Field Trial Shows SolarMagic Recoups Over 54 Percent of Lost Energy in Solar Arrays

National Semiconductor’s SolarMagic power optimizers, built upon National’s analog power management integrated circuits, improve the energy harvest of solar panels in real-world conditions, where shading and other issues can significantly reduce the performance of solar installations.

In tests conducted at HaWi’s facility in Eggenfelden / Munich, a structure representing obstructions shaded a portion of a conventionally wired solar photovoltaic system. Although 16 percent to 20 percent of the array was shaded, it resulted in average power losses of nearly 28 percent. However, an identical solar array fitted with National’s SolarMagic power optimizers produced on average between 7 percent and 21 percent more electricity in the same conditions, effectively recouping 54.4 percent of the lost power.

National developed SolarMagic technology to improve the energy harvest of solar installations. Real-world conditions such as shading, debris and panel aging can lead to disproportionate power losses in solar arrays. For example, shading of less than 10 percent of the surface of a solar panel can slash power output by 50 percent.

In addition to the field trial results, National announced today that HaWi is an official distribution partner for SolarMagic power optimizers in Germany, the largest solar market in the world.

“SolarMagic power optimizers offer an innovative solution to the problem of panel mismatch that has plagued the solar industry since its inception,” said Hans Wimmer, CEO of HaWi. “What has been particularly impressive is its ease of integration. Being module agnostic, our installers throughout Europe can easily incorporate SolarMagic into new and existing installations regardless of panel brand.”

For the testing, the test array and the reference array were each comprised of two strings of Schott Solar ASE-300-DGF panels (four panels per string). Both strings were attached to a Mastervolt QS6400 inverter. The performance data was collected using a Meteo-Control monitoring system, and had a measuring accuracy of +/- five percent.