The Choices of Sunpower Solar Panels

Sunpower solar panels come in various types and not all of them may be suitable for your home. They vary not only in terms of solar panel cost, but also in use and efficiency.

Monocrystal  Sunpower Solar Panels

With this type of solar panels, crystalline silicon is used to produce large sheets of solar panels. For each solar cell, a metal strip is laid over it and functions as the panel’s conductor for capturing electrons.  Compared to polycrstal panels, monocrystal solar panels are more efficient.  But, they are not as affordable as other types of solar panels.

Polycrystal Solar Panels

While monocrystal solar panels use only a single solar cell to operate, polycrystalline panels – as their name indicates – depends on groups of tiny cells placed together in a single cell to work.  Sunpower solar panels of this type, as mentioned earlier, are not as effective as monocrystal panels in absorbing and storing energy.

There are several methods used for manufacturing polycrystal Sunpower solar panels:

Cast polysilicon panels are created by casting molten silicon. A large block is used for the molding process and once the silicon has sufficiently cooled down, it can be sliced into extremely thin wafers to work with photovoltaic cells.

These cells are later assembled into huge sunpower solar panels. Metal strips placed over these cells are what provides the connection for the entire panel and serves as a pathway for the electrical current to run through.

String ribbon silicon also uses molten silicon but this time, the process extracts a sliver of crystalline silicon from the molten materials. Afterwards, the strips are gathered together to create a panel that uses metal conductor strips for electrical currents.

Compared to cast polysilicon panels, string ribbon silicon panels are actually the cheaper production process. That would most likely come as a surprise for many since the market price of string ribbon sunpower solar panels is more expensive than polycrystal panels made using the casting method.

String ribbon technologies, however, ensure better efficiency rates for solar energy, and that’s most probably why you have to pay more for them.

Thin Film Panels

Finally, we have the last type of solar panels, which are made from thin films.

Unlike the two previous types, molten silicon is not used since the panels don’t come with crystalline structures.  Rather, silicon materials are applied directly in a film-like form.

Other materials that may be used include, but aren’t limited to, cadmium telluride and copper indium diselenide.  Both of these possess semiconductor qualities.

Unlike crystalline panels, thin film solar panels don’t require highly protective materials since they have more durable structures.

All in all, the advantage to using thin film solar panels is their versatility and low manufacturing costs.  The downside, however, to buying thin film sunpower solar panels is that they’re not as efficient in converting and utilizing solar energy.