Real Talk: Busting the biggest shading myth
- Snarky Solar Guy
- May 16, 2021
- 1 min read
I have talked about this myth since this infographic first appeared in our industry over 10 years ago. There are many versions of this blatantly incorrect behavior of how a solar array performs when connected to a PV inverter. It is everywhere and just won't go away.
This is just one of many shading myths I debunk in my book using scientific peer reviewed sources- along with shade studies performed by the very companies that perpetuate this myth.
Here is a short video where I deconstruct this infographic using my own solar system.
Love your site and I'm a big fan.
However, I think this test needs to be better to prove your point. Don't get me wrong, I'm in the industry and agree with your premise 100%. However, doing a test on a system with MLPE (your Tigo TS4s) to prove that MLPE isn't needed isn't a great test. We should repeat this on a system with no optimizers.
Also, all the crappy industry memes you show have one module at 50%. To make the test more palatable to the general public, the cardboard should cover 50% of a module. You and I both know it doesn't work that way, but again, general public is seeing a 50% shaded module in the…