Solar panel cable actually goes by a few different names, including photovoltaic or PV cable. Solar (PV) cable is also sometimes referred to as photovoltaic or PV wire, although, strictly speaking, solar panel wire and solar panel cable are not actually the same thing. (See the following section for details).

Regardless, most people are thinking of solar panel cable whether they call it wire or not, which brings up the question of what it actually is, and what difference, if any, there is between solar panel cables and other forms of electrical wire and cable. As it turns out, there are just a few key differences between solar cables and “normal” cables, such as general building cables. In other respects, they are largely the same.

Wire vs. Cable

First, let’s get wire and cable cleared up before we go any further. When you’re talking about general wires and cables, the difference is simple. A wire is a single conductor; it doesn’t matter what it’s made of. It could be a copper wire or an aluminum wire or even something else, but if there’s one strand, it’s a wire.

Cables are made up of many wires (single conductors) braided together. The main reason for creating cable instead of wire is that cable can be made much more flexible. As the gauge of a wire increases, so increases its current-carrying capacity and voltage-rating, but it becomes less flexible as well. The thicker the wire, the stiffer.

You can nearly maintain the same rating in cables as you can with wires of similar gauge, but the corresponding cables will be much, much more flexible. Flexibility is a key attribute of some special cables, like marine-grade electrical cables and welding cables - like our welding cables, which are also useful as solar panel cables.

What Are Its Main Attributes?

Obviously, solar panel cable needs to be rated according to the needs of the solar system. Among the two most important attributes of solar panel cable are its voltage rating and its length. Voltage rating details are provided on our product pages and result primarily from the gauge of the wire.

The other important consideration is length, since as cable lengths increase, resistance increases; this makes it necessary to use slightly larger gauge cables over greater distances; it’s actually related to voltage rating.

But this voltage rating and length are also important factors to consider regardless of the electrical wiring situation. Otherwise, it would be practical to use any type of wire or cable to set up a solar power array, which is not the case.

If you check out our solar panel cable (our welding cable) you will notice that among their many attributes, they are considered resistant to the weather as well as to sunlight. It doesn’t take too much reflection to try to figure out why that might be the case.

Solar panel cables that are used to connect the power inverter to the protection equipment and the power grid are outside all of the time. As a result, they’re subject to potentially vast fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Temperature fluctuations alone can cause cracking and degradation of solar panel cable insulation, but changes in humidity can also be dangerous.

Generally speaking, dry environments are good for the preservation of infrastructure. Copper, for its part, is not only a good conductor but is highly reactive. As a result, it needs to be protected against high humidity, and the cable’s insulation is the first line of defense.

Sunlight is another influence on electrical infrastructure that is highly destructive. It’s a bit ironic since solar systems capture energy from the sunlight, but the same sunlight can also be highly damaging to the insulation of solar panel cables.

It’s all about ultraviolet light. Electrical cables are created with a variety of different polymers. The issue is that ultraviolet light, which has a very short wavelength, is remarkably effective at breaking down complex polymers. Many organic molecules and complex synthetic molecules, over time, will suffer significant damage due to UV exposure.

This would be a significant hazard because if the cable that does not have sufficient UV protection were to be used for a solar panel array, it would present a variety of safety hazards, not to mention the fact that it would hasten the degradation of the cables themselves.

As you can see from our solar panel cables, they are coated with a special ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) insulation that is not only resistant to the weather (including temperature and humidity) but also to sunlight, rendering it suitable for use as photovoltaic cable.

What Else Does Our Solar Panel Cable Offer?

Because our solar panel cable was actually expressed designed for and intended to be used as welding cable, it is not simply resistant to sunlight and weather. In addition, our solar panel cable also happens to be highly flexible (because of its intended use as welding cable) and is resistant to a variety of other factors as well.

It is also resistant to oil and gasoline as well, and as a result, it can also be used as battery cable, and as leads for motors and generators. It can also be used as an extension for relocated batteries as well, in addition to its other stated purposes.

Why Is It Colored?

You will notice that our solar panel cables are black and red. This has nothing to do with the physical capabilities of the cables themselves but can be used to help differentiate their uses to electricians. For example, since our solar panel cables are suitable as leads for batteries, it’s critical to keep the positive and negative leads properly marked; red for positive and black for negative, as is customary. Red and black cables are also suitable for wiring ungrounded, hot applications.

Do you have additional questions about solar panel cable that have not been answered by the material in this post? Get in touch with our customer service team at 800-262-1598 or at sales@ewcswire.com to learn more.