Hi everyone. 1
Welcome back to be solar energy course. 2
today in this block 3
We should focus on the central character of the PVsystem which is the PV module. 4
Before I start I want to touch upon the difference between the terms the solar modules and solar panel. 5
You must have observed that a lot of people use these terms interchangeably but what is the exact difference. 6
First the solar module is an interconnection of solar cells as you have seen before in this genetic 7
name given to any kind of packaging for any interconnection of solar cell means "the solar module is irrespective 8
of technology of any packaging and an interconnection of solar cell will also be called module. 9
But the terms of solar panel is a bit more exclusive for the rectangular, rigid packaging. 10
with a typical encapsulation for example. 11
Most standard crystalline modules are called solar panel all solar panel are solar module but the 12
converse is not true. 13
For a moment the thin film silicon solar cell that is packaged to add flexible lemon is a solar module. 14
but it is not entirely accurate to call it "solar panel" note that in most cases the commercial 15
module being used as panel and the module are called panel in common usage hence forced I might use 16
the term solar panel and modules interchangeably as well. 17
But I hope you understand the exact difference between the two. 18
So let us move on to the module level concept. 19
First of all PV module or solar module can be divided in two main category. 20
The first category is thin film solar cells. 21
The second category is crystalline silicon or C-si the crystalline silicon forms the basis of mono 22
and the poly-crystalline silicon solar cells. 23
lets start with crystalline silicone C-si crystalline silicon C-si almost 90 per cent of 24
the world photovoltaic today are based on some variation of silicon in 2011 about 95 percent of all shipments 25
by US manufacturers to residential sector were crystalline silicon solar panel so set up and use 26
the silicon used in PV takes many forms. 27
the main difference is the purities of the silicon 28
But what does silicon's purities really mean. 29
the more perfectly aligns the silicon modules are the better solar cells will be at converting solar 30
energy or sunlight into electricity which uses processes called the photoelectric effect 31
the efficiency of solar panel goes hand-in-hand with purity but the process used to enhance the puritiy 32
of silicon are expensive. efficiency shouldn't be your primary concern as you will later discover that 33
as a cost and space efficiency are the determining factors for most people. lets start with 34
the mono crystalline silicon solar cell. 35
Solar cells made of monocrystalline also called single crystalline silicon 36
are quite easily recognizable by an external event color and uniform look indicating high purity 37
silicon. 38
As you can see in this picture. 39
monocrystalline solar cells are made out of silicon in of ingots which are cylindrical in shape 40
to optimize the performance and lower costs of single monocrystaline Solar cell, four sides are 41
cut out of the cylindrical ingots to made silicon wafer which is what gives the monocrystaline 42
solar cell 43
Their characteristic look. A good way to separate mono and poly crystalline solar panel is that 44
polycrystalline solar cell. 45
looks perfectly rectangular with no rounded edges. 46
But what is the main advantage of the monocrystallions silicon solar cell. 47
The main advantage is the monocrystalline solar panel has the highest efficiency rates since they are 48
made out of high grade silicone. 49
The efficiency rate of mono crystalline solar panels are typically between 15 and 20 percent but 50
Sunpower company produces the highest efficiency solar panel on a U.S. market today. 51
their E20 series provide panel better conversion efficiencies of up to 20.1 percent 52
also they has now released the X series at record breaking efficiency of 21.5 percent 53
monocrystallion silicon solar panel are space efficient since these solar panels yield the highest power 54
outputs, they also requires at the least amount of space compared to any other types of 55
monocrystalline 56
soar panels produces up to four times the amount of electricity as in thin film solar panel 57
Monocrystalline solar panel live the longest. Most solar panel manufacturer put a 25 years. 58
warranty on their monocrystalline solar panels 59
monocrystalline silicon solar cell tends to perform better than similarly rated other crystalline 60
solar panel at low light conditions but what is the main disadvantage of this type. 61
First monocrystalline solar panel are the most expensive. From a financial standpoint, 62
a solar panels that is made of polycrystalline silicon can be better choice for homeworks and the 63
solar panel is partially covered with the shade, dirt or even snow. 64
The entire circuit can break down consider getting a micro inverter instead of center a single inverter 65
if you think coverage will be a problem. 66
The micro inverter will make sure that not the entire solar array is affected by shading issues 67
with only one of the solar panels 68
the Czochralski process is used to produce monocrystalline silicon. 69
Its result in large cylindrical ingots means the four sides are cut out of the ingots to make 70
silicon wafers 71
this means an amount of the original silicon ends up as waste 72
monocrystalline solar panels tend to be more efficient in warm weather 73
But performance suffers as temperature goes up but less than polycrystalline solar panels. 74
For most home owners in temperature is not that concern. 75
Now we have already finished the main types which it is silicon crystalline solar cell especially 76
monocrystalline type in the next lecture we are going to discuss the polycrystalline silicon 77
solar cell of the crystalline of the crystalline silicon solar cell so see you in the next lecture.