panel will do 80W only under ideal conditions which means virtually never (without help from the mirrors). Also, the max he got 71 Watts with mirrors, which was pretty close to 80W given that the smaller inverters have as much as 5 Watts of loss.

[@s65maniac]

Makes me speculate if adding light filters could provide as much or more benefit than mirrors alone. If you gather only the most useful wavelengths of light, you could discard the rest, thereby reducing heat (perhaps)--much the same as plants benefit from blue light for photosynthesis. Which wavelengths do PV cells "prefer"? Time for some research...

[@WorBlux]

If you were going to do this, I would do sun angle calculations. Face it towards the south, and have mirrors about 30% lager than the panel itself along the bottom. at such and angle where you get a full reflection right between noon and dusk. and about half the reflection at noon, to avoid burning out the panel, as well as getting a bigger boost during the time of day with less light.

[@175lieutennant2]

I don't think the added heat would hurt the cells but too much heat could definitely damage the EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate) the cells are laminated in.

[@GetMeThere1]

In fact, your thin jumper probably limited your current output fairly significantly.

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Not sure, I think one mirror or white reflector is okay I would not do it on a large expensive install:-)

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@midairmark Check the video response above.

[@TheBmack123]

and now my wire is smoking...lmao!!!! very funny, I too was interested in how mirrors increase output. keep up the good work

[@JimboJitsu]

reminds me of the idea I had to take scrap fiber optic cables to bring more light to a solar panel. around the sides of the panel you would have light capture stations that channel the light through the fiber optics to the solar panel to boost the light it gets. I thought that might make them more effective and usable in cloudier areas... I had a friend who installed fiber optic cable and they have tons of 6' or less scraps they throw away...

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@SwindleFlu Hi, Yes

[@GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Are your bulbs CPF or LED? Also computers, laptop or tower. Monitors CRT or flatscreen. Fridge, age/make cu dimensions. Happy 2013

[@DanielSmith-lv5ed]

I thought of this too!You beat me to it though. It increases yes

[@jonathanclark5294]

Look on the back of the module, it should have temperature coefficients. When the module gets to hot the amperage goes down, when its really cold the volts goes up. Needs a balance of the two to get watts. What the wattage of the module, yeah you are going to lose some power through the inverting process about 85% is going to be usable.

[@Can101276]

Dan you showed in a previous video that cooling a solar cell increased the effeciency, remember, in the fish tank?? What if you combined these two methods?? Just how many watts can you get with that "80w" pannel??

[@charleshansen4463]

Have you tried individual solar cells without encasing? e.g. mono vs poly, and mono cells where the metal traces are on the bottom vs the type with them on top? Maybe individual cells could be concentrated onto.... a simple bicylinder dome would give twice the surface area (should be 2x total), but would probably concentrate in the very middle. A diffuser could solve that potentially. Also the top bicylinder dome should probably be stronger than a flat piece of glass, considering it should deflect hail and such better. Or, a simple bowl upside down as those are already manufactured, but don't match the square cells as well. a well fitting piece of glass could be glued to the bottom, making a well sealed single module. I'm not sure if inert gas fill or vacuum could help but if so might be feasible in such a design. Heated air could be what shortens the life span by reacting, and getting rid of a reactant gas could enable higher temps without shortened lifespan potentially. When entirely sealed in glass, there should be a very good thermal interface for drawing the extra heat away for use both in the winter and summer. If there's just too much at times, maybe a simple system could be used to shade when needed? i.e. passive gain in lower light, active shading in peak light. Maybe an aluminum-coated 'cocktail' umbrella in the center that unfolds automatically? That should be more reliable than a tracking system... it could be made with expanding paraffin probably, so it would be totally free of electronics or digital control. Another maybe better option might be to have the 'thermostat' valve move the cell down out of focus.... half of r I think for 1x power, or 1.5" for a 6" cell. It's not flat but it's still very low profile compared to any tracking system, especially on a roof. Nitinol or dimetal might do the trick best.

[@tonyvu60]

+Charles Hansen Getting too technical won't get you far. Removing the metal frame means you are removing the protection out of the set up. We live in a real world where there's hails, flying debris (bird poops, tree branches, rocks, golf balls, rain water, anything...) and wind that can do all kinds of damage to the solar cells.

[@HyperSpeed84]

I get it; saturate the cell evenly and avoid burning the cell up/the place down. NJ TY

[@randomactsofcar310]

Would there be value in using the early morning sun with a mirror? To intensify that? Instead of trying to increase peak time production ?

