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Old 03-21-19, 06:53 PM   #4
Bicycle Bob
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Spiritwood, Northern Saskatchewan
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It is well to get some extra high-temperature resistance in any ancilliary hardware, but the panels themselves are fine with heat, except for the reduced performance. So, output does not go up linearly with extra light unless you can maintain the temperature. This is not usually too difficult, so I'm surprised it was not used more when sun trackers were cheaper relative to panels.
There is one legend about the DOE getting a notion that it might be nice to have some standard component that would produce both heat and electricity. They shopped this idea around to the energy experts, and several oil companies were persuaded to try meeting the specs. After all the budget was allocated, a little company in Boston pointed out that they had been producing such a device for years. It was just a glazed box to collect hot air, but the sun also hit mylar cones surrounding solar cells.
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