Poly Vs Mono Solar Panels

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.

Poly vs mono solar panels.

Polycrystalline solar cells are blended from multiple silicon sources and are slightly less efficient. The main difference between the two technologies is the type of silicon solar cell they use. Looking at mono vs poly solar panels you can see that mono crystalline panels have a smoother more uniform appearance than poly crystalline panels. While on the other hand poly crystal solar panelare made out of fragments of silicon which were melted together to form the wafer.

Monocrystalline solar cells are more efficient because they are cut from a single source of silicon. Thin film technology costs less than mono or poly panels but is also less efficient. Mono panels are the most efficient since they re made with high quality silicon. Now to make things a little more confusing there s recently a third type of panel technology hit the market.

The way they are manufactured causes the panels to have a blue color which some people consider to be an eyesore. People are often confuse when it comes to buy a solar panel. A mono solar panel is made with high quality silicon manufactured with intricate patterns across the surface making them easy to differentiate from poly solar panels. They typically perform better than polycrystalline alternatives albeit by a small amount.

It is mainly used in large scale commercial applications. See an example of monocrystalline cells below. Mono solar cell panels have a typical efficiency of around 15 at the 25 c mark which drops at 50 c by around 12 15. Advantages of mono solar panels.

For two panels of similar wattage the difference in performance between mono and poly is absolutely tiny so don t stress over it at all. Mono crystal solar panelsare made out of highly pure single piece silicon.