solar pre-wired questions
Our new rv has an outdoor two pin plug-in for solar. What do I need to take advantage of it? What are it's benefits and limitations? We don't currently have any panels.
Forum Discussion
UniSolar are no longer made. They have diodes between each cell.
However there have been reports posted on RV where some one had a poly and a mono. The poly outperformed the mono. In this example both types of panels had 3 diodes per panel, one for each "string".
There is a German company that makes a poly with diodes between each cell. However, I've been unable to source a North American dealer.
What Polycrystalline Solar Panels Are
Polycrystalline solar panels (or poly panels) are made of individual polycrystalline solar cells.
Just like monocrystalline solar cells, polycrystalline solar cells are made from silicon crystals. The difference is that, instead of being extruded as a single pure ingot, the silicon crystal cools and fragments on its own. These fragments are melted in an oven and formed into cubes which are cut into thin wafers. So, many different crystals form this amalgam, rather than the single crystal of the monocrystalline solar cell type. It’s a less exacting production process than with monocrystalline cells, so it allows for more solar cells to be produced faster and less expensively.
The blue-colored square polycrystalline cells fit neatly side by side, eliminating any empty space between the cells. Polycrystalline solar panels operate less efficiently than monocrystalline panels because the melted fragments of silicon afford less room for the electrons to move around.
However there have been reports posted on RV where some one had a poly and a mono. The poly outperformed the mono. In this example both types of panels had 3 diodes per panel, one for each "string".
There is a German company that makes a poly with diodes between each cell. However, I've been unable to source a North American dealer.
What Polycrystalline Solar Panels Are
Polycrystalline solar panels (or poly panels) are made of individual polycrystalline solar cells.
Just like monocrystalline solar cells, polycrystalline solar cells are made from silicon crystals. The difference is that, instead of being extruded as a single pure ingot, the silicon crystal cools and fragments on its own. These fragments are melted in an oven and formed into cubes which are cut into thin wafers. So, many different crystals form this amalgam, rather than the single crystal of the monocrystalline solar cell type. It’s a less exacting production process than with monocrystalline cells, so it allows for more solar cells to be produced faster and less expensively.
The blue-colored square polycrystalline cells fit neatly side by side, eliminating any empty space between the cells. Polycrystalline solar panels operate less efficiently than monocrystalline panels because the melted fragments of silicon afford less room for the electrons to move around.
