Solar Energy Articles

Difference Between the Monocrystal and Polycrystal Solar Panels

Any types of solar panels that are available in the market today are made from silicon, the second most abundantly available material in the world after carbon. The material in nature is in the form of silica which is commonly known as sand. Silicon in the purest form has certain semiconductor property which makes the material very effective and versatile in conducting electric current. Therefore there are wide number of applications in various electronic devices in the market have silicon. It is because of this semiconductor property what makes silicon a primary element in the electronic devices.

In nature the silicon is available in silica which is Sio2 and needs to be extracted. This extraction process is very critical and there are various processes that can be used. The process involves heating the silica to up to seventeen hundred degrees and then allowing it to cool. The entire process needs to be done with the presence of carbon in the process. After the heating process, it is allowed to cool. The result is pure silicon crystals.

The cooling process needs to be done very carefully. You cannot allow silicon to cool quickly as it will not form big crystals. The cooling process needs to be done very slowly so that the silicon can form bigger crystals. The sooner the silicon cools, smaller the crystals formed, in the same way slower it is cooled, the bigger the crystals become. Since the slow cooling is expensive process, the good quality crystals are always expensive.

The only difference between the monocrystal and polycrystal is that monocrystal is made from single crystal of silicon whereas the polycrystals are made from multiple crystals. That is why silicon chips made out of polycrystals are not as efficient as the monicrystals. The silicon disks made out of polycrystals have a rough surface compared to the monocrystals where the surface is relatively smooth. This allows the monocrystal disks to absorb more light than the polycrystals. This makes the polycrystals less than perfect. On the other one advantage of polycrystals over the monocrystals is that the process of making polycrystal disks is much simpler. The price per square meter is also reduced. However the difference in terms of power output of the 2 panels is not much. The only difference that will be noticeable is the size of the panel of polycrystalline panel which is more than the monocrystalline panel. In most cases the size is not the issue since you get almost the same power unless you wish to maximize the power output and do not have sufficient area.

The color of the monocrystalline silicon is uniform and polycrystal silicon appears to be mixed colored like a color of granite.

So how to decide which one to choose? How to choose which one is better? Or which one is ideal for my requirement? The fact is that choosing whether which panel should be installed will not depend on whether the panel should be monocrystalline or polycrystalline. However if size is your issue, then you might want to go for monocrystal instead of polycrystal. One of the factors that might affect your decision is the output per watt which is almost the same for both panels. Another factor is to choose the right and the best supplier and manufacturer also approaching the right installer is equally important. The installer that you choose may not have the necessary qualifications to qualify for the government benefits such as rebates. There are chances that your panel does not the necessary warranty period which is enough for the recovery if the system does not work properly. A good quality solar panel will give you almost no trouble for about twenty years.

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