Day 13 of #100dayofoslarnuggets
I said I was going to discuss about three types of solar panels but I discussed about two, so today am going to discuss about the third one.
Before I talk about Amorphous Solar panels I want to explain something first.
What are Solar panels made off?
Solar cells which are used to make solar panels are made up of Silicon.
Pure silicon is crystalline in nature and that is where we get the names mono crystalline and poly crystalline.
Mono crystalline (mono refers to one or single) means this solar cells where made up of one form of silicon crystal and that is why it has very high efficiency and also quite expensive
Poly crystalline (Poly refers to many) means this solar cells where made up of two more silicon crystal.
Amorphous (thin film) Solar Panels
Description
Thin film Solar cells are not made from crystals like the two previous types but rather made by depositing thin layers of it’s photo voltaic substance on a material such as glass or even plastic, Silicon is not always used for making amorphous solar panels sometimes materials such as Cadmium carbide Telluride(CdTe) or Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIG/ CIGS) materials are used.
A unique feature of this type of solar panel is that it can be flexible or even elastic.
Advantages
.1) It is cheaper than both mono crystalline and Poly crystalline Solar panels.
.2) Under high temperatures, It performs better than mono crystalline and Poly crystalline solar panels.
Disadvantages
.1) It has a lower efficiency when compared with mono crystalline and poly crystalline solar panels.
.2) It uses more surface area (or roof space) when compared with mono and poly crystalline solar cells,(what this means is to achieve a particular power rating you would need fewer panels when using mono or poly crystalline compared to when you are using amorphous).
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