, • 73 Review bJ"Michael Bryce n 'BSl-'GE Numb8 11 on your FeedtMd< uorO Antennas West Solar Power Supply Good for even more than QRPf Antennas West Box 50062 Provo, UT 84604 801 -373-8425 Price Class: $290 pl us $10 shipping In the past, generaling power from the sun was a hit or miss proposition. Most of the early solar electric pioneers used surpl us panels, with somewhat less than outstanding results. The technology and economics of converting energy 'rom the sun directly into electricity have improved rapidly. Antennas West's solar power supply is an excellent tust step in converting to solar power. The heart altha Antennas West solar module is the Sovonics P·101 panel. Sovonics is a foreru nner in amorphous sm. con, or " thin film" cells. Innovative Develo pment Until recently, most solar ce lls were made of crystalline silicon , which has the regular lattice structure of a typical crystal-much like a crystal of salt or sugar. The amorphous, or irregular, structure considerabty increases the possibility that light will be absorbed, because the photons interact more with the amorphous structure. This means that an amcrpnccs cell can be made with less matenat than is needed with the more common crystalline silicon . Amorphous cells can be made only one micron thick , while crystalline silicon cells are typically 300 micron s thick. Amorphous silicon cells are applied to a substrate of stainless steel (as s c vcmcs does). Then the panel is encapsulated in Tedtar", a time-tested weather-. wea r-, and ultraviolet-resistant material. "Wiring the unit, panel to battery, is quite simple. Only four wires are used. " Sovonics produces their amorphous cell panels very much like newsprint. A roll of stainless steel is on one end 01 the proprietary continuous roll-to-roll process, and on the other end, out comes a 40 kilowan roll of solar cells. In this continuous process, layer after layer of semiconductor coating builds up a tandem cell 1/100 as thick as a human hair. The substrate is then CUl and installed into different Irames for their line of panels. This construction results in a panel that is flexible, lightweight. and unbreakable. However, Sovomcs does not stop here. In conventional solar panels, the interconnections between the cells have proven a real pain in the neck. Break one 01those interconnections, and the panel is dead. Sovonics has moved all the interconnections to the outer edge of the cells, avoiding the former pitlalls. sovonrcs also has added bridging diodes within the panel. By leeling along the back side 01 the panel . you can spot the diode " bumps." In the older crystalline cell panels, il you lose one cell, perhaps to thermal shOCk, the panel is useless. The bridging diodes will bypass the cell , allowing the panel to conlinue 10 supply power. likewise, in a conventional cell, a shadow falling across a panel will shut down the entire panel. The Sovontcs panel will continue to work. Up to now, the great majority of solar panels on the market have been in glass. Glass is heavy, and no one wo uld arg ue that glass breaks. The Sovonics panels can be bent, shot with bullets, dropped, walked on, and generally beat up, and still work. Because 01 the nature 01 amorphous silicon cells, they Photo A. Test setup of the entire Antennas West solar package. Note the difference between the P-201 and the corner of the Areo 16-2000. 54 73 Amateur Radio . June. 1989 Photo B. The small charge controller that comes with the package is rated at eight Amps. Photo C. Current of 880 milliamps from a morning sun. Notice shadows under the array. The Sovonics P-201is in the foreground.
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