From the appearance, the four corners of the monocrystalline silicon battery appear as circular arcs, with no patterns on the surface; The four corners of polycrystalline silicon cells are square, with patterns resembling ice flowers on the surface; Non crystalline silicon cells, also known as thin-film modules, do not have visible gate lines like crystalline silicon cells. Their surface is as clear and smooth as a mirror.

Differences in the use of monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, and amorphous silicon cells

For users, there is not much difference between monocrystalline silicon cells and polycrystalline silicon cells, as they have good lifespan and stability. Although the average conversion efficiency of monocrystalline silicon cells is about 1% higher than that of polycrystalline silicon, due to the fact that monocrystalline silicon cells can only be made into quasi square shapes (with all four sides being circular arcs), there will be a portion of the area that cannot be filled when composing solar panels; Polycrystalline silicon is square, so there is no such problem. Their advantages and disadvantages are as follows:

Crystalline silicon components: The power of a single component is relatively high. Under the same footprint, the installed capacity is higher than that of membrane components. But the components are heavy and fragile, with poor high-temperature performance, poor low light resistance, and high annual attenuation rate.

Thin film components: The power of a single component is relatively low; Poor stability, it takes a long time to run before it stabilizes. But it has high power generation performance, good high-temperature performance, good low light performance, small power loss due to shadow obstruction, and low annual attenuation rate. Widely applicable, aesthetically pleasing, and environmentally friendly.

Differences in Manufacturing Processes between Monocrystalline Silicon, Polycrystalline Silicon, and Amorphous Silicon Cells

The energy consumption in the manufacturing process of polycrystalline silicon solar cells is about 30% less than that of monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Therefore, polycrystalline silicon solar cells account for a large share of the total global solar cell production and have lower manufacturing costs than monocrystalline silicon cells. Therefore, using polycrystalline silicon solar cells will be more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly!

In fact, there are many semiconductor materials available for manufacturing solar cells, and with the development of the materials industry, there will be more and more varieties of solar cells. At present, research and trial production of solar cells have been carried out, in addition to the silicon series, there are many types of solar cells such as cadmium sulfide, gallium arsenide, copper indium selenide, etc. There are countless examples, and usually these materials are used to make amorphous silicon cells.

So, when choosing photovoltaic modules, it is recommended to choose mature products of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules according to the actual situation. There has been a debate about single crystal and polycrystalline, and our installers do not have much difference in the power generation of household photovoltaic systems. Single crystal has a higher utilization area and a better area utilization rate; The proportion of polycrystalline market is relatively high, widely used, and has certain advantages in terms of price. However, we need to understand that for photovoltaic systems of the same power, the power generation is consistent.