The Trina solar company has released a 60 cell frameless solar panel for commercial and residential use.
The PDG5 is the first product in a new line up of double rated solar modules without frames.
The best part, according to the company is that the PDG5’s are resistant to potential induced degradation (UV breakdown).
They are also very resistant to micro cracking, something that occurs from long exposure to the sun.
With this increased quality comes another benefit that will reduce costs – because they have no frames they do not require grounding, thus eliminating one part of the installation process.
This is something we have even thought of ourselves and passed along to product developers, why not make the back of the panels out of glass?
That is exactly what they have done.
By replacing the traditional background material of traditional solar panels with glass (high heat tempered, strengthened glass) there are many benefits.
Mostly there is the fact that in high heat and humidity environments where solar panels are popular there is a problem of moisture at times.
Making the backs out of tempered glass eliminates the problem of moisture seeping into the modules. Nice.
This moisture seepage can quickly degrade even the best quality panels, so this innovation is long overdue.
You can even run them up to 1000 volts as most manufacturers are doing, in either UL or IEC applications.
This innovation has been anticipated for a while now, and now that it is finally available it is reasonable to expect up to a 50 year life span of the solar panels you buy now. Much better than even just a few short years ago.