Solar Panels

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels capture the sun’s energy to generate electricity cleanly and quietly. Light energy is converted directly into electrical energy and then into electricity for immediate use.

Enerdrive Portable Solar Power Kits Enerdrive offers a great solution to keep your battery and 12 volt equipment going and going all year round in the sun. The Enerdrive Portable Power Anywhere Solar kit features all the goods you require for portable solar power.	TDG - PV At TDG Solar, we process high-quality monocrystalline silicon wafers, manufactured in-house, with top of the line production equipment sourced from the most reputed firms of the industry. The outcome is a high-quality solar cell, ready to generate free sunshine energy during more than 25 years.
Suntech Solar Panels Suntech have become one of the leading brands globally in the solar panel manufacturing industry. Offering a full range of sizes, Suntech panels are as efficient as many of their competitors, at a lower cost maintaining top quality. Macfarlane Generators sell, install and service the latest Suntech solar panels.

Free from the sun

How solar photovoltaic (PV) systems work

Flat solar modules are mounted on your roof and convert energy from sunlight into direct current (DC) energy. A device called an inverter then changes the DC energy into alternating current (AC) electricity. This can be used to power your household appliances. A grid-connected system can feed excess energy into the electricity network (grid), while a standalone system needs a battery to store excess energy.

Solar panels work best when they’re north facing, pointed directly at the sun, at the correct angle and not blocked by trees or shading. The effectiveness of solar panels also depends on where you live and the weather.

Solar Panels can reduce your energy bill when you have Macfarlane Power Generation design and install the most appropriate system.  Right now you can get a feed-in tarriff of up to 60¢ per kWh on your excess electricity generated and put back into the grid.

Solar Panels

Solar panels are available in a variety of sizes.   The larger the panel size or area, the greater the electrical output.   Common sizes range from 5 Watt to 200 Watt.   The maximum output is achieved when the panel is pointing directly at the sun and the panel temperature is 25 deg C or less.

As you can see from the table, the output will vary depending on your latitude as well as the time of day.   For example, if you are in Cairns (latitude of 17 Deg S) your panel output at noon will be 90-95% of the panel's maximum, if you are in Hobart (latitude of 43 Deg S) your panel's output at noon will be around 75% of maximum.   These figures are approximate only and depend on the type of panel. During the winter months the sun is much lower in the sky (greater angle to the panel) and the days are much shorter resulting in approximately half as many Amp Hours collected per day.

A typical solar panel comprises of 32 to 36 elements electrically connected in series thereby producing a panel with an open circuit voltage of 18 to 22 Volts. The silicon material used in the panel comes in three basic forms, monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicone and amorphous silicon. 

Monocrystalline 
Monocrystalline silicone is grown as one large crystal and subsequently cut into thin slices to form the individual cells.   Panels made this way are a little more efficient, around 14-16%, but are also more expensive to produce.   These panels usually comprise 34 to 36 elements.

Polycrystalline
Polycrystalline silicon is cast in blocks and the final cut slices consist of many smaller crystals.   Manufacturing costs are lower, therefore these panels are little cheaper to purchase.   While the efficiency is a little lower, around 12-14%, the low angle light output can be higher, but they generally do not perform quite as well as monocrystalline types at higher panel temperatures.

Amorphous
Amorphous silicon panels are produced by a completely different and cheaper process by depositing vaporised silicon directly on to a backing material.   This results in a cheaper panel but the efficiency is half that of mono or polycrystalline types, around 6%.   This means you need twice the panel surface area to achieve the same output.   They do have one advantage however; the amorphous silicon can be applied to a flexible backing such as plastic or thin stainless steel to result in a flexible panel with the ability to be laid on a curved surface.   However, these flexible panels have a lower Watt to Dollar ratio.