[@streglof]

Hi Dan, I really love your videos. Do you think efficiency might increase by adding anti-reflective film to the panel? Maybe you could give that a try? Thanks, Laszlo, Netherlands

[@amberjacksolar]

Very informative video. Got to learn a lot from it.

[@tanalson]

You could increase the efficiency by spraying water on the surface of the panels. The colder the water, the more power it could generate.

[@Danster82]

You could build a simple border like a light oven with tin foil behind plexi glass would probably boost any panel by 20% and could be done in a day.

[@tzmdomeguy]

Nice video, Thank you - I am guessing that a person who made an air heater or a water heater solar panel could focus as many mirrors as possible (as long as they made the box of high heat materials like metal studs and fiberglass insulation) and get very high heat increases! I need to try this! Thanx again

[@ionikiosslone6777]

Sunpower C60 cells -- Broad Spectral Response SunPower cells capture more light from the blue and infrared parts of the spectrum, enabling higher performance in overcast and low-light conditions.

[@stacy532]

Thanks for the test. Have u tried your parabolic mirrors or magnifying. Glass on a panel yet ?

[@bicycleyoda9301]

Its kinda like snow on a bright day. I would suggest highly reflective white paint or white cardboard

[@canadiankewldude]

just a thought, what if you used mirrors but below the cells, touching, you run cold water, in a flat copper pipe on its way to solar water heater? to keep the cells cool while increasing there power outage, with there temp down they also work better do they not? what do you think?

[@d.e303-anewlowcosthomebuil7]

I worked with that years ago and doubled it, but it gets hot, and to cool it with h2o on the back is tough.

[@16vastraturbo]

the thing is the sun moves and those mirrors dont move wont that affect the reflection back on the solar panels? just thinking if you was to fix mini mirrors on the sid of the panels????

[@mclark23]

There's a problem with this. To be useful you would need to put the mirrors in robotic arms to move with the sun?

[@DillysADV]

that is kinda cool. where is a good location to get a grid tie inverter?

[@Justowner]

I always wondered if putting a magnifying glass on a solar panel would help gain more energy so if you know could you tell me?

[@fred306801]

Hey Dan, Good to see you again, In some of your other videos you mentioned that heat will cause the solar panels to work as well as they should. Yet I have watched so many videos and people put them flat on the roof of there homes. Would it not be better to raise them a foot or two ? As always great video ! take care

[@OregonDARRYL]

You could add plywood wings to your solar panel and use foil to cover the wings for reflection.

[@b5kalad]

What is the best way to mount or place the mirrors? I don't feel like standing there all day.

[@carmine99ful]

Captain , A Phaser will only Drain so fast , and THAT'S IT ! When you try to get more out of a VW Beetle Maybe it's time to get a Cadillac Coupe 472 cu. .

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

Don't you mean "time to get an Audi"?

[@tonyvu60]

The trouble part of a solar panel set up is the tracking of the sun position during the day to get the most of the sunlight. Adding a mirror doubles that requirement. I wonder if there is anything out there that would help?

[@schr4nz]

+Thong Vu I'm thinking that if you have the time and the land to do it... you create an open mirror box... on two sides of the mirror box you have a line of panels, on the floor and the 2 opposing sides you have an array of mirrors acting as one giant mirror, I guess the only concern would be blinding light for aeroplanes that fly overhead... i guess you could just flip it on the side so that the panels are on the bottom and the mirrors are along all 4 walls.

[@schr4nz]

+Thong Vu oh and let's not forget a slow running water cooling system (i.e. just drip water slowly over them), cool panels = better performance

[@insAneTunA]

Hi Dan, And what if you replace the mirror in front of the panel with another solar panel, have you tested that yet? I understand that a lot of sunlight reflects from the panel surface. So why not use that, by catching the reflecting sunlight with another panel? You can aim them in such way that they both catch direct sunlight and also the reflection from the opposite panel, like you did with the first mirror. But I don't know if it is worth testing? Greets, iT

[@mohamedfakhr9944]

can we remove the metal frame and the glass

[@8DoverNJ]

Cool vid. I did a similar experiment and got similar results. There is definitely a lot of free mirror out there so it's worth exploring. I also built my own solar panel and started experimenting with this plastic/corrugated board (the type they use for political campaigns) that i got. Seems like a good material being weatherproof, relatively strong and lightweight and yes...cheap. Wait until the day after an election and just grab some!

[@Bobster986]

Which is the best (500-1000 watt) grid tie inverter to buy and is it as easy as plugging it in to a nearby receptor, or do I need an electrician to hook it up? Thanks Dan, keep up the good work!

