So you’ve decided to invest in a solar powered system for your home or business– congratulations! But to make sure you’re purchasing the best system, there’s a little homework involved to review solar panels. With all the different types of solar panels available out there, it’s very easy to get a little confused. You’re getting bogged down with all the reading of different types of solar panels and now you’re left feeling baffled and not sure which type of solar panels you need to buy. You want to ensure you’re buying good quality solar panels, but you don’t know what makes a good panel. Well let me break it down for you.
What Makes A Good Solar Panel?
Frames
A 35-40mm size frame is a good size for your solar panels. This size isn’t too chunky but also isn’t too thin either. If the frames are thinner than 35mm, then the panels inside might struggle when the wind blows hard and result in the solar cells becoming fractured. If your solar cells are fractured, it will seriously decrease the efficiency levels of the solar panels.
Busbars
A good solar panel will feature three bus bars on each square panel. Busbars are the long stripes you see going vertically up the panels. The busbars collect the current generated by the solar cell and delivers it to the external leads. If the solar panels you are looking at only have two busbars through each square panel, then it will take longer for the electrons to reach the busbars. The electrons could lose momentum in the time it takes to get to the busbar. With three busbars, the electron will find a busbar to tag onto much faster, thus creating more efficient electricity. Ensure that the solar panels you purchase have three busbars.
Diodes
Bypass diodes act as an aid to the electrons passing through the panel. If an area of the panel becomes shaded by debris, it will cause the panel to work less efficiently. A bypass diode will allow current produced by an un-shaded panel to flow through it and won’t affect the overall efficiency of all of the panels on the string set up. The diodes are wired in parallel with the individual solar cells and they provide a path for the electrical current to pass around them in the event that an area of one panel becomes shaded and works less efficiently. The best solar panels will have six diodes per square panel and a poor example of a solar panel would be one with only three diodes per square panel. The more the diodes, the easier the panel will cope with unwanted shaded areas from fallen leaves and twigs etc..
Mono or poly-crystalline?
Mono-crystalline cells are created from thinly slicing a single silicon ingot that is grown from scratch, into wafer thin discs. The silicon ingot is a cylinder shape, therefore you get thin circle shaped wafers when it is sliced. The thinly sliced circles create the cells for the solar panel and this is the reason why there are diamond shapes around each corner of the square panel and not cornered off, because the cells inside are circular.
Poly-crystalline cells are made from melting a large amount of silicon into a square shape. That’s why the cells on a poly-crystalline panel fit side by side and there are no diamonds in the corners of the squares.
Mono-crystalline solar panels are generally described as more efficient than poly-crystalline solar panels. However, this isn’t strictly true. Whilst mono-crystalline cells generally create a higher peak of energy, poly-crystalline cells are likely to generate overall bigger amounts of energy, for longer periods of time. Mono-crystalline solar panels are slightly smaller than the poly-crystalline panels and are more space efficient; but poly-crystalline cells have a better heat tolerance and usually work longer hours in the day, when the sun is starting to fade.
So which one do you choose? There’s not a great deal of difference anymore since poly-crystalline cells have come a long way. Your energy expert will advise which panels are appropriate for your type of installation and energy usage and you might prefer the appearance of one than the other.
Don’t forget to research the manufacturer of your solar product! Read my useful blog here to learn what to look out for when selecting a manufacturer for your solar products.
If you would like more information on solar panels or solar powered systems in general, call Energis today on 1300 782 217 and one of our energy experts will be happy to discuss anything you need to know!
