Half-Cut Cells in Solar Panels

Twice as Many Cells

Manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to optimize energy production, and Q-cells has introduced something unique: half-cut cells.

In the new Q.PEAK DUO G5 solar panels, the solar cells are literally cut in half and then placed as half-cut cells on the panel. As a result, these panels contain twice as many small cells as usual: 120 instead of 60. The idea behind this is that electricity within a cell always experiences some resistance, and this resistance depends on the distance the current must travel through the cell. By cutting the cell in half, the distance is also halved, which reduces energy loss due to resistance.

Separate Upper and Lower Halves

When electricity enters the panel, it is split into two separate paths: one part flows through the cells in the upper half, while the other flows through the lower half. These two currents merge at the end. Since these two separate streams are only half as strong as the usual flow, this also reduces resistance loss. According to Q-cells, this half-cut cell technology increases power output by 3%.

Another advantage of splitting the panel into separate upper and lower halves is that shading on one of these halves does not affect the other half (provided you have an inverter that can handle this, such as SMA inverters with the OptiTrac Global Peak function, also known as ShadeFix).

In a standard panel, bypass diodes divide the panel into three or more relatively independent sections along its length. However, if shading occurs across the entire bottom section of a standard panel, the entire panel's performance is affected. With these Q.PEAK DUO G5 panels, the upper half could continue operating at full capacity, although the panel (and thus the entire string it belongs to) would only produce half its usual power—useful only in very specific cases!