PV Module Packaging and Container Loading for Export

Published: November 3, 2026 | Author: Weltrus Energy Team

When One Container Count Is Reused

The question that opens most export calls is “how many modules in a container?” The honest answer is a packing list, not a slogan. A number from a previous shipment belonged to one model, one pallet drawing, one container type, and one weight limit. The next purchase changes at least one of those four, and the count moves. Buyers who lock the old count into a freight budget then discover a shortfall, a partial container, or a pallet that does not match the forklift they booked at the destination.

Damage claims fail for a related reason. The module that arrives with a crushed corner needed a corner protector, a strap path that does not cut the frame, and bracing so the stack cannot tilt when the container is moved. A photograph of a neat doorway is not that specification. The specification is the packing drawing plus the list that says this pallet, this seal, and this serial range were the ones loaded.

Weltrus has a published shipment example buyers can use as context and only as context: the 630 W model FX-630HT-02 was loaded as five 40-foot containers. This note does not restate a piece count from that shipment, because the count is not part of the facts used here. FX-630HT-02 is also not one of the three TOPCon bands whose outlines are printed below. Do not assign those outlines, or a guessed module quantity, to that model. If you need the count, ask for that shipment’s packing list. If you are buying a different code, ask for a new list.

Specify the Pallet, the Brace, and the List

Start with the model code. The pallet length follows the module length plus the timber, the corner pieces, and any dunnage the drawing adds. A pallet built for a 1990 mm module is the wrong length for a 2382 mm module. Stack height follows thickness, the number of modules in the stack, and the caps. Thickness on the three bands below is 30 mm, so a change in pieces per pallet changes height directly. The drawing has to say whether the modules stand in a vertical stack or lie in the orientation the factory actually uses. Do not infer orientation from a catalog photo.

Corner protection is part of the purchase, not a courtesy. Each stack needs protectors on the corners the drawing names, edge guards under the straps, and straps that hold the load without biting the frame. The receiving check is visual and simple: protectors present, straps intact, no crushed corners, no shifted stack. The claim check is documentary: the packing list, the container number, and the seal number match the box that was opened. A broken seal is a different problem from a factory defect. The file should be able to tell them apart.

Inside the container, strapping the pallet is not the same as bracing the load. Pallets need to be blocked so they cannot walk when the ship rolls or the truck brakes. Overhang past the pallet deck, contact between a frame and a container wall, and a stack taller than the remaining door height are drawing questions. A 40-foot container and a 40-foot high-cube container do not offer the same internal height. The booking confirmation should name which one was used, and the packing list should name the same one. This note does not set a Weltrus default between them.

The packing list is the document that makes the physical load auditable. It should show the model code and the power bin, the module quantity, the pallet quantity, and the modules per pallet for this shipment, including a last pallet that is not full. It should show pallet dimensions and gross weight per pallet, so the destination can match a forklift and a deck load. It should show net weight and gross weight of the container, the container number, and the seal number. It should show a serial range or a clear pointer to the serial list. Later, a warranty question or a flash-list question needs the serial on the module to meet the serial on that list and the bill of lading.

The document pack that travels with the list is whatever the contract requires, and it should at least be requested as a set: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading with the same container and seal, the flash or power-bin file tied to serials in the format the purchase order named, the limited warranty that names the model, the IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 evidence understood as type tests, and the installation manual. The manual is a packaging document in one specific way. Handling method, lift points, and clamp zones are how the orientation in the container meets the way the module is allowed to be carried onto the roof. IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 do not describe the pallet. They qualify a design. They are not a 30-year outdoor dataset, and they are not a piece count.

Why Outline and Mass Block a Universal Count

Three TOPCon bands have internal parameter tables for outline and mass. Width is 1134 mm and thickness is 30 mm on each, so a pallet-width conversation looks similar until length and kilograms enter. They enter immediately. Use the row for the band you are buying. Do not scale a container count from one row to another by the ratio of watts.

