Photo-voltaic (PV for short) describes materials with the property of producing electricity when exposed to sunlight.
The most common and most efficient photovoltaic products are made from crystalline silicon, representing over 95% of the market.
Single-Crystal
These represent the "traditional" technologies.
They can be grouped into the category "crystalline silicon.“
Single-crystal modules are composed of cells cut from a piece of continuous crystal.
Because each cell is cut from a single crystal, it has a uniform color which is dark blue.
Single crystal is the original PV technology invented in 1955
Polycrystalline cells are made from similar silicon material except that instead of being grown into a single crystal, it is melted and poured into a mold.
This forms a square block that can be cut into square wafers with less waste of space or material than round single-crystal wafers.
The efficiency of energy conversion is slightly lower.
The surface has a jumbled look with many variations of blue color.
Polycrystalline entered the market in 1981
Thin-Film (It is also called amorphous, meaning "not crystalline.")
The active material may be silicon, or it may be a more exotic material such as cadmium telluride.
Thin-film panels can be made flexible and lightweight by using plastic glazing. Some flexible panels can tolerate a bullet hole without failing. Some of them perform slightly better than crystalline modules under low light conditions. They are also less susceptible to power loss from partial shading of a module.
Thin film materials tend to be less stable than crystalline, causing degradation over time.
HIT Photovoltaic Module (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-Layer)
HIT solar cells are developed by SANYO and are composed of crystalline silicon wafers and thin amorphous silicon layers.
The HIT cell and module have high conversion efficiency which translates in space, time & cost saving installations
The basic construction consists of laminated assembly of individual solar cells and interconnecting ribbons encapsulated within an insulating material. This encapsulated assembly is sandwiched between a rigid, transparent top surface (glass) and an insulating back face (laminated film with Aluminum)
Thin-Film (It is also called amorphous, meaning "not crystalline.")
The active material may be silicon, or it may be a more exotic material such as cadmium telluride.
Thin-film panels can be made flexible and lightweight by using plastic glazing. Some flexible panels can tolerate a bullet hole without failing. Some of them perform slightly better than crystalline modules under low light conditions. They are also less susceptible to power loss from partial shading of a module.
Thin film materials tend to be less stable than crystalline, causing degradation over time.
HIT Photovoltaic Module (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-Layer)
HIT solar cells are developed by SANYO and are composed of crystalline silicon wafers and thin amorphous silicon layers.
The HIT cell and module have high conversion efficiency which translates in space, time & cost saving installations
The basic construction consists of laminated assembly of individual solar cells and interconnecting ribbons encapsulated within an insulating material. This encapsulated assembly is sandwiched between a rigid, transparent top surface (glass) and an insulating back face (laminated film with Aluminum) |
