Solar Panels
The commercially available solar panels used in stand
alone and grid connect
systems currently are all based on silicon and can beclassed
into one of three types, polycrystalline; monocrystalline
or amorphous depending on the structure of the silicon
used in the individual cells.
We offer Solar Panels made by BP, Solarex, Sharp, Kyocera,
Siemens, UniSolar
Polycrystalline Solar Panels
Panels made from polycrystalline cells are the most
common and cheapest. Well known brands include BP
SX (formerly Solarex), Sharp and Kyocera.
These panels typically retail at between $8.50 and $9.50
per watt. Under standard conditions their conversion efficiency
of sunlight to electricity is 12% to 12.5%, which means
that 1 sq. metre of panels exposed to the full sun will
generate 120W to 125W of electricity.
These performance figures are for the standard conditions
at which solar panels are rated and are rarely if ever attained
in Far North Queensland. The most important difference
is temperature. In the Far North on a sunny day, panels
usually operate at a temperature of 50OC or higher, well
above the 25OC used for the standard. The effect is that
output is significantly reduced. A reduction of between
14% and 23% can be expected and this needs to be factored
into design and costing calculatios......read
more information
To the Polycrystalline
Solar Panels product pages & prices
Monocrystalline Solar Panels
Panels made from monocrystalline cells have been
widely used for over 20 years. They are typically used in
high reliability applications such as telecommunications.
Well known brands include BP and Siemens.
These panels typically retail at between $10.00 and $11.00
per watt. Under standard conditions their conversion efficiency
of sunlight to electricity is much the same as for polycrystalline
cells.
However, they too experience a significant reduction in
output at elevated temperatures, although the effect is
not as large as for polycrystalline panels. A reduction
of between 12% and 15% can be expected on a sunny day in
FNQ and this needs to be factored into design and costing
calculations..........read more
information
To the Monocrystalline
Solar Panels product pages & prices
Amorphous modules
Panels made from amorphous cells have been used
in portable items such as pocket calculators for many years,
but it has only been since about 1998 that they have become
available for rooftop applications in Australia.
The best-known brand is UniSolar, which retails for
about $10.00 per watt.
They have recently become very popular in FNQ, because
unlike the other types, their output does not decrease in
elevated temperatures. Indeed, one independent test showed
a slight increase in output. This means that the actual
output is likely to be close to the nameplate rating.
Their conversion efficiency of sunlight to electricity
is 6.3%, about half that of polycrystalline or monocrystalline
panels. Thus an array of amorphous panels will
require about twice as much roof space as an array with
a similar rating using other types of panels. This can limit
their application when the amount of unobstructed roof space
is limited...........read more
information
To the Amorphous modules
product pages & prices
