This page tracks our known information about companies which provide custom solar module assembly and encapsulation. The two well-known providers in the solar car community are SunCat Solar (USA) and Gochermann Solar (Germany).

Gochermann Solar Technology

Contact

Gochermann Solar Technology

Capabilities

We’re not simply placing solar cells between 2 sheets of sticky plastic films. It’s a sophisticated technology which gives brittle solar cells protection in a harsh race environment by using reinforcement. We optionally can texture the module surface with a micro-prismatic pattern to eliminate reflection losses, a new type of encapsulant called “Crystal Plus” will actually turn cell to module losses into gain. This means we get more power from an encapsulated cell than from a bare cell! We can add module integrated bypass diodes to mitigate losses from the canopy shadowing some modules, and those diodes are electronic devices much better than regular bypass diodes. We can dice solar cells to increase the packing rate or to increase (sub-) array voltage. We can realize any module outline to fit modules around the canopy, If you were to order a solar array to day we’d be able to use silicon solar cells of up to 24.3% efficiency, and GaAs solar cells of up to  36% efficiency. Most teams only have budget for Si solar cells. GaAs, be it thin film or multi-junction, is way too expensive. In Si Sunpower is the vendor with the highest efficiency. We can manufacture modules in any shape and outline in a 1x1 cell configuration up to a 7x4 cells configuration. Even L shapes are possible, and multiple electrical strings within one module. This eases cell allocation to MPPT banks a lot.