{"id":3502,"date":"2011-04-01T19:09:09","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T13:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greenworldinvestor.com\/?p=3502"},"modified":"2011-04-01T19:09:09","modified_gmt":"2011-04-01T13:39:09","slug":"solar-panels-efficiency-rangetechnology-dependencecompanies-with-highest-efficient-solar-modules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iiec-india.org\/greenworld\/2011\/04\/01\/solar-panels-efficiency-rangetechnology-dependencecompanies-with-highest-efficient-solar-modules\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Panels Efficiency – Range,Technology Dependence,Companies with Highest Efficient Solar Modules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Solar Panels<\/strong> are now available from hundreds of different manufacturers using different technologies like crystalline Silicion, CIGs and Cd-Te<\/strong>. The Solar Panels Efficiency also varies a lot, depending on the solar panel manufacturer and the technology used. The cost of the solar panel can also vary a lot depending on the retailer, size of the solar panel, technology and the brand<\/em>. This makes buying solar panels a confusing problem though most residential and commercial buyers are not involved leaving the decision to the solar installer\/EPC company. Solar Panel Efficiency can also vary in the same brand, as a company produces various solar panels aiming at different segments of the market as well as different customer needs.<\/p>\n

What are the Different Types of Solar Panels<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Size<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Solar Panels come in all sorts of sizes, colours and power. Solar Panels of 20-40 Watts are typically used for applications like a Solar Lamp, Lantern and products using small amounts of power. For Putting Solar Panels on the Roof for Generation of Electricity, sizes vary from 150 Watts to 300 Watts.<\/p>\n

Type and Color<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are also 2 different types of Crystalline Silicon Panels \u2013 a) Monocrystalline b) Multicrystalline Panels. In general Monocrystalline Panels give higher amounts of power and cost more. Solar Panels generally come in blue color though black color can also be found.<\/p>\n

Thin Film Panels<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Thin Film Panels are generally used for Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) applications where the Panels are integrated as a part of the Building Structure. This is in not prevalent in India as of now but will become quite pervasive in the future.<\/p>\n

Solar Panel Efficiency Technology and Range<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Solar Panel Efficiency can be as low as 7% for amorphous silicon technology to as high as 18% for mono-crystalline silico<\/em>n technology. Note some of the solar panels used in spacecraft have cells which have conversion factors ranging as high as 40%, but those are niche applications. Solar Panels made by First Solar using the Cadmium Tellurium Technology are in the range of 11-12%, while the CIGs technology which is being used to make solar panels by a number of companies like Miasole, Solyndra, TSMC and other have the range between 10-13% currently. Note Solar Panel efficiency is constantly increasing for all technologies each year.<\/p>\n

Companies with Highest Efficiency Solar Panels<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The Companies that make the Solar Panels with the highest efficiencies are Sunpower and Panasonic\/Sanyo<\/strong>. Sunpower has the highest efficient solar modules in the market using a proprietary process and has solar cells with efficiency reaching a top limit of 24%. Sanyo also has very efficient solar panels under the HIT brand <\/a>name. These solar panels also approach the 18% range (solar modules not cells). Normal crystalline plain vanilla solar panels come in the range of 13-14%. Note solar modules have lower efficiency than solar cells as some area is left for the frame etc. There are other companies that are fast catching up to Sunpower and Sanyo in the high efficiency solar panels as well. Note higher efficiency solar panels sell at higher prices per watt as the require lesser area. AUO which has a JV with Sunpower has recently claimed to have produced the higher efficiency solar panel.<\/p>\n

Greenworldinvestor Articles that you should read<\/strong><\/p>\n