How To Choose Solar Cell Panels
- solution of solar cell panels selecting
-
Solar panels should be choose based on material, efficiency, quality, budget, inverter, environment, roof, electrical expending, size and reviews.
Brief Introduction
-
Solar cell is used by many homeowners and industries to provide energy, reduce electricity bill or even make some profit from it. And this is a kind of renewable green energy, which can protect the environment.
Solar cell panels includes two main components: solar panels and inverter.
Solar panels is used to create electricity from sunlight; Inverter converts the sunlight to electricity to make it can be used by home or organization.
There are thousands of solar panel manufactures to provides large amount of solar equipments. They are different in efficiency, material, quality, cost, size, weight and compatibility. Then we come to the next step, how to choose the best solar cell panels ?
Hope the following guide is helpful when you choose your solar cell panels.
Photo
-
-
The photo of 'how to choose solar cell panels' covers images of monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin film solar cell panels.
Profile
- Section : Tips
- Key Word : how to choose solar cell panels, how to choose solar panels
- Author : Jasper
-
Material
Most solar cell panels contains silicon. Monocrystalline and polycrystalline are used in most solar cell panels.
When molten silicon solidifies under supercooled conditions, the silicon atoms are arranged in a diamond lattice into multiple nuclei. If the nuclei grow into grains with different crystal orientations, the grains combine and crystallize into polysilicon.
Polycrystalline solar panels is not a good choice if you are in a hot place, because it does not work well when the temperature reach or above 27°C.
When silicon is melted, the silicon atoms are arranged according to the diamond lattice to form crystal nuclei. Its surface nuclei grow into particles with the same crystal faces, thus forming what we call monocrystalline.
Monocrystalline solar panels are better than polycrystalline at converting light to energy because of their high silicon purity. At the same time, the price of monocrystalline is much higher than polycrystalline. But we still suggest you to choose monocrystalline, because of the cost-effective based on the much higher productivity.
Flexible solar panels are available in the market, but they are not good product to be used on the roof of house because of the higher price, low efficiency and weak resistance of wind and rain.
Made from a thin layer of photovoltaic material, thin-film solar panels is light and less expensive with a lower inverting efficiency. At the same time, they are degrade faster than polysilicon or monocrystalline panels.
Efficiency
In general, the efficiency of solar efficiency covers low, medium and high. You are suggested to choose the efficiency based on the budget, sunshine and space condition.
If the sunshine in your area is strong enough and you have enough space for the solar equipment, you can choose low efficiency product based on more panels, such as polysilicon solar panels. This can save you some cost. You are suggested to use the high efficiency solar panel if you have limited space for the solar equipment.
Quality
Quality should be considered when choose a product, including solar panels. Most solar panels are durable, average 25-40 years.
You can read the warranties and assurances provided by the manufactures on the product, which is a good way to know the quality of the solar panel. Many panel suppliers offers a material warranty in case the solar panels fail.
Reading some on-line reviews from a third-party website is helpful to choose good solar panels. Or you may communicate with friends in the solar fields.
Asking for certification from the manufacture is also helpful to have high quality solar panels.
Budget
With the developing of solar related technology, the price of solar panels are getting down these years. But you are till suggested to set a budget before the buying.
The budget is helpful to narrow down the material, inverter, brand, as well as some other factors of the solar panels.
Thin-film solar panels seems to be a good choice if you are on a tight budget and do not plan to use it for a long time. You are suggested to invest monocrystalline solar panels for a long time using, because of the better cost-efficiency.
Inverter
Inverter is an equipment in solar cell panels to convert the sunlight into the electricity. There are two type of inverters in the market: string inverters and module-level power electronics.
String inverter is used by most users because of its low cost. The DC power produced by solar panels feeds into this string inverter; and then they be changed into electricity. This is a good choice if your roof offers enough sunlight.
Module-level power electronics covers microinverters and power optimizers. Each panel is equipped with its own inverter to transform the sunlight into electricity. This kind of inverter is more expensive, but this is recommended when your house is slightly shaded, or the angle of the panel is not good enough.
There is only around 6-7 hours sunlight on our roof, which kind of solar inverter should we choose ? Power optimizer is the best choice in this situation. This kind of solar inverter is embedded in solar panels, which help the panels to offer a better performance in shady place.
Environmental Protecting
Polycrystalline solar panel is the best choice if you are an environmentalist. Because it utilize all silicon material, which make it a kind of environmentally-friendly product.
But as we mentioned in material section, the polycrystalline solar panel does not work well in hot place. You can make decision according to the average temperature of your living place.
Roof
Solar panels should be choose according to the type and condition of your building roof.
Solar cell is the main components of the solar panels, which is thinner than a human hair. But the panels of monocrystalline and polycrystalline are fragile, which needs to be protected by surface material. Most manufacture use glass to protect the solar panel, which increased the weight and request a strong roof for supporting the equipment. Thin-film panels generally use ETFE or PET as the protecting surface material, which keeps the light weight of the solar product.
You can choose any kinds of solar panels if your house and roof are strong enough. Most people choose the monocrystalline solar panels because of the high inverting efficiency.
Thin-film solar panels should be choose if you have a weak building roof. It is helpful to avoid the end up lumping under the weight of normal solar panels.
Electrical Expending
A typical home use around 20kWh of energy in one day. Each home has its different request. For example, more electricity is needed if you use electric vehicle.
Monocrystalline solar panel is suggested if your family use a lot of energy each month. This kind of solar panels features high inverting efficiency, which offers more electricity for home using. Monocrystalline solar panel is expensive, but it worth the money, especially when you use it for a long time.
Polycrystalline solar panels is a good choice if you use limited electricity. At the same time, this kind of solar panels save a lot of money for you.
Dimension
Dimension is an important factor to be considered when you choose solar panels, especially when your roof is not big or not commonly shaped.
The dimension (length x width) should be choose based on the area and the shape of your roof to make sure the roof can fully be used.
The main product in the market covers 60-cell and 72-cell panels. The dimension of solar panels vary from one manufacturer to the other. So you may find some other dimension from very small to huge.
The number of solar cells determines the output voltage as well as the solar panel dimension. More cells in the panel brings more electricity.
Large panels with more cells are suggested if you have a plain long roof. For example, you can choose large polycrystalline panels at lower price, although the efficiency is low, anyway you have big space to produce enough electricity.
If you have a small or uncommonly shaped roof, you need to make a plan based on the roof size in advance. For example combining big and small panels to make the solar cells fully covers the roof.
In general, the roof of home is much smaller than industry usage. So compared with home, the solar panels used in industry is bigger. For example, 96-cells panels are often used in commercial usage.
Reviews
With the developing of Internet, it is easy to find reviews from a third party website. It is helpful to make decision before final buying.
After narrowing down several kinds of solar products, you are suggested to read both positive and negative reviews to know the pros and cons of the solar panels. It is helpful to make the right decision.