Solar energy is gaining traction in the United States. By 2050, an estimated 20% of the country’s energy will come from solar power.
Pursuing this form of energy has several benefits. It’s much better for the environment than burning substances like natural gas and switching to solar can save homeowners a considerable amount of money.
You’ll need solar panels if you’re looking to harness the sun’s power. There are three main types of solar panels available today and a few more in development.
Read on to learn all about them.
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If you’re looking to build a roof-top solar installation for your home, you’re most likely looking at installing monocrystalline solar panels. They’re the best solar panels for residential use.
Homeowners value this kind of solar panel for its incredible efficiency and durability.
They’re rated as high as 24%, which means they convert 24% of the energy they absorb into electricity. This efficiency pairs perfectly with solar battery storage, which allows you to bank the energy you generate with your solar energy system.
They also have a lifespan of 30-40 years, making them the most durable solar panel on the market today.
Monocrystalline solar panels use a unique manufacturing method to achieve their efficiency.
It’s called the Czochralski Method. With this technique, panel manufacturers can create a pure silicon crystal called an ingot. This crystal is then sliced into wafers only 0.3 mm thick.
Using pure silicon allows for the most efficient means of energy transfer. Electrons have a much easier time moving through a single crystal.
This kind of panel can be identified by the deep black color of its solar cells. The solar cell can then fit into many different housings.
While these solar panels are the most popular, they have two disadvantages.
The first is that monocrystalline solar panels are much more expensive than the other kinds of solar panels. The Czochralski Method wastes a considerable amount of silicon. As much as 50% of the material used in making these solar panels ends up discarded.
The other disadvantage is that they aren’t very efficient in suboptimal lighting conditions. Other panels are more efficient in indirect light.
Polycrystalline solar panels are a newer technology. These panels are also made of silicon.
Polycrystalline solar panels are made of solar cells from many crystal fragments rather than a single pure crystal. The use of fragments gives them a blue tint.
The crystal fragments are poured into a mold, cut into wafers, and then fashioned into a solar panel.
That means that polycrystalline panels are a bit less energy efficient than their counterpart. They convert about 20% of the sun’s energy into electricity.
Despite their slightly lower maximum efficiency rating, polycrystalline panels can keep up with the energy production of monocrystalline panels. They can generate more power in low-light and indirect lighting conditions, but you’ll need a larger solar panel installation to make the same amount of electricity.
These panels are also much less expensive due to their less wasteful manufacturing methods. That makes polycrystalline solar panels an attractive option for a homeowner looking for solar power on a budget.
Polycrystalline panels are also fairly durable and will serve you well for 25-35 years.
Thin-film solar panels are the newest commercially-viable solar panels on the market.
These panels are by far the thinnest solar panels available. Some can be up to 1/300th the thickness of crystalline solar panels.
They are made of a range of different substances. They can contain amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide. These are all photovoltaic materials, which means they convert thermal energy into heat.
No matter what a thin-film solar panel is made of, the manufacturing process is similar. The photovoltaic substance is fashioned into a sheet and placed underneath a thin glass covering.
Thin-film solar panels are the least efficient kind of solar panel, converting only 11% of the sun’s energy into electricity. As a result, thin-film solar panel installations tend to be much larger than other kinds of solar panels.
They’re typically installed on the roofs of industrial buildings rather than on homes. These buildings have more surface area to devote to a solar array.
While virtually every solar panel sold will be one of the main three kinds of solar panels, many exciting technologies are emerging. Some could revolutionize solar power.
Conventional solar panels are monofacial, meaning they have one “face” they absorb sunlight with. Bifacial solar panels feature a solar array on both sides. This can increase their efficiency to as much as 40%.
These solar energy systems work by capturing the light reflected off a flat surface. They could be incredibly useful in snowy areas where sunlight reflects off the snow.
Monofacial panels currently dominate the market, but bifacial panels could soon take over at the top.
Silicon is used in the construction of most solar panels, but it’s costly to work with and can only be fashioned into rigid panels.
A material called perovskite could change the solar cell landscape. Perovskite refers to a substance with a lattice-like chemical composition.
These materials can be created with ink, which could dramatically lower the cost of creating solar cells. They’re also much more pliable than silicon-based substances.
Perovskite cells are still in the testing phase. They are currently less durable and less efficient than silicon cells.
Solar is one of the most popular kinds of renewable energy. Smart homeowners across America are looking into ways to outfit their homes with solar panels to reap the rewards of solar energy.
Monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and thin-film are the three main types of solar panels. Most residential panels are monocrystalline due to their durability and efficiency.
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