Different Solar Panels
There are several different solar panel designs available.
Monocrystalline solar panels are built from monocrystalline silicon cells. It is the oldest solar cell technology, so it is one of the cheapest available options. Monocrystalline silicon cells don't have a square shape though, so some of the space is wasted. To produce such cells more energy is required comparing to other designs, thus making it not the best choice if you care about environment.
Polycrystalline silicon cells are also quite cheap and they can be perfectly square allowing to use every inch of available space for power generation. They use less energy during manufacturing and so far offer the best efficiency. Looks like currently it is the best choice on the market.
Amorphous or thin film solar cells require much less energy during manufacturing comparing to two previous designs. They are durable, portable and supposed to be much cheaper. Unfortunately this technology is still quite new and prices are still high on them. Maybe in a ten years or so they will capture the market.
While you can buy a ready panel you can save a bit of money if you build it yourself. It is not very difficult, you can buy solar cells, solder them together and wrap in a frame with plexiglass for example. There are a lot of books available which can show you every step of how to do it. You can even find videos on youtube and save money on book too.
Other Solar Panel Related Articles
- Typical rv solar system. How does it look like and how much does it cost.
- Solar panels overview. What are they and how to save money building your own panels.
- Batteries overview. Differences between batteries, which ones work best for solar system.
- Battery charge controllers. What are they and which one do you need.
- How to mount solar panels. Learn what kind of mount works best for your RV.
- How to choose proper system size. How many panels and batteries do you need.
- Where to buy stuff cheap: solar cells, panels, batteries, chargers. You can also get a complete rv solar panel kit.
