Forum Discussion
- I was going to comment on the size difference between the mono and the poly but ... he figured it out. The Polys are larger...
Interesting presentation. Looks like the flexible might work for me if I go Solar. - I have a friend in the business. He says, if you have the space, go with more/larger poly. Better bang for the buck.
3rd hand ... I have heard that flexible panels do not last as long, probably because the are mounted on a surface flexes and they eventually start to crack. (duh !) theoldwizard1 wrote:
I have a friend in the business. He says, if you have the space, go with more/larger poly. Better bang for the buck.
3rd hand ... I have heard that flexible panels do not last as long, probably because the are mounted on a surface flexes and they eventually start to crack. (duh !)
The lack of air circulation at the bottom KILLS them.- What he doesn’t attempt to make clear is, why do two different types of panels (differing in substrates and size) that are rated at the same wattage (i.e. Power) might produce results that are different than their manufacturer’s 100w ratings??
3 tons - In terms of plywood construction analogy, mono is plywood and poly is OSB.
The poly is made of chips of silicone, while the mono is a whole piece. The mono is better for RV use. Mono should be more efficient. In reality there is minimal difference, but I spring a few bucks extra always for the mono.
You see in the video there are a bunch of squares in the panel, then there are about 4 faint lines running up and down within each square. The more lines the better. Some cheap panels will have only 3 and higher quality will have 4 or 5. These lines are conducting the power from the silicone and more is better in this case.
(not so much the number, but the distance between as the square sizes might not all be uniform).
Panels need air flow under them or they overheat. Too many people use the inferior flexible panels and mount them directly to a surface where there is no air flow; you must have air flow to cool the panels, they will get VERY hot otherwise and degrade.
I once had to use the flexible for an application, but mounted them on corrugated plastic mounted on strips of corrugated plastic strips so there was 100% airflow under them. This kept them cool.
Flexible panels will have a much shorter lifespan than glass, so choose glass every time if you can.
Flexible panels are meant to flex once! Put them in place and do not ever bend them again. Bending will eventually break or crack the conductors. - “ The mono is better for RV use. Mono should be more efficient. In reality there is minimal difference, but I spring a few bucks extra always for the mono.”
Agreed, but this additional efficiency manifest itself via a smaller footprint - regardless of which substrate, 100w is still 100w, thus I find the panel presenter’s conclusions a bit lacking... - I went mono since three fit across the front. Would have gone poly if they had not. Due to heat I never considered flexible panels
- I do not understand comparing 36 cell panels to 33 cell panels.
- Red, they all rated 100 watts. Poly is supposed to be more efficient. Mono needs three more cells to “make” 100 watts. Test didn’t show more efficiency.
3 tons wrote:
“ The mono is better for RV use. Mono should be more efficient. In reality there is minimal difference, but I spring a few bucks extra always for the mono.”
Agreed, but this additional efficiency manifest itself via a smaller footprint - regardless of which substrate, 100w is still 100w, thus I find the panel presenter’s conclusions a bit lacking...
That is the exact opposite of what the testing shows. Poly works better except when solar conditions are perfect. Since he did not test in ideal conditions, we have no way of knowing if mono would truly outperform poly.
The first "hints" of this were published on rvnet a lot of years ago when someone by chance bought two panels, one poly and one mono. The poly out performed in real life conditions. And yes the poly are always larger.
