A working group of the international PV Quality Assurance Task Force has been undertaking research and testing initiatives aimed at improving the design and long-term reliability of module junction ...

With the ongoing increase in module operating current, a reliable junction box is critical for modules which are to last for 25 to 30 years. This article will analyse which factors need to be ...

Quedlinburg is one of those typically curious towns of former East Germany: dilapidated but decorous, part deserted but humming with purpose, and cast in an old-world exterior shot-through with the ...

We have all had difficulty testing diodes in-circuit. Most DMM’s have a diode Vf function that measures forward drop, but what is the normal voltage drop? Analog VOM’s attempt to measure resistance of ...

A chance conversation about solar panels set Microsemi chip designer Shawn Fahrenbruch on a voyage of discovery, resulting in an active diode with a forward drop of only 50mV. It has only two ...

STMicroelectronics (ST) announces an innovation for solar panels aimed at allowing more of the energy from each cell to reach the power grid. The innovation replaces the simple bypass diode with an ...

The SM74611 is a smart bypass diode used in photovoltaic applications. It serves the purpose of providing an alternate path for string current when parts of the panel are shaded during normal ...