There’s a great deal of interest about Mono-crystalline and Polycrystalline Solar Panels. As such, we decided to do a comparison from your point of view and we will try to avoid using any trade jargon to give you a better understanding of the difference between the two options: Mono and Poly solar panels.
Surface of Monocrystalline Solar Panels
Monocrystalline cells are made from a single crystal of ultra pure silicon. They are the original silicon solar cell and they are still the most efficient today. Mono cells are typically a little more expensive since they’re a little more difficult to manufacture. The benefit of mono cells is that they perform slightly better under low light conditions equating to better production on cloudy days versus polycrystalline panels. How much better? Well that is a topic for discussion as there has been little local data to prove this here in Ontario. Suffice to say, you may get up to about .5% better production per annum using mono cells versus using polycrystalline.
A Polycrystalline Solar Panel
Polycrystalline cells are made up of multiple crystals and are generally less expensive to manufacture than mono cells. The gap in performance has narrowed significantly over the years to the point where they are very close. Since Polycrystalline panels are made up of several crystals, this means that they also absorb less sunlight and produce slightly less than mono cells per metre squared.
Many Solar panel manufacturers here in Ontario offer both mono or poly options. Ask your installer what they recommend for your roof and maybe have them quote on both. If you are in Ontario, Canada and you’d like to drop us a message you can do so here or call us at 1-888-907-5848.
In short, both are good technologies. It’s simply a matter of personal preference and budget. In case you wanted to find out how much a solar system installation typically costs, please read our post on How much does it cost to install solar panels in Ontario? We hope you find it helpful! For any questions feel free to drop us a comment below.
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