A Journal of our Travels
Solar panels are a packaged, connected assembly of photovoltaic cells.
- They are typically used in high reliability applications.
- They too experience a significant reduction in output at elevated temperatures (>50deg C), although the effect is not as large as for polycrystalline panels.
- Monocrystalline solar panels are one the most efficient commercially viable photovoltaic solar collectors.
- Expensive to make.
- More power per square foot.
- Extremely fragile.
- Identifieable by its signature light or dark blue colour, but not uniformly so: some patches are lighter than others, and the corners of cells are usually missing as a result of the production process and the ph.ysical nature of monocrystalline silicon
- Efficiency up to 20%.
- Panels made from polycrystalline cells are the most common and cheapest.
- Output is significantly reduced in high temperatures.
- 12% to 12.5% efficiency.
- Their output does not decrease in elevated temperatures.
- Their conversion efficiency of sunlight to electricity is about half that of polycrystalline or monocrystalline panels, so you will need a much larger surface area for the same power out.
- Can be rolled up
- Amorphous are shade tolerant.
- Mono or Poly with bypass diodes handle partial shade better.
