05 July 2012
NRG 60 solar PV panels manufactured by Eclipsall in its Toronto, Ontario, Canada facility continue to excel in operational tests carried out by the Kortright Centre for Conservation's Photovoltaic Performance Verification Program.
Owned and operated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the Kortright Centre for Conservation is Ontario's premier environmental and renewable energy education and demonstration centre. The public facility is located on 325 hectares (~800 acres) of woodlands, northwest of Toronto.
During the recent testing period, which started 1 January 2012 and is ongoing, solar panels from five different manufacturers were measured for module power (per second), independent flash testing under standard test conditions (STC), on-site total global insolation and plane of the array insolation data and on-site ambient and module temperature data. Ambient temperatures during the testing period ranged from -5.5°C to 32.2°C (22.1°F to 90.0°F).
Higher module efficiency translates into a higher return for the customer or investor. During the recent five-month testing period alone, Eclipsall NRG 60 panels would have generated $3300 more in revenue than the lowest performing panel manufacturer, calculated on a 300 kilowatt (kW) direct current (DC) system. Projected over the 20-year project life cycle, the increase in revenue would be significant.
