6 ms·
There is no power. Power is IV, current times voltage. The voltage will be the rated voltage of the panel at that sunlight level, but the current is 0 (minus so
by rfrey 2y ago
There is no power. Power is IV, current times voltage. The voltage will be the rated voltage of the panel at that sunlight level, but the current is 0 (minus some very, very small (microamp) internal currents).
Alternately, power can be expressed as V^2/R. But in an open circuit R is infinite, so again, zero power.
- CorrectHorseBat 2y agoThere is ~1000W/M2 of electromagnetic power from the sun, and if it's not turned into electrical power it will be turned into thermal power, thus heating up the panel.
- ethbr1 2y agoBut as noted by sibling comment, that heated panel will then begin to transfer that heat back into its environment, as a function of its temperature difference with its environment. So as long as manufacturers engineer their panels to be tolerant of the maximum heat at a site (i.e. full sun, maximum temperature), the panels won't be harmed in any meaningful way. They'll just heat up a bit faster than if they were providing current.
- sangnoir 2y agoIs ther a difference between "electromagnetic power" and "thermal power" here? If a panel is not connected, there is no conversion and the surface is warmed - just like any other surface exposed to the sun gets warmed. PV panels are just like charged capacitor or a chemical battery with no loads: just holding unused potential differences with no damage to the unit.