What You Need To Know About Solar Wire And Cable

Solar panel cables actually go by several different names, including photovoltaic or photovoltaic cables. Solar (PV) cables are also sometimes called photovoltaic or PV wires, but strictly speaking, solar panel wires and solar panel cables are not actually the same thing. Then let's discuss it together!

Anyway, most people are thinking about solar panel cable, whether they call it wire or cable or not, which raises the question of what it actually is and how solar panel cable is different from other forms of wire and other forms of what is the difference between wire and cable. It turns out that there are only a few key differences between solar PV cables and "normal" cables such as other building cables. There are many aspects that are basically the same.

Difference Between Wire and Cable

First, let's clear up the difference between wires and cables before continuing. When talking about wires and cables in general, the difference is simple. A wire is a single conductor; it doesn't matter what it's made of. It can be copper wire or aluminum wire, or even something else, but if there's a wire, it's a wire.

A cable consists of multiple wires (single conductors) braided together. The main reason for cables instead of wires is that cables can be made more flexible. As the wire gauge increases, so does its current-carrying capacity and voltage rating, but it also becomes less flexible. The thicker the wire, the stiffer it is.

You can pretty much keep the same ratings in the cable as using similar gauge wire, but the corresponding cable will be more flexible. Flexibility is a key attribute of some special cables, such as DC cables and photovoltaic cables, such as our photovoltaic cables, which can also be used as solar panel connection cables.

What Are Its Main Properties

Obviously, the photovoltaic cables of the solar panel need to be connected according to the needs of the solar system. The two most important properties of a solar panel photovoltaic cable are its voltage rating and length. Details of voltage ratings are available on our product pages, primarily from the conductor's gauge.

Another important consideration is length, as the resistance increases as the length of the PV cable increases; this makes it necessary to use a slightly larger gauge PV cable for longer distances; it is actually related to the rated voltage.

However, regardless of the electrical wiring, this voltage rating and length are also important factors to consider. Otherwise, using any type of photovoltaic wire or cable to set up the solar array would work, but it isn't.

If you look at our solar panel photovoltaic cables, you will notice that among their many properties, they are considered weather and sunlight resistant. It doesn't take much thought to figure out why this is the case.

The solar panel cables used to connect the inverter to protection equipment and the grid are always external. Therefore, they can be affected by large fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Temperature fluctuations alone can cause solar panel PV cable insulation to crack and degrade, but humidity changes can also be dangerous.

Generally speaking, a dry environment is conducive to the protection of infrastructure. By itself, copper is not only a good conductor, but also highly reactive. Therefore, it needs to be protected from high humidity, and the insulation of the cable is the first line of defense.

Sunlight is another highly damaging effect on power infrastructure. This is somewhat ironic because solar systems get their energy from sunlight, but that same sunlight can also wreak havoc on the insulation of solar panel PV cables.

It's all about UV rays. Cables are made from a variety of different polymers. The problem is that ultraviolet light with very short wavelengths is very effective at breaking down complex polymers. Over time, many organic molecules and complex synthetic molecules suffer significant damage from UV exposure.

This would be a great danger, as it would present various safety hazards if PV cables without adequate UV protection were used in solar panel arrays, not to mention that it would accelerate the degradation of the cables. They themselves can be seen in our solar panel photovoltaic cables, which are coated with a special EPDM insulation that not only resists weather, including temperature and humidity, but also sunlight exposure, making them suitable for use as photovoltaics cable.