Difference Between Polycrystalline And Multicrystalline Solar Panels

When solar pv first boomed in australia in 2009 2010 monocrystalline solar panels were thought to be superior to polycrystalline solar panels.

Difference between polycrystalline and multicrystalline solar panels.

There were a number of reasons for this thinking. At the wholesale level poly and mono modules from this category examples being canadian solar longi trina or jinko are around 50 cents per watt. Usually polycrystalline silicon solar cells won t have the corners cut off of them so you won t see the large white spaces on the front of the panel that you see on monocrystalline panels. 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.

However instead of using a single crystal of silicon manufacturers melt many fragments of silicon together to form the wafers for the panel. Polycrystalline panels sometimes referred to as multicrystalline panels are popular among homeowners looking to install solar panels on a budget. Polycrystalline solar panels are also made from silicon. This silicon is then cooled and finally sliced into square wafers creating the polycrystalline shape.

In fact both polycrystalline and monocrystalline solar panels serve the purpose well by producing the required amount of electricity for your home. 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. For the chinese tier 1 solar panel the cost difference between polycrystalline and monocrystalline panels is 1 2 cents per watt.

However there are certain differences that relate to the types of technology used for the manufacturing of these panels. The efficiency of polycrystalline solar panels is somewhat lower but the benefit for customers is that this option is more affordable. Polycrystalline solar panels are also referred to as multi crystalline or many crystal silicon. Polycrystalline are also known as multi crystalline solar panels and unlike monocrystalline solar panels the melted silicon to produce them is poured into a square mould.

A quality mono crystalline solar panel such as the suntech 190w also used by gold coast solar power solutions has a pmax rating of 0 48 o c though only a difference of 0 08 per o c this small amount adds up on hot summer days and makes the poly multi crystalline out perform the mono crystalline solar panel in real world australian. Manufacturers use silicon in making solar panels. Therefore the primary component of a solar cell is silicon.