Solar Panel
A solar panel is actually a collection of solar cells (or photovoltaic), which can be used to generate electricity with the effect of photovoltaic. These cells are arranged in a grid-like pattern on the surface of the solar panels. Therefore, it can also be described as a set of photovoltaic modules, housed in a supporting structure. A photovoltaic (PV) module is an integrated and connected assembly of solar cells.Solar panels wear very slowly. Annually, their performance decreases only by about 2 percent (sometimes, or less).
Types of Solar Panel
Monocrystalline Solar Panels
Polycrystalline Solar Panels
Thin-Film Solar Panels
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Monocrystalline Solar Panels
Monocrystalline solar panels are the oldest type of solar panel and the most developed. These monocrystalline solar panels are made from about 40 of the monocrystalline solar cells. These solar cells are made from pure silicon. In the manufacturing process (called the Czochralski method), a silicon crystal is placed in a vat of molten silicon. The crystal is then pulled up out of the vat very slowly, allowing for the molten silicon to form a solid crystal shell around it called an ingot. The ingot is then sliced thinly into silicon wafers. The wafer is made into the cell, and then the cells are assembled together to form a solar panel.
Monocrystalline solar cells appear black because of the way sunlights interacts with pure silicon. While the cells are black, there’s a variety of colors and designs for the back sheets and frames. The monocrystalline cells are shaped like a square with the corners removed, so there are small gaps between the cells.
Polycrystalline Solar Panels
Polycrystalline solar panels are a newer development, but they are rising quickly in popularity and efficiency. Just like monocrystalline solar panels, polycrystalline cells are made from silicon. But polycrystalline cells are made from fragments of the silicon crystal melted together. During the manufacturing process, the silicon crystal is placed in a vat of molten silicon. Instead of pulling it out slowly, this crystal is allowed to fragment and then cool. Then once the new crystal is cooled in its mold, the fragmented silicon is thinly sliced into polycrystalline solar wafers. These wafers are assembled together to form a polycrystalline panel.
Polycrystalline cells are blue in color because of the way sunlight reflects on the crystals. Sunlight reflects off of silicon fragments differently than it does with a pure silicon cell. Usually the back frames and frames are silver with polycrystalline, but there can be variation. The shape of the cell is a square, and there are no gaps between corners of cells.
Thin-Film Solar Panels
Thin-film solar panels are an extremely new development in the solar panel industry. The most distinguishing feature of thin-film panels is that they aren’t always made from silicon. They can be made from a variety of materials, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS). These solar cells are created by placing the main material between thin sheets of conductive material with a layer of glass on top for protection. The a-Si panels do use silicon, but they use non-crystalline silicon and are also topped with glass.
As their name suggests, thin-film panels are easy to identify by their thin appearance. These panels are approximately 350 times thinner than those that use silicon wafers. But thin-film frames can be large sometimes, and that can make the appearance of the entire solar system comparable to that of a monocrystalline or polycrystalline system. Thin-film cells can be black or blue, depending on the material they were made from.
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