WINAICO launches typhoon-resistant solar modules at PV Taiwan
WINAICO has combined HeatCap with WSP frame design to launch a typhoon-resistant solar module at PV Taiwan. The world-leading 60-cell monocrystalline PERC module is also on display at the exhibition, after receiving the Taiwan Excellent PV Award from Bureau of Energy.
WINAICO, Taiwan's largest PV module brand, combines two technologies uniquely available to WINAICO: the micro-crack preventing HeatCap, and structurally reinforced WSP frame, to create a line of typhoon-resistant solar modules specifically for typhoon-prone markets such as Taiwan and Japan. WINAICO also builds on top of their 3 years of PERC expertise to launch a 310 W, 60 cell, monocrystalline PERC module, that reaches a world-leading 18.6 percent in module efficiency. WINAICO's PERC module technology has recently received the Taiwan Excellent PV Award from Bureau of Energy to confirm the module as a perfect combination of performance and reliability.
Located at the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, Taiwan and Japan are the most typhoon-prone countries in the world, affected by more than 30 percent of the world's tropical typhoons each year. The recent Soudelor typhoon that hit Taiwan in August devastated solar systems throughout the island, causing as much as NTD 30 million of damage to a single solar installation in southern Taiwan.
When solar installations are affected by strong winds, the modules are characterised by constant vibrations with sudden impulses of forces acting from both front and rear sides, in alternating fashion. WINAICO has worked with Taiwan's leading research institute, ITRI, to perform Dynamic Mechanical Load (DML) tests to simulate the effects of strong wind on WINAICO's HeatCap modules. HeatCap modules have been tested to endure 1000 cycles of 4000 Pa DML tests with no more than 0.18 percent of power degradation, while the comparison case without HeatCap degraded by 2.32 percent . The DML criteria of 4000 Pa is comparable to 202 km/h, level 17 intensity wind on the Beaufort scale, similar to a Category 4 typhoon.
WINAICO's own WSP frame is designed with strength and reliability in mind, and utilises an external L-key construction. Unlike the inner L-key design common in competitors, the WSP frame has no single point of weakness, and has been tested to withstand more than 7200 Pa of static Mechanical Load (ML), far exceeding the 5400 Pa requirement described in IEC 61215.
"Typhoon is a major cause of micro-cracks and field defects in Taiwan installations," said Dr Jay Lin, Chief Consultant of PV Guider. "WINAICO has combined two micro-crack mitigating technologies to bring a solution that can protect investors' solar investments against typhoons in Taiwan and Japan."
"WINAICO combines our patented HeatCap technology with our unique WSP frames to launch a typhoon-resistant product that can protect the solar installations in typhoon-prone markets such as Taiwan and Japan. The extreme DML tests we performed with ITRI shows HeatCap can protect our modules in a Category 4 typhoon", said Davis Chen, Chairman and CEO of WINAICO. "We are also proud to announce the launch of our world-leading 310 W, 60 cell PERC module, where our PERC module technology is proven by the Taiwan Excellent PV Award to excel both in performance and reliability."
