Solar Panel Types in Pakistan
Check the comparison table of different types of solar panel in Pakistan below.
| Features | Mono | Poly | PERC | Thin-Film | Bifacial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cell Type | Single | Multi | Mono (improved) | Various | Double-sided |
| Efficiency | High | Low | Higher | Lowest | Highest |
| Cost | Moderate | Low | Moderate-High | Lower | Highest |
| Space Requirement | High | Highest | Moderate | High | Moderate |
| LowLight Performance | Good | Good | Very Good | Better | Execellent |
| Durability | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Low | Similar to Mono/Poly |
| Installation | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy | Needs Reflective Rooftop |
Mono-crystalline Solar Panels
These solar panels are made up of pure silicon which gives you high efficiency and energy conversion rate of around 17% – 22%. You can easily identify monocrystalline solar panels from their black appearance. It is rated as one of the best solar panels regarding to their output.
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- High Efficiency: It produces high electricity as compared to other types of solar panels.
- Space Efficient : As we know that it provides more efficiency, it means you have to install less panels in order to meet your energy requirements.
- Heat Resistance: It can withstand high temperature and reliable for the hot areas it provides high performance even at high temperature.
- Life Span: It has roughly 25 years of life span which makes it long lasting and dependable.
- Low Light Performance: It can operate in a low light and it can also operate in a cloudy day when the light is very low
Expensive: Because of its uniform structure and use of pure silicon in its making it is somehow expensive as compared to the other solar panels.
Fragile: You have to be very careful while handling these type of solar panels because they cannot withstand high pressure and they can break easily.
Polycrystalline Solar Panel
Polycrystalline solar panels can be identified by their blue coloured appearance. These solar panels/plates provides efficiency of 15% – 17%. these solar panels are made from melting raw silicon and they doesn’t contain 100% pure silicon.
- Cost effective: If you have tight budget or you want cheaper panels you can go for polycrystalline. They are simple to manufacture and install that’s why they have low prices.
- Mid-Range Efficiency: As they provide user with 15 to 17 percent of conversion rate which is pretty good in this price range so they can be considered as a decent option.
- Availability: You can easily find these type of panels near you because they are more common and easy to find so you can quickly install them in your project.
- Life Span:If maintained properly, these panels can last up to 25 years and withstand harsh weather conditions.
- Efficiency: It provide you less efficiency as compared to mono-crystalline panels. So, you may need to install more panels in order to fulfil your electricity requirements.
- Panel Size: These panels are bulky and needs more space to be installed. If you have less space on your roof-top you should consider other option.
- Heat Resistance: As compared to mono-crystalline panels, you may experience low in performance in polycrystalline panels with increase in temperature.
Thin-Films Solar Panel
Now you will see the most unique and special kind of solar panel. It is made up of photovoltaic cells that are stick to the glass, metal or plastic instead of silicon wafer. Thin-film panels are flexible and can be bent to fit on uneven surfaces including curved areas which make them useful in special conditions.
- Cost effective: If you are concerned about the budget and looking for a cheaper option, these panels can be used.
- Space Efficient: It can be fit on a small area or roof-top and because of its flexible nature you can even fit it on a curved surface.
- Low-light Performance: It can generate electricity even in a low light scenario and their are certain types of these panels that perform really well in shady areas.
- Efficiency: While managing the tight budget, you have to tradeoff its efficiency with its price because these panels do not produce high power and have low conversion rate of about 5% to 13% which is very low if we compare it with mono or poly crystalline solar panels.
- Durability: It’s durability is still unknown and it is still under evaluation. So, there is no fix life span of thin film panels.
- Eco-Friendliness: As it’s manufacturing process includes heavy and toxic metals like cadmium. It may raise environmental issues and can cause damage to our environment.
PERC
PERC solar panels are also type of mono-crystalline solar panels. These panel have special aluminium coating on their back site to reflect sunlight and make use of more sunlight and operate more effectively. That’s why they have more efficiency than their parent type (Mono-crystalline).
- Efficiency: It is more effective and provide more conversion rate (2% more than mono-crystalline panels) as compared to all above mentioned solar types because it trap more solar energy hence giving you best performance.
- Space benefit: When it comes to high efficiency, you would definitely need less number of panels because you can easily meet your energy requirements by installing few panels hence, it can save you more space.
- Low-Light and high temperature performance: As it is type of mono panels, it can perform both in low light environment and high temperatures providing you reliable experience.
- Life Span:They are reliable and have low degradation rate which means it can easily operate for 25 to 30 years.
- Expensive: With increase in performance the cost will also increase. As they are more efficient than their prior version, their cost is also more than traditional mono solar panels.
- Availability: These panel are high in demand and are widely desired by the user, you may have to face problems related to their availability.
Bifacial Solar Panel
Most of the Bifacial Solar Panels are of mono-crystalline nature and use mono crystalline cells. These panels are almost same as mono-facial solar panels but, bifacial panel have glass on both sides exposing the solar cell to light from the front and back as well.
As a result, you can get 30% more energy from a single panel because it convert the light hitting the panel directly and also the reflected light that is hitting it from the rear side.
- Efficiency: Bifacial panels are more effective than traditional ones as they are able to generate 5% to 30% more energy than mono-facial panels because they can capture sunlight from both sides.
- Low-Light Performance: It is able to generate energy in diffuse and scattered light which makes it more useful product that can be used in dim light scenarios as well.
- Appealing Look: It gives you a blackish look having black coloured cells and transparent glass which gives it a modern and stylish look.
- Expensive: The Bifacial panels have considerably higher cost because of it’s R&D and double sided cell structure which makes it extra effective.
- Complex Installation: It is recommended to paint the site or roof-top with reflective paint to provide more reflected light to the rear cells. Also you have to install them almost 4 meters elevated from the surface to get maximum output.
- Space Requirement: You must have a large and compact space to install bifacial panels because they need to be installed higher from the ground and their size may also cause a problem for the people who has less space.