Help with some theory using FS-4102A Solar Panels

[Yukonelius]

Hello,

New to the forum, not so new to the youtube Channel.

I found a great deal on some FS-4102A Solar Panels... the problem is they are higher voltage, 88v open circuit.

Here is the data sheet...

https://www.firstsolar.com/-/media/First-Solar/Technical-Documents/Series-4-Datasheets/Series-4-Datasheet.ashx

My question is more a of sanity check and discussion than anything else...

With these panels being 88v I feel that it is going to be hard to find an inverter that will accept any series connections but because they are like 1.5amps each I could see wiring them in a large parallel configuration.

Are there inverters that can accept like 2 (or 3) in series and then 10 in parallel? I am wanting to use about 30 of them for my application and I want it to store to batteries and backed up by the grid.

Would I just wire them all in parallel to get them to basically 88v and 45amps? This is where I am stumped.

Should I just skip these all together and get something more standard? I liked these because I was going to make them into a patio cover that also will let some light through.

 

[rmaddy]

The 48V Victron SmartSolar MPPT RS could handle these. It can accept up to 450Voc and 20A max Isc. This would allow up to 4S and up to maybe 12P of those 102.5W panels. 3S10P would allow 30 panels for a total of 3075W.

I've seen reference to some all-in-ones that can also handle high voltage, low amps. They also likely run on 48V battery setups.

I have no idea whether these panels are worth pursuing or not. But you can make them work.

 

[RCinFLA]

14% panel efficiency and more degradation in output over 20 years. Even Harbor Freight panels make 16% panel efficiency.

Notice they make no claims to efficiency in their spec.

"Up to 8% more energy than conventional crystalline silicon solar modules with the same power"

This statement is pure marketing spin. It is the only positive thing they can focus on. Because thin film has a slightly better Pmp temp coefficient, -0.29%/degC vs -0.40%/degC for mono silicon cells, they are saying their physically larger 100-watt panel will yield up to 8% more kWH average per year then a physically smaller 100-watt mono panel when panels are subjected to high sun intensity heating temperature rise. 8% cumulative difference claim is a stretch to justify. It would take an average panel temp during sunlight of 100 degs C.

Poly-silicon panel often have an even lower Pmp drop with high panel temp, but lower Pmp temp coefficient usually comes with lower net panel sunlight-electric conversion efficiency.