Is bigger always better? Experts weigh in on large-format modules.
This month PV Magazine posed the question: when does bigger simply become too big? PV Pallet co-founder Luke Phelps contributed to the conversation, noting the shipping and logistics limitations with larger modules.
Standard shipping containers are 2.43 meters wide and 2.59 meters high. New module sizes are approaching some of these dimensions and require a rethink of how they can best be packed and shipped. Manufacturers argue that larger formats actually allow them to better optimize use of space, packing more watts into one container. But container dimensions are one of a few factors that could place a final upper limit on module size, and even the current strategies for larger formats have raised some concerns.
Luke Phelps, founder of PV Pallet – a U.S.-based company which later this year plans to launch a new packing solution for PV modules, to replace the usual wooden crates – sees several potential problems. “You start running into height restrictions. It gets to a point where you only have a few inches of clearance at the top of the door to load or unload, and that is just not enough when operating a forklift,” he explains. “In the smaller formats, breakage rates are anywhere between two and five percent. My biggest concern is that with larger formats, that’s going to go even higher.”
And though manufacturers may be able to pack more watts per container, this doesn’t necessarily play out elsewhere along the chain. “Containers don’t have weight restrictions, but once they reach their destination most countries have weight restrictions on the road,” adds Phelps. “We have seen some larger format shipments in the U.S. where they can only fill the truck about three quarters of the way before they hit that weight limit.”
Mark Hutchins. "Container concerns." PV Magazine, May 2021, p. 59.