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Has anyone any experience of Gb-Sol 70watt semi flexible solar panels? I have seen them reviewed in a magazine and would like to know how they compare with the conventional rigid panels also which is best the monocrystalline or polycrystalline type of solar panel?
Steve
Flexible are good for sailboats and the like. For motorhomes they are good for flexing around curvy bits!
Google for advice on the difference in crystalines, there are more than two. However, what made my mind up was price. After reading that no matter what is in the panels it is the rating that matters. In other words 100w of mono is the same from 100w of poly.
In other words 100w of mono is the same from 100w of poly.
Output from a solar panel is wholly dependent on the amount of light hitting its sensors. I thought that for x amount of light, you get more power from polycrystalline than you would get from mono. Useful in a country that doesn't get too much sunlight.
Thanks for the replies I am interested in the flexi panels as they are so much lighter and presumably more securely fixed since no wind can get underneath them. Alternatively I presume that it would be possible to support one against the windscreen facing directly at the sun to gain better efficiency - obviously not leaving it unattended for security. With regards to efficiency of poly or mono I thought that mono was more efficient on dull days?
Well without googling as I'm at work having a coffee, my recollection when I looked into specifying mine was that amorphous was better on a cloudy day but monocrystalline had far better life.
In other words 100w of mono is the same from 100w of poly.
Output from a solar panel is wholly dependent on the amount of light hitting its sensors. I thought that for x amount of light, you get more power from polycrystalline than you would get from mono. Useful in a country that doesn't get too much sunlight.
Gerald
So does a ton of feathers weight less than a ton of coal? Surely, as teemyob said, 100w is 100w?
Obviously 100w is 100w.however the next point is which would last longer, then which would need less sunlight to give this.and maybe balance all this against cost.
This is my understanding after a small amount of research.
The difference between Mono and Polycystalline PV cells is the way in which the silicon is produced (and the way the silicon crystal grows). The Mono Crystalline silicon is more expensive to produce so i presume the panels are more expensive.
The advantage of the monocrystalline panels is that they are more efficient and so will be a smaller size than the equivalent rated polycrystalline panel.
Both panels will have a similar performance at the same light levels, eg if both panels are rated at 100w on a sunny day they will both produce 40w (or whatever) on a dull day.
There is a third type of panel which is the amorphous panel, this is the flexible panels that have been mentioned, I believe these are a similar size to the poly panels but have two advantages, there flexibility (some manufactures say you can even walk on them) and also they have a better performance at low light levels. So a 100w panel on a sunny day may produce 60w on a dull day where the mono or poly panels would only produce 40w.
To further confuse things there are hybrid panels available using both mono and amorphous cells (small and with good performance at low light levels, but not flexible) and also various other technologies on the horizon.
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