Thin film solar panels are the cheapest but have the lowest efficiency rating and require a lot of space to meet your energy needs.
Polycrystaline vs monocrystaline solar panel.
If the color of your solar roof matters to you you should know that monocrystalline vs.
The typical polycrystalline panel will have a bluer shade while the monocrystalline panel will be darker black in color.
Manufacturers use silicon in making solar panels.
Polycrystalline solar panels generally have lower efficiencies than monocrystalline options but their advantage is a lower price point.
Polycrystalline solar panel disadvantages.
There were a number of reasons for this thinking.
Polycrystalline solar panels will appear somewhat differently in terms of color.
The key difference between monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels is that comparatively the monocrystalline solar panels are black in color and are more efficient and durable whereas polycrystalline solar panels are blue in color and are less efficient and less durable.
Monocrystalline solar cells have historically had a higher peak efficiency and were more readily available than polysilicon solar cells.
Therefore the primary component of a solar cell is silicon.
Polycrystalline panels have about 13 to 16 efficiency while monocrystalline panels have an efficiency rate of anywhere from 15 to 20.
Polycrystalline solar panel tends to be less efficient offers 13 16 efficiency rate the purity level of silicon is lower as compared to monocrystalline solar panels.
Monocrystalline solar panels are made of single crystal silicon whereas polycrystalline solar panels are made of up solar cells with lots of silicon fragments melted together.
You would need a much larger array of polycrystalline panels to produce the same amount of energy than if you used monocrystalline which may not work for households with limited roof space.
Monocrystalline solar panels contain cells that are cut from a single crystalline silicon ingot.
As a result mono panels are slightly more efficient than poly panels.
The composition of these cells is purer because each cell is made from a single piece of silicon.
In addition polycrystalline solar panels tend to have a blue hue instead of the black hue of monocrystalline panels.
Polycrystalline solar panels are also made from silicon.
Hence they are less efficient and durable.
When solar pv first boomed in australia in 2009 2010 monocrystalline solar panels were thought to be superior to polycrystalline solar panels.