Does anyone have experience with white PV panels

[fmeili1]

My roof is maxed out with PV and I don't have room for ground mount. Now I'm thinking about extending something in the future by mounting some modules vertical on the house facade. The house facade is white (like most) and because of aesthetic reasons I came across the following link by chance (and found one company which offer these modules). White PV panels with about half the efficiency compared to standard modules (I know, you can't outwit physics...).

Do any of you use colored PV modules?

 

[SeaGal]

Do any of you use colored PV modules?

No, but I'd like some green ones to match the grass for my ground mounts if I didn't lose any efficiency

I suspect white ones are not going to be that popular!

And I'd question whether white and black are colours or just shades of reflection, but I'll leave that for another thread

 

[timselectric]

Interesting

 

[timselectric]

The white ones would be perfect for vertical on a house as siding.
But I'm sure that the price would remove my interest.

 

[Texas-Mark]

"The product has an efficiency of 90 Watts peak per square meter"

As opposed to aprox 200 Watts per square meter (facing the sun) of "normal" panels.

 

[fmeili1]

I know, they could not be as efficient as "normal" modules, but as an supplement to an existing system with space constraints it may be worth to consider... depending on the price. I'm aware that from the efficiency standpoint it's not a good solution - but it may be a workaround for some special situations.

Update:
I found a swiss PV foil maker with colored versions with a picture in their brochure with showing the efficiency by color.
While white has an efficiency of 55%, the light gray version is at 75% (which may also be able to be aesthetically integrated into a modern looking facade... I asked them about a US dealer... looking forward to their answer.

 

[wpns]

My roof is maxed out with PV and I don't have room for ground mount. Now I'm thinking about extending something in the future by mounting some modules vertical on the house facade. The house facade is white (like most) and because of aesthetic reasons I came across the following link by chance (and found one company which offer these modules). White PV panels with about half the efficiency compared to standard modules (I know, you can't outwit physics...).

Do any of you use colored PV modules?

Looks interesting, let us know if you get pricing!

 

[SeaGal]

While white has an efficiency of 55%, the light gray version is at 75%

Presumably with black deemed as 100%? In real terms, black panels are only 22-24%-ish efficient.

At the end of the day, personally I wouldn't rank colour above efficiency, so I'll stick with your Henry Ford's stance of "Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.”

 

[Hedges]

Thin film panels are noted for degrading faster than crystalline.
Don't know about these "foil" ones, but you'd better assume the same.

Some conventional panels also degrade rapidly. There is a lot of technology involved, so brands/models with good track record are the best bet. Accelerated test results are also available (limited data available to us for free.)