According to a press release issued by REC, during the test performed by the German Fraunhofer Institute over 12 months, REC modules were 4.8% more efficient that those of one of China’s leading manufacturers and outperformed a European competitor’s modules by 1%. “The higher performance ratio translates into increased production of electricity and additional money generated for the owner of the system with REC modules”, said Åsmund Fodstad, VP Sales & Marketing. REC provides a 25-year power output guarantee on its modules.
The performance ratio is calculated by comparing the nameplate capacity of a solar module with the actual power output of the system. Performance ratio is widely considered to be “the best measure of the quality of a module because all components and their interactions are taken into consideration”.
The Fraunhofer study also demonstrated that REC’s use of anti-reflective treatment on the module glass increases energy production and performance ratio. The test evaluated two arrays of identical REC modules, one with anti-reflective treated glass and one without. The modules with anti-reflective treated glass showed a higher performance ratio compared to modules with untreated glass. The anti-reflective treatment reduces the reflectivity of the glass surface, allowing more sunlight to enter into the solar cells for conversion to electricity. The treatment has been applied on all modules manufactured by REC since 2007.
“This study confirms that the anti-reflective treatment of the glass used in the REC modules contributes to excellent performance in a wide range of sunlight conditions,” Fodstad said. The REC modules are optimised for low light conditions such as sunrise and sunset, in effect waking up early in the morning and going to sleep late in the evening.
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