Double Sided, Ultra High Efficiency Off Grid Solar Panels
When it comes to squeezing every last watt of power from your site's available sunshine for your off grid or grid tie battery backup application, nothing beats bifacial solar technology. Bifacial (double sided) solar panels that offer up to a 22.6% efficiency rating and can produce power from both the front and back side of the panel.
Instead of the old fashion 1 1/2 inch thick, aluminum framed, glass on plastic solar panels that most of the leasing companies are installing, these new next generation solar panels are only 1/4 inch thin and are made with a stronger, see through, glass on glass, frameless, construction that allows sunlight that is reflected off the roof or ground's surface to illuminating the backside of the double sided solar cells and produce additional power beyond their nameplate rating.
The new 300 Watt, 60 cell solar panels that are used in Bifacial solar systems offers a better PTC to STC ratio "Real World" performance according to the California Energy Commission's performance rating listings than over 119 of SunPower's solar panel models.
And they offer a very high 94.3% PTC to STC performance ratio. They also offers a heat resistant -0.28%/degree C temperature coefficient for better performance in warm/hot climates. And a minus 60 degree C extreme cold temperature rating. And they cost far less than leased or PPA solar panels. And because they're double sided, they can even produce power when the front side is completely covered in snow. Ordinary panels produce nothing when covered with snow.
There has been some limited "beta testing" of Li-ion batteries in grid tie battery storage applications in the California market but that is only happening due to California's very limited time, massive $1,620 per kilowatt hour cash incentive. Once this rebate has been depleted, Li-ion storage batteries will no longer make financial sense at today's pricing.