1. What is monocrystalline solar panel?

Monocrystalline solar panels are solar panels that use a monocrystalline silicon panel as the photovoltaic surface. Monocrystalline panels are processes that use individual silicon crystals in the production of silicon panels. These monocrystalline panels are made by placing pure crystalline silicon rods into molten silicon and then slowly pulling the rods upward into individual silicon ingots. The ingots are then cut into thin slices or wafers, usually with an additional layer of phosphorus, and each slice is cut into octagons to minimize the distance between the slices once assembled and as many wafers as possible are loaded onto the silicon plate. Finally, the silicon plate will be made into photovoltaic panels and mounted on solar panels.

2. What is a polycrystalline solar panel?

Polycrystalline solar panels are solar panels that use polycrystalline silicon panels as the photovoltaic surface. Polycrystalline panels are silicon panels made up of silicon crystal fragments that may come from excess waste silicon crystal fragments from the production of monocrystalline silicon panels. These silicon crystal fragments are collected, re-melted and then the cooled silicon panels are cut into thin cubes, which are directly used as raw materials for photovoltaic panels.

3. Difference between monocrystalline solar panels and polycrystalline solar panels

3.1 Upfront costs

Installation of monocrystalline solar panels or polycrystalline solar panels is an important factor affecting the installation of solar photovoltaic power generation system upfront costs. And the reason for deciding the price difference between monocrystalline solar panels and polycrystalline solar panels is mainly the production process and the cost of raw materials.

First of all, in the production of polycrystalline solar panels, only the molten silicon poured into a square meld, and then directly into the resulting silicon wafer made of photovoltaic cells. Monocrystalline solar panels, on the other hand, must always control the solidification of the silicon crystals during the production process, so the cost of monocrystalline solar panels is higher than polycrystalline solar panels.

Secondly, the production of monocrystalline solar panels requires the use of pure crystalline silicon rods, while the production of polycrystalline solar panels can be used in other industrial production of excess silicon crystal fragments.

3.2 Power Generation Efficiency

Generally speaking, the power generation efficiency of monocrystalline solar panels is higher than that of polycrystalline solar panels. This is due to the fact that monocrystalline solar panels are formed from a patchwork of monocrystalline silicon, which is able to accept a greater flow of current. Generally speaking, monocrystalline solar panels can generate electricity with an efficiency of up to 23% whereas the presence of multiple crystals on polycrystalline solar panels can impede the flow of electrons, which results in a weaker current on the panel. Generally speaking, the power generation efficiency of polycrystalline solar panels can only reach 20%.

3.3 Service life

Generally speaking, there is no direct connection between the crystal structure of the silicon plate of a solar panel and the lifetime of the panel. Monocrystalline solar panels and polycrystalline solar panels can reach a life of about 20-30 years under the premise of reasonable warranty. However, the structure of monocrystalline solar panels makes them more durable than polycrystalline solar panels with respect to external impacts such as collisions, which will increase the service life of solar panels to a certain extent.

It is worth noting that although solar panels can be used for decades, but with the increase in service life, the power generation efficiency of solar panels will decline, and with the decline in power generation efficiency, it will have more impact on the low power generation efficiency of solar panels.

3.4 Appearance Selection

With the continuous development of solar panels, customers’ demand for the appearance of solar panels is also gradually recognized by the company. Traditional polycrystalline solar panels, due to their composition of multiple silicon crystals, cannot be unified in terms of color and generally have a blue appearance. If you need a more aesthetically pleasing option, monocrystalline solar panels may be a better choice, which are usually designed to be black in color, and are smoother and more elegant in appearance.

3.5 Temperature Coefficient

Temperature coefficient is a measure of how much a solar cell’s efficiency decreases as the ambient temperature increases. As the percentage of the temperature coefficient gets closer to zero, it means that the solar panel performs better at higher temperatures.

Generally speaking, the temperature coefficient of monocrystalline solar panels is much lower than that of polycrystalline solar panels, which means that monocrystalline solar panels will have a superior performance under the same harsh usage environment, while polycrystalline solar panels will lose more power generation.

4. How to choose the most suitable solar panel?

4.1 Application environment or mode

Because monocrystalline solar panels are more efficient, they can produce more power on a smaller scale, and they can also produce more power in areas with less sunlight. Therefore, monocrystalline solar panels are more suitable for applications where space is limited and sunlight resources are low.

Secondly, monocrystalline solar panels have a lower temperature coefficient, making them more suitable for extreme high temperature environments such as deserts compared to polycrystalline solar panels.

Solar panels are a long-term investment, and considering the rate of return in the latter decades, more and more households and businesses are opting for monocrystalline solar panels. At present, only some poor areas with limited cost or application scenarios such as solar street lights and solar monitoring systems, which do not have much demand for power supply, will choose to use polycrystalline solar panels to ensure that the equipment works properly.

4.2 Purchase Method

How to obtain solar cells will also have an impact on the choice of solar panels. Some households will choose to sign a power purchase contract with an energy company or a solar panel lease contract to obtain solar panels. If your solar panels were obtained by signing a power purchase agreement, this means that you will need to pay per kilowatt hour for the electricity generated by your solar system. In this case, choosing to install monocrystalline solar panels with a higher power generation efficiency will give you a greater rate of return.

4.3 Roof Space Planning

When choosing the type of solar panel, the size of the roof space is one of the important influencing factors. When the roof space is small, but the household electricity consumption is large, you should choose monocrystalline solar panels with higher power generation efficiency.

4.2 Pre-financing

Polycrystalline solar panels due to its simple manufacturing process leads to its cheaper price, according to the current market price of monocrystalline solar panels for 0.1 $ / watt, polycrystalline solar panels at a price of 0.08 $ / watt, the establishment of a 10kW solar energy system of both the difference between 200 $, if your initial capital is not sufficient, then you can choose polycrystalline solar panels.