Solar panels consist of solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. Mainly, we use two kinds of diodes for effective solar panels – bypass and blocking diodes. You may be wondering, what is the difference? Well, not much.
A modern solar panel has 3 junction boxes on the back for 3 bypass diodes. Here you can see the diodes inside the junction boxes: Bypass diodes circled. As the name suggests, bypass diodes are used to bypass shaded solar cells. They stop shaded, high-resistance cells from getting ‘hot spots’ and reduce the power loss in the partially shaded panel.
However, most of the solar panel array already has a built-in bypass and blocking diodes. Nevertheless, you still have to be careful. I hope this article helped you in learning about blocking diodes and how they are necessary for solar panels.
If a cell is shaded or damaged, its diode will send current around it, preventing losses. Fourth, blocking diodes stop reverse current flow from the battery to the solar panel at night, preventing power drainage. Together, these diodes maximize power generation and optimization in the solar array.
In short, as diode only passes current in one direction, so the current from solar panels flows (forward biased) to the battery and blocks from the battery to the solar panel (reverse biased). What is a Diode?
Third, bypass diodes provide alternative routes around solar cells that aren’t generating current. If a cell is shaded or damaged, its diode will send current around it, preventing losses. Fourth, blocking diodes stop reverse current flow from the battery to the solar panel at night, preventing power drainage.