A new compact four-way junction box for terminating the sheets of a photovoltaic energy panel has recently been introduced by Tyco Electronics.With an extremely low profile and a segmented solder point, this junction box saves encapsulation material for solar industry OEMs when connecting sheets on their solar panels.
In addition to the low profile, the overall dimensions have also been optimized to reduce the adhesive material needed for mounting to the backplate.
Benefiting from its low overmolded profile (only 13 mm high), this compact, medium-sized junction box can be easily installed on the backplate of silicon solar panels using glue or double-sided adhesive.
The connection pads are located in distinct rectangular openings for clean and easy soldering of the cross-connect to the pads. The low-profile design is achieved through the use of flat SMD diodes mounted on very wide internal rails to provide excellent thermal management capabilities. The overmolded cables are 1 meter in length and terminate with Tyco Electronics' proven SOLARLOK connectors.
The compact, medium-sized junction box complies with IEC 61215 ed.2 (VDE specifications V0126-5). A version with USE-2 cables is currently pending UL approval.