Length versus a typical container, as a fit question

A typical 40-foot dry container has an internal width near 2.35 m and an internal length near 12 m. Those are general container figures buyers use to frame a question. They are not a Weltrus measurement of a booked box, and they are not a loading standard. Confirm the equipment interchange receipt or the booking for the container you will actually get. A high-cube box changes height more than it changes width.

Set the 645-670 W outline next to that typical width. The module itself is 2382 mm long, which is already longer than 2.35 m, before pallet boards and corner protectors are added. Across-the-width loading of that bare outline does not fit a typical internal width. The drawing has to show a lengthwise pallet or another arrangement that does fit, with clearance. This paragraph does not calculate how many such pallets occupy 12 m, because piece count also depends on pallet width, gaps, bracing, and weight. Publishing a count here would invent a standard the tables do not contain.

The 1762 mm and 1990 mm outlines are shorter than 2.35 m as bare modules. That does not mean they are loaded sideways. Timber, corner pieces, and strap clearance can push a pallet over the internal width even when the glass is shorter. The drawing answers it. The packing list records the pallet dimensions that were built. Compare those dimensions with the container, in writing, before the vessel date.

Mass changes the forklift question at a constant piece count

Take the same number of modules on a pallet and the gross weight still changes, because module mass changes. The 540-560 W band is 25.0 kg. The 465-490 W band is 28.0 kg. The difference is 3.0 kg per module. On a pallet of 30 modules, which is an example count for the arithmetic and not a Weltrus pallet standard, that difference is 90 kg before timber. The 645-670 W band at 34.0 kg is 9.0 kg per module above the 25.0 kg band, or 270 kg on that same example count of 30, again before the pallet. Do not use 30 as a quoted Weltrus stack. Use it only to see why a reused piece count from a lighter model can overload a forklift or a roof hoist when the model changes. The real modules-per-pallet figure is the one printed on the list for the shipment.

Destination handling follows the mass on that list and the installation manual, not a rule of thumb invented for this page. A 34.0 kg module is a different lift from a 25.0 kg module for the crew on a roof. The manual for the model states the handling method. If the manual you have does not match the mass on the datasheet, stop and ask. Do not average the three masses into a planning weight.

Electrical tables on these bands are not packing data, but they explain why a 630 W code cannot borrow a neighbor’s crate. Open-circuit voltage and efficiency differ by band, and FX-630HT-02 sits outside all three windows. Its five 40-foot containers are a loading context for that model. They do not say how many pieces were inside, they do not say whether the boxes were high-cube, and they do not say what the next purchase should book. Container count without a packing list is a headline. The list is the specification.

Selection Boundaries

• Do not publish a universal modules-per-container figure as a Weltrus standard. Ask for pallet dimensions, pieces per pallet, gross weight, container type, and the resulting count on the packing list.
• Do not turn five 40-foot containers for FX-630HT-02 into a piece count or a plan for the 465-490 W, 540-560 W, or 645-670 W bands. The datasheet for FX-630HT-02 controls its own outline and mass.
• Do not estimate payload from watts. The lighter band is not the lower-wattage band. Use kilograms and the pallet plan.
• Do not treat a typical 2.35 m container width as a measured Weltrus container. Use it to ask the fit question, especially for the 2382 mm outline, then confirm the booked box.
• Do not skip partial pallets, seal numbers, or serial references. The last pallet and the seal are where quantity disputes and damage disputes are settled.
• Do not substitute an IEC certificate for the packing drawing. Type tests and a pallet plan answer different questions. Mechanical load ratings in pascals are also absent from this note. The installation manual for the model states handling and support limits.

Before the booking is final, the file for that model should contain the packing drawing, a sample packing list with the fields above, the pallet gross weight, the container type, and the serial-list format. Price and freight come after those pages agree. A lower freight quote that assumes another model’s piece count is not yet a comparable offer.

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