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Solar cell types
The main types are:
- Monocrystalline silicon solar cells?
Solar cells made from silicon wafers, which have been sawed off a single giant “monocrystal”. The wafers are normally squares ranging in size from 10 x 10 to 15 x 15 cm. Round cells are also available.
- Multicrystalline silicon solar cells
?Multicrystalline solar cells are moulded, with the different crystal areas forming during solidification. They are cheaper, easier to make, and somewhat less efficient than monocrystalline solar cells. The cells are 10 x 10 to 15 x 15 cm.
- Thin-film solar cells?
Thin-film solar cells are produced using physical vapour deposition techniques, where the semiconductor material is applied in an extremely thin layer (1 micrometre) on a foundation of glass or flexible material. Since this requires much less material, these solar cells are cheaper. In principle, this technique makes all shapes and dimensions possible. The term ‘amorphous’ refers to the lack of crystalline structure. The different types of thin-film solar cells are:
a. Amorphous silicon and silicon germanium
?b. Copper indium diselenide?
c. Cadmium telluride?
d. Thin-film crystalline silicon?
e. Concentrator tandem cells
?f. Dye-sensitised solar cells?
g. Organic (polymer) solar cells.
