Materials used for solar cells
Different materials for solar cells
SUNSET has a wide range of grid-connected systems. We can offer the appropriate yield optimized system for all possible appliances. Solar generators are divided into three cell types: monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous.
Monocrystalline Solar Cell
High-purity semiconductor materials are needed to manufacture monocrystalline silicon cells. Monocrystalline rods are extracted from molten silicon and then sawed into thin slices. This complex manufacturing process guarantees relatively high efficiencies. Monocrystalline solar modules also exhibit excellent long-term stability. The module's performance remains almost constant over the entire service life. Especially with diffuse light (e.g. when the sky is cloudy), monocrystalline solar generators deliver a higher energy yield than other cell materials.
Polycrystalline Solar Cell
The production of polycrystalline silicon cells is cheaper. Here, liquid silicon is cast in blocks, which are then sawed into slices. As the material hardens, crystal structures of varying levels of fineness are formed. These varying structures result in somewhat lower solar-cell efficiency. The cells' angular shape, however, allows the available area of the solar generators to be better exploited. The efficiency per unit area of polycrystalline solar modules is therefore almost comparable with that of modules made from monocrystalline silicon.
Detail of amorphous silicon
If a silicon layer is applied to glass or another substrate material, this is called a thin-film cell. The layers are approximatelly 1 µm thick (thickness of a human hair: 50-100 µm), which results in lower production costs simply as result of the lower material costs. Today, new manufacturing technologies allow for considerable increases in the efficiency of thin-film modules. A multitude of small differences, e.g. the better temperature characteristics on exposure to strong heat, allow today's thin-film modules to achieve the same annual energy yields as systems as systems with crystalline cell materials - and at lower investment costs.
