What are the main materials of solar wire and cable conductor? What are the pros and cons?
01
Aluminium conductor
Pros:First, the price is cheap, the copper rod is 3.5 times the price of the aluminum rod, and the proportion of copper is 3.3 times that of aluminum, so the aluminum wire and cable is much cheaper than the copper wire and cable, suitable for low-cost projects or temporary use of electricity. Second, the cable is very light, can reduce transportation costs.
Cons:Aluminum wire has low conductivity, high loss of electricity, poor tensile strength, low corrosion resistance, and the joint is easy to be oxidized. If connected with copper wire, the joint is easy to be corroded because of the potential difference, and is easy to cause the fault of open circuit.
02
Aluminum alloy conductor
Pros:Compared with pure aluminum conductor, the tensile strength and elongation are improved, and the elongation is increased to 30% , which is more safe and reliable. The electric connection made of aluminum alloy is as safe and stable as the connection made of copper conductor, the bearing capacity of self-weight is strong, the aluminum alloy has good bending performance, its unique alloy formula and processing technology, so that the flexibility is greatly improved; Aluminum alloys are 30% more flexible than copper and 40% less resilient than copper.
Cons:The corrosion resistance is worse than aluminum, the temperature resistance is worse than copper, the Coefficient of thermal expansion is much higher than copper, and even some types are higher than common aluminum.
03
Bare copper wire
Bare copper wire is a very common and widely used conductor material. It is made of pure copper rod and is made of copper wire. It has the advantages of simple material, copper metal on the surface and inside, yellow in appearance, good ductility, small resistivity and low heat, can Do a lot of wire and cable and a variety of good thermal conductivity of materials. Disadvantage is easy to oxidize, unit price cost is higher than aluminum series.
04
Tinned copper wire
The tinned copper wire looks silver because tin is a silver metal. The process of tinning copper wire is a little more complicated than that of bare copper wire. After drawing the pure copper rod into wire, the thin tin layer is plated on the surface of the copper wire by hot tinning process. Tin is stable in air at room temperature because a dense oxide film is formed on the surface of tin, which prevents the further oxidation of tin. Therefore, the tin plating on copper surface does not affect the resistance, and the oxidation resistance of copper can be improved to some extent.
The performance of the above conductors is based on the performance of low voltage circuits, and the comprehensive performance ranking of these four conductors is summarized as follows: tinned copper wire > bare copper wire > aluminum alloy conductor > ordinary aluminum conductor.
The operating environment of photovoltaic power stations is generally quite harsh, often installed in desert, barren mountains, water surface, roofs and other such environments, which requires that the resistivity of solar cable must be good, not easy to oxidation, can be used for a long time, therefore, the choice of tin-coated copper wire as a conductor, is the most suitable for the use of the environment, the most stable electrical performance of a conductor.
For more information on solar cable, please feel free to call Slocable at 86-769-22010201. You can also email us at pv@slocable.com.cn.
