Solar panel is a device that converts Solar radiation energy directly or indirectly into electric energy through photoelectric effect or photochemical effect by absorbing sunlight. The main material of most Solar panels is "silicon", but due to the high production cost, its widespread use still has certain limitations.

Compared with ordinary batteries and rechargeable batteries, solar cells belong to more energy saving and environmental protection of green products.

At present, crystalline silicon materials (including polycrystalline silicon and monocrystalline silicon) are the most important photovoltaic materials, with a market share of more than 90%, and will remain the mainstream materials of solar cells for a long period of time in the future.For a long time, the production technology of polysilicon materials has been in the hands of 10 factories of 7 companies in 3 countries, such as the United States, Japan and Germany, forming a situation of technology blockade and market monopoly.Demand for polysilicon comes mainly from semiconductors and solar cells.According to different purity requirements, divided into electronic and solar energy levels.With the rapid development of photovoltaic industry, the demand for solar polysilicon for solar cells is growing faster than that of semiconductor polysilicon, and it is expected that the demand for solar polysilicon will exceed that of electronic polysilicon by 2008.The world's total output of solar cells rose from 69MW in 1994 to nearly 1200MW in 2004, a 17-fold increase in just 10 years.

Crystal silicon panels: polycrystalline silicon solar cells, monocrystalline silicon solar cells.

Amorphous silicon panels: thin film solar cells, organic solar cells.

Chemical dye panels: dye-sensitized solar cells.

Flexible solar cell

Monocrystalline silicon

Monocrystalline silicon solar cells have a conversion efficiency of around 18%, up to 24%, which is the highest of any type of solar cell, but it is too expensive to make for widespread use.Because monocrystalline silicon is generally sealed with toughened glass and waterproof resin, it is rugged and durable, with a service life of up to 25 years.

polysilicon

The manufacturing process of polycrystalline silicon solar cells is similar to that of monocrystalline silicon solar cells, but the photoelectric conversion efficiency of polycrystalline silicon solar cells is much lower, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is about 16%.In terms of production cost, it is cheaper than monocrystalline silicon solar cells, and the materials are simple to manufacture, saving power consumption, and the total production cost is lower, so it has been developed in a large number.In addition, polycrystalline silicon solar cells have a shorter life than monocrystalline silicon solar cells.Monocrystalline silicon solar cells are slightly better at cost and performance.

Amorphous silicon

Amorphous silicon solar cell is a new type of thin-film solar cell that appeared in 1976. It is completely different from the production method of monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon solar cells. The process is greatly simplified, the silicon material consumption is less, and the power consumption is lower.However, the main problem of amorphous silicon solar cells is that the photoelectric conversion efficiency is low. The international advanced level is about 10%, and it is not stable. With the extension of time, the conversion efficiency decreases.