3 Main Types of Solar Panels

• Posted by fu ying April 6, 2022 - Filed in Other - #Mono Solar Panels Manufacturer  - 964 views

      A solar panel is a group of PV solar panels that absorbs sunlight and convert the light into electricity. For most installations, connect multiple solar panels to create a solar array. The components of a solar panel include solar cells, a glass casing, a back sheet, a metal frame, and cables that transmit electricity.

      PV solar panel manufacturers use different types of solar cells and solar technologies, but the most commonly used material for solar cells is silicon (Si). Silicon is a key component of different types of solar panels, each with advantages and disadvantages.

     1. Monocrystalline solar panels

     Average Efficiency Range: 15%-24%

     How it is made: Wafers are cut from single-crystal blocks of high-purity silicon, whose cells form unique shapes.

     Appearance: The monocrystalline battery has a uniform appearance, a small black square with notches in the corners. Solar panels made with these solar cells typically have white or black back sheets.

     Features: These panels conduct electricity more efficiently and perform better in hot and cool conditions, allowing them to generate more solar energy than other panels of the same size. Since this type of technology is the most mature, it also has a proven track record of durability. However, they are the most expensive panels and generate more waste during the manufacturing process.

     2. Polycrystalline solar panels

     Average Efficiency Range: 12%-16%

     How it's made: Fragments of multiple silicon crystals are heated, melted, and pressed together to form a large solar cell.

     Appearance: These solar cells have a faceted, uneven, gem-like surface, usually blue.

     Features: Polycrystalline solar panels are less efficient but less expensive and less wasteful in the silicon manufacturing process. These are the most popular solar panels globally, largely due to the boom in production in China over the past few years. Additionally, these solar cells are covered by a glass casing, usually made of anti-reflective glass, to increase sunlight absorption and increase the efficiency of the solar panel, while also being protected by a back sheet.

     3. Thin-film solar panels

     Average Efficiency Range: 7%-13%

     How it is made: A thin layer of photovoltaic material or a combination of materials such as amorphous silicon (a-Si), cadmium telluride (CdTe), or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) is deposited on glass, plastic, or metal.

     Appearance: The thin-film silicon plate is generally large, uniform in appearance, and pure black.

     Features: This is a commercially available new technology for homes or businesses where space is not an issue. Thin-film solar panels are low cost, easy to produce, flexible, portable, and lightweight. However, they are less durable and have a shorter lifespan.

     In addition to HIT solar cells, HIT solar cells use thin intrinsic amorphous silicon layers on both the top and bottom surfaces of crystalline silicon wafers. And solar cells made from perovskites are a family of crystals named after Russian geologist Lev Perovskite. Perovskites are less stable than silicon but can achieve solar efficiencies similar to single-crystal cells at a lower cost.

     Solar panel efficiency is a measure of the amount of sunlight (irradiance) that falls on the surface of a solar panel and is converted into electricity. Due to the many advancements in photovoltaic technology in recent years, the average panel conversion efficiency has increased from 15% to over 20%. The dramatic increase in efficiency has resulted in an increase in the power rating of standard-size panels from 250W to 370W.

      The efficiency of a solar panel is determined by two main factors; photovoltaic (PV) cell efficiency, based on cell design and silicon type, and total panel efficiency, based on cell layout, configuration, and panel size. Cell efficiency depends on the cell structure and the type of substrate used, usually P-type or N-type silicon. The cell efficiency is calculated from the so-called fill factor (FF), which is the maximum conversion efficiency of the PV cell at the optimum operating voltage and current.

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