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Cost savings
By increasing panel numbers in strings to deliver 1500 VDC to the combiners for the same 15 MW of power outlined on the previous slide, current drops to 66.6% of the 1000 VDC value and resistive cable losses to 44.4% because of the “I2” in I2R, resulting in higher system efficiency and lower cost of installation with smaller cables and connectors. With fewer strings to achieve 15 MW, 31% fewer combiner boxes are needed (94 compared to 137 assuming each box can handle 20 strings in this example). This means that the associated combiner cabling, connector, and maintenance costs are lowered as well. Broken down in the table here, research has analyzed the cost per watt of 1000 VDC and 1500 VDC systems in a 10 MW plant to show a potential deployment savings of $400 K in 1500 VDC installations. However, while certainly advantageous from a cost perspective, higher string voltages do have some challenges that need to be taken into account.
PTM Published on: 2018-09-13