Comparing the power output of different solar modules in extreme weather, the leading Greek PV maintenance and construction company MainTech finds that LONGi modules perform 5% better at peak than others. They also produced more kWh/kW per year overall.
Greek solar installer and O&M provider MainTech has front row seats when it comes to solar module performance—and comparing products, particularly in high heat. With 150MW in operations and maintenance contracts since they started in 2014, MainTech manages dedicated projects from small (10kW) to major utility-scale (7MW).
Headquartered in Athens, the company also offers PV construction. Since 2019 they have built 230 plants with 145MW of capacity. MainTech is well positioned to observe differences in energy output across the range of modules they work with, all year as well as at the height of summer.
The data are in: Comparing energy output in extreme heat
Following the summer of 2022, MainTech analysed the performance of modules in similar installations within the same geographical area. 500kW and 1MW installations owned by the same customer and outfitted with other brands provided one example: these produced less than 1.500kWh/kW per year.
In the same area, under the same conditions, plants where MainTech had installed LONGi modules generated between 1.550 and 1.590 kWh/kW per year. With an ambient temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius, the peak kW for LONGi bifacial modules was 5% more than the peak with other panels.
“After we showed customers the difference in energy production, they ordered 100MW more of the LONGi modules,” says MainTech’s lead engineer Michalis Theofanopoulos. “The most notable thing is that once customers use LONGi, particularly after having three or four other brands installed previously, they never ask for other ones again.”
The firm has been installing modules from LONGi, now the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world, since 2020.
Testing for higher temperatures in the future climate
As more regions of the globe are experiencing extreme heat waves with greater frequency, solar modules are subjected to higher operating temperatures, for longer periods. LONGi put its most advanced product, the Hi-MO 5 high-efficiency module, through the most stringent thresher thermal cycling procedures available (defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as 62892:2019 and TS 63126:2020). The Hi-MO 5 module completed the tests, withstanding higher than standard temperatures and longer cycles.
About LONGi
Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world’s leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.
Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development. www.longi.com