To understand the differences between various types of solar panels, we have to know all the types and where these are mostly used.
Fact-Finding: The amount of the energy generated by the Sun in 24 hours is equal to the energy consumed by the whole population in 27 years.
In this article, we have explained different types of Solar Panels, which make you, understand the Right Solar Panel for your home or others.
Different technologies used solar energy on the market such as. These are solar thermal and solar water heating. Actually these alternatives are used for heating the water, to produce the green electricity. After a few decades of research & development, science has produced different types of Solar panels at a wide range.
Different types of solar panel technologies explained
Type of Solar Cell | Monocrystalline Solar Panels (Mono-SI) | Polycrystalline Solar Panels (P-Si) | Thin-Film: Amorphous Silicon Solar Panels (A-SI) | Concentrated PV Cell (CVP) |
Efficiency-Rate | 20-23% | 14-16% | 7-10% | 40% |
Pros | It has optimized for commercial use; High life expectancy; Top class rate of Efficiency | Lower price | Lower costs than others; easy to produce & more flexible | Top level of performance & efficiency rate |
Cons | Too much expensive | very much sensitive to a higher temperature means small lifespan and not space-efficient | Short lifespan & warranty duration is too low | To reach a high-efficiency rate, it needs to include the solar tracker & cooling system |
Distinguishing various types of solar panels means differentiating between single-intersections and multi-intersections solar panels—or first, second, or third generations. Single-intersection and multi-intersections differ in the several layers on the solar panel that will watch in the sunlight, while the grouping by generation focuses on the materials and effectiveness of various sorts of solar panels.
1st Generation Solar Panels
These are the traditional type of solar panels made of monocrystalline silicon or polysilicon. These are most generally used in a conventional environment.
Monocrystalline Solar Panels (Mono-SI)
Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Panels is also called single crystalline silicon solar panels. It can be easily recognized by their external dark black color and rounded edges. Monocrystalline Solar Panels is made using tube-shaped silicon ingots that are cut into wafers and have a higher efficiency. The silicon’s high purity causes it has one of the highest efficiency rates. So, they can exploit the sun irradiation.
Monocrystalline panels have a powerful output, consume less space, and last the longest. Obviously, they are the most costly of the pack. Another advantage is that they will in general be marginally less affected by high temperatures than polycrystalline panels.
Polycrystalline Solar Panels (Poly-SI)
This type of solar panels have squares, its points are not cut, and it has a blue, dotted look. So that you can rapidly recognize these boards by it look. They are made by melting raw silicon, which is a quicker and lesser expensive procedure than that utilized for Monocrystalline boards.
It leads lower cost yet additionally lower effectiveness (around 15%), lower space efficiency, and a shorter life span.
In any case, the difference between mono-and polycrystalline types of solar panels are not all that noteworthy. Actually the choice will depend on the particular circumstances.
2nd Generation Solar Panels
These cells are various kinds of thin-film solar cells and are used for photovoltaic power stations, incorporated in buildings or solar systems.
Thin-Film Solar Cells (TFSC)
If you are searching for a more affordable alternative, you should look into thin film. Thin film solar panels are made by putting at least one film of photovoltaic material, (for example, silicon, cadmium or copper) onto a substrate. These sorts of solar panels are the easiest to create and economy of scale make them less expensive than other alternatives due to less material is needed for its production. It is less affected by high temperatures. They occupy lot of space, making them unsuitable for residential establishments. It can be a good option to choose where a lot of spaces is available.
Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell (A-Si)
Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell (A-Si) belongs to the category of thin film solar cell. This type of solar panel uses a triple layered technology, which is the best of the thin film category. Most solar powered pocket calculators are made by Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell. These cells have low efficiency rate- but the advantage is the A-Si-Cells are moderately low in cost.
3rd Generation Solar Panels
3rd Generation Solar Panels include different thin-film technologies but most of them are still in the development stage. Some of them generate power by using natural materials and others use inorganic substances (example: CdTe)
Biohybrid Solar Cell
The Biohybrid solar cell is one type of solar panels, which is still in the development stage. It has been found by a specialist group at Vanderbilt University. The idea behind the innovation is to take the advantage of Photosystem 1 and reproduces the natural procedure of photosynthesis in this manner. In last two decades, many reports have been published on different kinds of biohybrid cathodes using components of the photosynthetic device. Right now, the development of such devices doesn’t reach out after laboratory research. Lot of the materials being utilized in this cell are like the conventional techniques, by consolidating the multiple layers of photosystem 1, the transformation from chemical to electrical energy becomes more effective than 1st generation solar panels.
Cadmium Telluride Solar Cell (CdTe)
Among the accumulations of various sorts of solar panels, this photovoltaic strategy uses Cadmium Telluride, which empowers the generation of solar cells at generally low cost and shorter payback time. CdTe solar cells will keep carbon emission as low as could reasonably be expected. The main disadvantage of utilizing Cadmium Telluride is efficiency. Currently Cadmium telluride solar panels achieve efficiency of 10.6% which is lower than efficiency of silicon solar cell.
Concentrated PV Cell (CVP and HCVP)
Concentrated PV cells generate electrical energy similarly as traditional photovoltaic systems do. Those multi-intersection kinds of sunlight based boards have efficiency rate up to 41%, which is the highest among all photovoltaic systems. The name of such CVP cells is identified with what makes them so efficient, compared with different kinds of solar panels: curved mirror surfaces, lenses, and in some cases, cooling systems are utilized to accumulate the Sunrays and subsequently increase their efficiency.