[@picnic366]

Great video! If you concentrate one mirror to a portion of the panel, then that would make the current of the cells uneven right? So how does that affect the final current and voltage if the current and voltage of the cells are uneven?

[@3D_Printing]

Thermoelectric generators on the back to make power from Sun heat maybe able to increase power a small amount.

[@TheGodfather101]

Protomaker Black Sprint Original 3D Printer yeah but then you have to cool the Tegs which adds more problems. TEGs produce power with a temp differential. Not just a heat source

[@JULYINJULY]

What up gps. I got a GTI for a solar club project and we cannot get near the 100 watts the panel is rated at. Is the drop a flat number or a scale. We are getting 71 watts out of a 100. Would 200 watts (2 panels @100) give 171 or 142. Keep up the good work solar guy;-)

[@alexingman6725]

What about if you just shine a really bright light at it? ;)

[@melkel2010]

@InTheSticks0001 Awesome info! I live near the 45th parallel in NY and am wondering how these perform in winter. I wonder if it gets very cold (near zero or sub-zero temps) will they lose efficiency? Electric wiring loses conductivity in the lower extremes.

[@Stone_624]

That's 57 Degrees Celsius compared to 46 degrees Celsius for anyone who takes numbers seriously. Great Video btw.

[@Merdam9]

I love how he moves hand when he is talking. Look at shadow at 4:37

[@v3nustvrs298]

Lol

[@freetrailer4poor]

I think galvanized mirrors or white rock will help also.

[@ThePresidentialTouch]

Where do I find cheap polycrystaline panels, tabbing wire, ect. to build my own panels?

[@christo930]

could you put an IR filter on the mirror to minimize the extra heat?

[@sunwarz]

What if you also used a magnification mirror, or even tempered, magnification glass, as well as a mirror in combination? Or a magnification mirror and magnification glass at the same time? You could aso try a large telescope crystal, let the sun shine on the rounded side, and aim the flat side at your solar panels like a directed beam flash light!

[@Respectloyalty1]

I went swimming yesterday with my woman. We both were in the pool for about 30 mins.. I got out and tried to tan... she stayed in the water. When we went inside I tried bragging to her I got a tan (and yoouuu didnt!)...so my amazement she got the better tan.. So I wonder if you were to put a inch or so of water on top of the solar panel.. but touching.. would you harness more Watts? (Segment 1)

[@nnadine1973]

Nothing new, now the hard questions: how much will be shortened the lifetime of the panel ,considering overheat and UV increase? Moreover, when the sun is missing, the investment is useless, since no significant power increse will be noticed..am I right?

[@evanpilot]

would a heat sink/ liquid cooling system help? or could the solar cells break due to the expansion and contraction of the silicone crystals due to the change of temperature?

[@RobMonty248]

Where can we learn to make the solar cells them selfs and also out of high temp materials? Any suggestions please? What is the actual cell made of? =-) Thanks

[@FlameSwordWielder]

The point of the answer was that it depends on each device's individual power consumption. For example: 10 halogen light-bulbs = ~600 watts, 10 LED light-bulbs = ~150 watts, three laptops or mini-PCs = ~300 watts, three gaming PCs = ~1500 watts, so the answer that you want would be: anywhere from 800 watts to 3000 watts.

[@samdekok72]

Put a water jacket behind the panel to cool it and concentrate more solar on it...

[@BullittMcQueen1]

-- That is an interesting idea. But the water would evaporate. You would have to have the water sealed in a glass case on top of the solar panel.

[@sunharvester]

Another great video. Thanks for sharing!!!!!

[@Respectloyalty1]

Maybe using water is a bad idea.. So what other liquid could we use instead of water.. (I'm not an expert, nothing comes to mind).. what we could do is fool around with the water/other liquid ratio.. 60/40 maybe I dunno.. the purpose of the water would be to mainly increase the watts while the other liquids purpose would be to keep the panel cooled..(Segment 2)

[@HawaiiMclovin69]

For a single-celled solar panel, would shining a mirror on it require the light to still be evenly distributed?

[@vhbeazel]

You may have already answered this question: Have you posted this test with the solar panel submerged in the fish tank??

[@vectoronic]

qeustion. i have 2 panels on one of the similar inverter with 1 of the panels on a day the inverter puts 50 watts into the grid. same for both. when both are connected in parallel in the same sunlight. i only get a 20-30 watts more. why not a 40-50(double power). same panels putting out same voltage. thanks.

[@anewlow23]

Do you know anything about the antireflective coating that's used to boost a panels output?