Crystalline vs. Thin-film Solar Panels
Crystalline solar panels require less space than thin-film solar panels to generate the same amount of power.
The two most common solar panel technologies are crystalline and thin-film. This blog overviews this photovoltaic technology to help consumers choose the best solar panel for their residential or commercial property based on budget, space limitations, climate, and other factors.
Crystalline solar panel modules may be either single or poly-types. Single (mono)-crystal photovoltaic modules have dark octagonal or rectangular cells. Multicrystalline solar modules have rectangular cells with some sparkle. The electrical connections for both types of solar panels appear as a regular pattern of parallel silver lines called traces.
Thin-film solar panels represent solar modules manufactured using a variety of module compositions, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). Amorphous silicon has a uniform appearance and can be directly applied to glass or plastic. Thin film solar panels are used in flexible substrate installations such as solar laminates, solar shingles, and solar tiles.
Solar panel efficiency
Crystalline solar panels require less space than thin-film solar panels to generate the same amount of power. Typical conversion efficiencies for crystalline modules are between 12% and 17%, while thin-film ranges from 6% to 8%.
Solar panel degradation
Amorphous silicon solar modules take up to 12 months to reach their stable, rated output, while crystalline solar panels stabilize right away. Amorphous silicon solar panels will first show 20% to 25% higher-than-rated production. However, this is short-lived and offset by the higher costs associated with wire, charge controllers, and inverters sized for the initial larger output. After initial stabilization, thin-film solar panels’ output degrades about 0.5% to 1% per year, just like crystalline.
Solar panel shade performance
Some thin-film solar panels offer better performance under shade due to their larger solar cells, greater number of bypass diodes, and higher sensitivity at the sub-cell level to different light wavelengths. However, it’s hard to quantify the projected output of thin-film solar panels compared to a crystalline photovoltaic module operating in the same conditions. Also, some crystalline solar panels now have greater sensitivity to low light conditions due to the addition of bypass diodes and filters in the solar panel facing.
Solar panel cost
Thin-film solar panels generally cost less per watt than crystalline solar panels, which partially compensates for thin-film solar module’s lower efficiency. However, thin-film solar panel arrays are considerably more expensive when compared to solar energy systems of the same square footage, especially when factoring in the total installed cost for additional racking, shipping, and labor.
SG Electrical is a licensed, bonded, and insured solar and electrical company serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Coachella Valley. Highly--trained experts install, repair, clean, and maintain solar panels and provide comprehensive electrical services. Call us at (760)501-2423.
