Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), announced yesterday all its solar panels were recently certified by the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) to maintain high performance when exposed to ammonia.
While ammonia tolerance isn’t an issue in most home solar power installations, the DIN 50916 standard is most relevant in commercial and agricultural situations where livestock and fertilisers that emit ammonia are in the vicinity of solar panels. Suntech says its certification provides farmers with confidence to install Suntech solar panels on the rooftops of greenhouses, barns, and/or warehouses.
In order to receive the certification, Suntech solar panels were saturated with a pH grade nine highly alkaline atmosphere of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) at thirty degrees Celsius for 28 days. Following the test period, the performance and material integrity of the panels were assessed for potential electricity generation losses and structural issues.
The German Institute for Standardization test is designed to determine whether the solar panels will withstand long-term exposure to ammonia or similar alkaline chemicals and is more intense than the comparable German Farmer Association (DLG) certification, which exposes solar panels to only 70% atmospheric saturation but at a higher temperature of seventy degrees Celsius; and for a long period of time (62.5 days).
Suntech solar panels are a popular choice in Australian residential solar power installations and with this added certification, Australian sun farmers may also find them attractive option; particularly where livestock graze between arrays as a form of weed control.
Suntech is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of solar modules and has delivered more than 10,000,000 solar panels to thousands of customers in more than 80 countries.
