Partial Shade Solar Panel

The purpose of a bypass diode is to allow electricity in a solar panel to flow around the shaded cell.

Partial shade solar panel.

A shadow cast on even just part of one solar panel in your solar array can potentially compromise the output of the whole system. This physical difference makes it far more difficult to shade an entire cell. Many residential properties are situated in green spaces and constantly growing trees and foliage can encroach on solar panel setups. Two devices on the market can reduce the impact of partial shade.

There are two approaches that manufacturers take to build solar panels that work better in partial shade conditions like this. Crystalline silicon solar panels feature square compact cells whereas amorphous silicon panels feature larger area cells. The main reason that amorphous silicon solar panels perform much better in the shade has to do with the way cells are laid out. Perhaps most obviously trees near your solar array can cause shading issues.

There is no way to make up the power lost to shading on a panel. Thanks to this updated technology the amount of shade eclipsing the solar panel is now directly proportional to the amount of energy production the solar panel loses. Although it probably goes without saying shading is not good for solar panels. The first and most common is to use an electronic component called a bypass diode.

But both devices can modify the characteristics of the power as it leaves a shaded panel so that it does not reduce the output of panels down the line.