Q: How much time is it worth to spend on
the various types of cells and their chemical structures and construction
methods? Or is it sufficient just to be aware in general of the different cell
types (mono, poly, CIGS, CdTe, etc.) and their performance characteristics? A: Since you are studying
for a Technical Sales Exam, I would recommend not worrying about getting into
the different details about the chemistry if you have limited time. It is good
to know, however there are many other things that are more likely to be on the
exam. Yes it is a good idea to know that Monocrystalline is usually better than
Polycrystalline and that CIGS and CdTe are thin film and have a history of
being less efficient than crystalline. That being said, there
are interesting developments. It has been in the news recently that the world
record efficient CdTe cell has just passes the world record Polycrystalline
cell efficiency. The world record efficiencies are interesting, but do not
translate to cost effective solutions. Also, did you know
that gallium arsenide is a thin film technology that is more efficient than
monocrystalline. Gallium arsenide is also very very expensive and is that they
typically use in space. Too expensive for terrestrial PV. I also like to point
out that I would rather have 16 percent efficient tier 1 polycrystalline PV
than 15 percent monocrystalline. Mono is usually more efficient, but not
always. Another thing is that
polycrystalline silicon often refers to the raw silicon that comes in chunks.
Another term used for polycrystalline modules is multicrystalline. Thanks, Sean White |
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