Types of solar panel

Types of solar panel

First of all, we need to clarify the different definition between a solar panel and a solar cell. A solar photovoltaic cell is an object that usually made of semi-conductor materials and converts the sunlight energy into electrical energy at certain voltage and current through photovoltaic effects. There are mainy 5 types of solar cell: silicon type, amorphous type (a-Si), coppper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and Cadmium telluride (CdTe).

However, a solar panel as we call it in our industry is a device that made of solar cell and various protection materials such as EVA encapsulant, PET film, tempered glass, PCB board, aluminum frame etc, since the solar cell particularly the silicon type solar cell is so fragile and it breaks easily without proper protection. A solar panel is built by connecting different solar cells to get the desired voltage and current.

Among those solar panels, silicon solar panel is the most widely used worldwide. And we can categorize them into different types by different ways.

There are mainly 3 types of silicon solar cell available available on the market, which are monocrystalline solar cell, polycrystalline solar cell and a unique Sunpower solar cell made with Maxeon solar technology with its copper foundation.

Therefore, the solar panel available on the market mainly are

– monocrystalline solar panel

– polycrystalline solar panel

– Sunpower solar panel

Although LG solar cell from Korea and IBC solar cell from China look like Sunpower solar cell from the apperance, they use similiar solar ingot producing methods as normal monocrystal one but different coating methods. So I personally would like to categorize LG solar cell and IBC(待确认)as monocrystalline type.

Among those solar panels, Sunpower has the highest efficiency and most reliable in the world by now, yet it is also the most expensive one.

2.Solar panels types by protection materials.

Currently, mainly in China, solar panels are grouped into 4 types by the top layer material used.

A: Epoxy resin sealed type

Each of them has different characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

Epoxy resin solar panel has the shortest life span, since the epoxy resin turns yellow after exposing it under outdoor for a short period of time, usually less than 6 months.

So, it is mainly used on cheap products like solar lawn light, solar string LED decoration lights.

But the advantage of it is its cheap price.

B: PET film type

Comparing to epoxy resin solar panel, PET film type has longer life span between 1-3 years.

It is now the most widely used on different solar outdoor products, such as solar water pump, solar hunting camera, solar garden lights, solar power bank, solar charger etc.

C: ETFE film type

ETFE (Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) film is a fluoropolymer film made by Saint-Gobain Specialty Films, which is a world-leader in the manufacture and supply of advanced materials for the photovoltaic sector.

Due to their exceptional weathering and light transmission properties, ETFE film is used for producing high-end solar panel.

The advantages of this type of solar panel are:

– good weather resistant, which makes the solar panel works more than 10 years as reported.

– to maintain the lightweight and bendable features of a solar panel.

D: Tempered Glass Type

This type of rigid solar panel is most traditional one, which designed to work more than 25 years, and cheapest one.The only disadvantage is that it is too heavy and difficult to transport.