Types of solar panels you can find in the market

Solar panel is a device that absorbs sunlight and converts them into electricity. They are made using a collection of photovoltaic cells that can be used to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect. Solar panels are the new source of energy for a sustainable environment.

There are three types of major solar panels: Monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin film. These solar panels vary in their appearance, how they are made, performance, cost and the type of installations that suit them best. The type of solar panels you choose will affect the installation process, cost and how it will look on your roof according to their design. Each of these solar panels has a different design.

1. Monocrystalline solar panel 

These are the oldest types of solar panels but also the most developed. Made from about 40 monocrystalline solar cells, these solar cells are made using pure silicon. Monocrystalline appears black because of the way sunlight interacts with pure silicon. These types of solar panel sheets are shaped like squares with corners removed with small gaps between the cells. Monocrystalline solar panels are also likely to be more expensive than any other type of solar panels. 

2. Polycrystalline solar panel

The newer developed solar panels, polycrystalline, are growing in popularity and efficiency. Made from silicon just like monocrystalline, this solar panel is made from fragments of the silicon crystal melted together. Polycrystalline solar panels appear blue because of the way sunlight reflects on the crystal. Its appearance is square-shaped cells with no gaps between the corners of the cells. Polycrystalline solar panels are typically cheaper than Monocrystalline solar panels. 

3. Thin-film solar panel 

The extremely new development in the solar panel industry, thin-film solar panels has the most distinguished features and they are not always made using silicon like the first two. Thin-film can be made using a variety of materials like cadmium telluride (CdTe), amorphous silicon (a-Si) and copper indium gallium selenide(CIGS). As the name suggests, this solar panel can be identified by its thin sheet appearance. Thin-Film solar panel’s cost depends on the type of materials used for example CdTe made Thin-film solar panels are the cheapest while CIGS are the most expensive. 

These are the three types of solar panels you can find in the market and install according to your budget and installation type. Solar panels are a good choice for sustainability as it is a renewable source of energy and does not emit greenhouse gases when producing electricity.