From Silicon To Solar Panels.

MVMSYSTEM along with its subsidory UKMARINEDIRECT is searching for better and cost effective products for our clients. Producing enough energy to power all systems onboard including comfort is always an issue confronting our leisure sailor.
Wind powered and solar powered will replace the need to operate the engine or switch on a noisy generator.
Solar panels and technology in brief:

From Raw Silicon To Solar Panels.

Solar cells are devices that are used in solar panels for the purpose of converting light energy (photons) into electricity (electrons) through a process known as the photovoltaic effect. The term “photovoltaic” is a Greek derivative coming from the terms (phōs) for light and “voltaic” for electricity. This first cell used Selenium and had an efficiency of 1%. In 1954 while experimenting with semiconductors, Bell Laboratories introduced the first practical silicon solar cell which was doped with specific impurities that began the evolution of what would become today’s high efficiency technology.

Solar panels that used these early cells had an efficiency rating of about 6% which was first demonstrated in April of 1954. Today solar panels have dropped dramatically in cost and have efficiency ranging from about 6% for thin film technology and up to 18% for crystalline technology. Modern panels are used in home solar power applications and Commercial Solar applications as well as off grid solar power and RV solar power uses. Panels systems are even used to provide emergency power and for Solar powered air conditioning systems in homes and businesses.

Mono Crystalline (Single crystal) Silicon Solar Panels
Mono crystalline or single crystalline cells are produced primarily by the Czochralski (Cz) process. The large diameter single crystal silicon ingots that are created from this process are cut into thin wafers using thin wire saws. Conductive energy collection grids are silk screened onto the surface of these wafers and a functional solar cell is produced. Solar panels for your home that utilize single crystalline cells offer among the highest efficiencies available on today’s market.

Poly Crystalline (Multi crystal) Silicon Solar Panels
Cells that are created from polycrystalline or (multi crystalline) technology are cut from a silicon boule that has been casted from molten silicon and allowed to cool. The multi crystalline cell is grown from this silicon material forms multifaceted crystals that grows in different directions. Conventional multi crystalline solar cells typically offer a slightly lower efficiency.

Ribbon Silicon Solar Panels
A process which cost less than traditional manufacturing techniques is known as “Ribbon Growth”. Silicon is formed directly into thin wafers which avoid the expensive process of sawing silicon from a solid silicon boule. One such method is known as “Edge defined film fed growth” starts with two crystal seeds. A thin layer of silicon is formed as the seeds are pulled from a molten vat of silicon which produces a continuous ribbon of silicon. Solar panels that that use this technology are effective at saving material but the quality of the material produced is not as high as the Czochralski (Cz) process. Cell efficiency may also be reduced.

UMG Technology (Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon)
In an effort to save on materials and processing cost. A few manufacturers have turned to less pure silicon to manufacture solar cells that are used in their solar panels. Unlike the nine 9s (99.9999999%) or even the eleven 9s (99.999999999) of purity that is the result of the conventional Siemens process, solar modules that are manufactured using UMG are of less purity which can have an effect on efficiency. Several Canadian based solar companies have introduced these lower cost, lower efficiency based products into the European and U.S. markets.

CdTe Solar Technology (Cadmium Telluride Thin Film)
Like their crystalline silicon thin film cousins, Cadmium Telluride CdTe solar suffers from the same stigma of lower efficiency. The primary difference between both crystalline silicon and Amorphous silicon when compared to CdTe is that CdTe does not utilize silicon in its design.

Instead CdTe solar panels use a compound which is formed by a combination of Cadmium and Tellurium blended with Zinc. Another difference between CdTe and more traditional solar module technologies is that Cadmium one of the substances used to form the compound CdTe is an extremely toxic material with known cancer causing effects which raises concerns among health officials.

Cadmium telluride is toxic, but only if it is ingested or its dust is inhaled. There is also concern if it is handled improperly for example, without the use of appropriate gloves and other safety precautions. Although CdTe modules have been touted as being safe especially once encapsulated in a module, environmental concerns remain if these solar panels are not be disposed of or recycled properly should they become broken, defective, or decommissioned at the end of their life cycle.

Amorphous Silicon Solar (Thin Film Solar Panels)
Unlike crystalline silicon whose atoms are arranged in a very orderly fashion, the atoms in amorphous or thin film solar panels are not arranged in any specific pattern and in fact contain many structural and bonding defects. Amorphous solar panels are made by utilizing a vapor deposition process not unlike spraying the silicon which deposits a microscopic thin layer of doped silicon onto a glass substrate. Although thin film is less costly to manufacture than mono or poly crystalline technology they do suffer from several drawbacks, among them are a much lower efficiency. While mono and poly crystalline solar technologies typically produce power in the 12 to 15 percent efficiency range, thin film technology’s efficiency range from 6 to 9 percent. Another drawback with Amorphous technology is an anomaly know as the Staebler-Wronski effect whereby the conversion efficiency of Amorphous solar panels has the tendency to degrade causing a drop in output of up to 20% when it is first exposed to sunlight.