World’s first plug-and-play solar panels launched

Westinghouse has launched the world’s first fully integrated plug-and-play solar panels. The company’s innovative trademarked instant connection system eliminates panel-to-panel wiring and racking. The company claims their system reduces installation costs by 50%.

Last week, the designer and manufacturer of solar power systems, Westinghouse Solar, announced the release of a new line of solar panels under the trade name Instant Connect. The system promises faster and easier rooftop installations than commonly available products.

Westinghouse Solar’s new product is one in a long list of innovations by the company that developed and integrated racking directly into the solar panels in 2007. They also introduced the industry’s first UL-approved AC solar panel in 2009. Instant Connect is the company’s first plug-and-play product. This solar panel eliminates time-consuming and sometimes difficult connection of panel-to-panel wiring for residential AC systems and commercial DC systems.

Westinghouse Solar has developed this product with innovative sets of UL-approved electrical connectors that are integrated directly into the sides of each solar panel. This allows installers on roofs to plug solar panels together easily; various patents have already been established for the. Westinghouse Solar’s Instant Connect includes frames of the solar panels and splices that connect the solar panels together. They stipulate precision alignments of different electrical connectors and eliminate manual wiring and cabling.

Installation of current standard solar panels

Currently, installation of solar panels requires assembly of many individual parts, which include long sections of aluminium or steel racking, electrical conduit to separate the high-voltage DC wires. The list of tasks involved is lengthy and costly.

Installation can be challenging particularly given assembly on roof environments as there is risk of fall. The core problem of rooftop installation is that manufacturers never considered easy system packages that reduce parts and make installation easy. Another obstacle is that installation components only fit individual manufacturers’ products leaving consumers not much choice in the selection process of parts and assembly solutions.