Black Solar Panels vs. Blue Solar Panels
Solar panels come in two main types: black and blue. Black solar panels are made from monocrystalline silicon, while blue solar panels are made from polycrystalline silicon. Monocrystalline silicon is a purer form of silicon than polycrystalline silicon, which makes black solar panels more efficient.
Efficiency
Efficiency is the measure of how much sunlight a solar panel can convert into electricity. Black solar panels are more efficient than blue solar panels, which means they can generate more electricity from the same amount of sunlight. This is important in hot climates, where solar panels can lose efficiency due to heat.
Heat Tolerance
Black solar panels are also more heat tolerant than blue solar panels. Blue solar panels can lose efficiency when the temperature reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit, while black solar panels can maintain their efficiency up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This is important in hot climates, where the temperature can often exceed 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cost
Black solar panels are typically more expensive than blue solar panels. However, the higher cost of black solar panels is offset by their higher efficiency and heat tolerance. In the long run, black solar panels can save you money on your electricity bills.
Premier Solar uses black solar panels along with microinverters (read more below). We believe that this is the best combination of equipment for our customers in hot climates. Black solar panels are more efficient and heat tolerant than blue solar panels, and microinverters offer several advantages over string inverters.
Inverters
Solar panels generate direct current (DC) electricity, which is not compatible with the alternating current (AC) electricity that your home uses. Inverters convert DC electricity into AC electricity. There are two main types of inverters: string inverters and microinverters.
String inverters are connected to a string of solar panels. If one solar panel in the string fails, the entire string will stop working. Microinverters are connected to each individual solar panel. If one solar panel fails, the other solar panels will continue to work.
Microinverters are more expensive than string inverters, but they offer several advantages. Microinverters are more efficient, they can help to improve the performance of your solar panels in shaded areas, and they can help to protect your solar panels from damage caused by power surges.
We are committed to using the best equipment for our customers. We believe that black solar panels and microinverters are the best combination of equipment for our customers in hot climates. If you are interested in learning more about solar panels or getting a solar quote, please contact us today.
Technical stuff:
Polycrystalline (blue) solar panels
The silicon used in polycrystalline solar cells is made from raw silicon that has been melted and poured into a square mold. This process doesn’t align the silicon perfectly, which results in the formation of many individual silicon crystals within the mold. The nature of the individual silicon crystals also produces the speckled, glimmering look and blue color characteristic of polycrystalline panels.
Monocrystalline (black) solar panels
The silicon used to make monocrystalline solar cells has a high level of purity. The silicon is all oriented the same way in a monocrystalline solar cell, creating one large silicon crystal. Because of the way light interacts with a monocrystalline silicon layer, monocrystalline solar panels appear black in color. The process of aligning the silicon into one crystal, known as the Czochralski process, is energy-intensive and results in some wasted silicon. As a result, monocrystalline panels cost more than polycrystalline solar panels.