Module Technology

Most of the solar panels on the market today for solar energy systems can fit into the main three categories: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and thin film. There are a few other types of solar cells available in the market like Perovskite and Organic solar cells. But due to lower cell power output efficiency and requirement more space to achieve the same performance as crystalline solar modules, thin film, Perovskite & Organic modules are less crowd-pleasing

Monocrystalline solar panels contain cells that are cut from a single crystalline silicon ingot. The composition of these cells is purer because each cell is made from a single piece of silicon. Whereas polycrystalline solar cells are blended together from multiple pieces of silicon, smaller bits of silicon are molded and treated to create the solar cell. Monocrystalline panels usually have the highest efficiency and power capacity than polycrystalline modules.

In late 2014 – 15 monocrystalline solar panels were too premium to utilize on a large scale in solar projects. But now monocrystalline market has gained traction all over the globe due to its higher efficiency, lower BOS cost, superior heat tolerance, improved technologies and above all, minimal price difference with polycrystalline types of solar panels. In recent trend several solar module manufacturer companies have shifted their production line from polycrystalline to monocrystalline to compete with the market.

Typical Wattage of Mono- and
Polycrystalline Solar Panels

As mentioned above, monocrystalline solar panels have higher wattage. This is an advantage when space is a limitation, since the installation can fit more watts per square metre. However, the capacity of a solar panel is also determined by the number of cells:

A 60-cell polycrystalline solar panel will have a typical wattage range from 250Wp to 300Wp, but in case of monocrystalline panel the range will be increased from 310Wp to 350Wp.
Similarly, a 72-cell polycrystalline solar panel will have a typical wattage from 300Wp to 350Wp, but for monocrystalline module the range will be magnified up to 550Wp and more.

Latest solar PV cell technology

Here we highlighted many of the latest solar panel and solar cell technologies offered by the manufactures.

Multi-Bus Bar (MBB) typ-
Half-Cut cell type
Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) type-
Bifacial type-
N type & P type
Heterojunction (HJT) N type-
Interdigitated Back Contact Type-
Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) type Panel-

Efficiency comparison

Solar panel efficiency is a measure of the amount of sunlight (irradiation) which falls on the surface of a solar panel and is converted into electricity. Due to the many advances in photovoltaic technology over recent years, the average panel conversion efficiency has increased from 15% to well over 20%. When we do comparison to select solar panels based on their efficiency, the result as follows.

Polycrystalline - 15 to 18%
Monocrystalline - 16.5 to 19%
Polycrystalline PERC - 17 to 19.5%
Monocrystalline PERC - 17.5 to 20%
Monocrystalline N-type - 19 to 20.5%
Monocrystalline N-type HJT - 19 to 21.7%
Monocrystalline N-type IBC - 20 to 22.6%

Temperature coefficient comparison

Higher or lower cell temperature will either reduce or increase the power output by a specific amount for every degree above or below 25°C (STC). This is known as the power temperature coefficient which is measured in %/°C.
When we do comparison to select solar panels based on their temperature coefficient, the result as follows.

Polycrystalline cells - 0.39 to 0.43 % /°C
Monocrystalline cells - 0.35 to 0.40 % /°C
Monocrystalline HJT cells - 0.25 to 0.27 % /°C
Monocrystalline IBC cells - 0.28 to 0.31 % /°C

Panel size vs efficiency comparison

Panel efficiency is calculated by the power rating divided by the total panel area, so just having a larger size panel does not always equate to higher efficiency. Traditionally, solar panels are available in two main cell sizes, 60 cells and 72 cells. The 60 cell panels are usually 1.65m tall and weight around 20kg, while the 72 cell are much taller at 2m and weigh around 28kg. By using higher efficiency solar cells, a standard 60 cell size solar panel can produce more than its typical wattage range. However, in larger panels using larger size solar cells increases the cell surface area which does boost overall efficiency. Now a days Half Cut (HC) cell solar panels are available in market. HC panels are roughly the same size but with double the amount of half cells at 120 cells & 144 cells. Besides the standard sizes there are a few solar panels manufacturer developing 96 and 104 cells panels.

Cost Vs Efficiency comparison

All manufacturers produce a range of panels with different efficiency ratings depending on the silicon type used and whether they incorporate PERC, multi busbar or other cell technologies. Very efficient panels above 21% featuring N-type cells are generally much more expensive. For solar rooftop & ground mount projects, higher efficiency panel plays a key role. With high efficiency solar panels, installer can improve project Ground Coverage Ratio (GCR) where space limit is concerned, reduce MMS and other BOS cost which will anticipate project overall cost. So despite its premium cost, higher efficiency module is usually well worth it in the long term.

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