solar panels with diodes between each cell
Hi folks, I stumbled across these panels today: https://ae-solar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AE_P6-36_155W-175W.pdf They apparently have diodes between each and every cell which gives them...
Forum Discussion
theoldwizard1 wrote:
A typical diode loses 0.7V !
Yeah, something definitely doesn't add up here. Each cell in a solar panel only produces 0.5 - 0.7V (they are in fact diodes). The forward voltage drop on a diode is between 0.2 and 0.7V so you would loose half to all you voltage if there really was a diode between each cell.
Now, maybe he meant to say there is a diode in parallel with each cell, which would provide a bypass diode for each cell. This would provide slightly better mottled shade tolerance, but would increase the complexity of the panel. The linked data sheet doesn't mention this, so it seems unlikely to be true for those panels.
