How Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Panels Are Made

Monocrystalline solar panels get their name from how they are made.

How monocrystalline silicon solar panels are made.

The single crystal is formed using the czochralski method in which a seed crystal is placed into a vat of molten pure silicon at a high temperature. We then dip a small piece of a monocrystalline silicon into this melt and when we draw it out slowly we form a big crystal. The manufacturing process involves cutting individual wafers of silicon that can be affixed onto a solar panel. These silicon crystal are cylindrical in shape.

It is easy to recognize which panel is a monocrystalline solar panel because they are typically black or iridescent blue in color. To increase the efficiency and maintain the cost the solar cells are cut off from all its edges. Because these solar panel are made of single piece of silicon crystal. In monocrystalline solar panels each module is made from a single silicon crystal.

The silicon used to make these solar panels are high in purity. These types of panels are called monocrystalline to indicate that the silicon used is single crystal silicon. To build a monocrystalline or polycrystalline panel wafers are assembled into rows and columns to form a rectangle covered with a glass sheet and framed together. Because the cell is composed of a single crystal the electrons that generate a flow of electricity have more room to move.

In these cells the silicon has a single continuous crystal lattice structure with almost no defects or impurities. This makes them more efficient though more expensive than the newer and cheaper thin film and polycrystalline solar panel. Monocrystalline silicon is generally created by one of several methods that involve melting high purity semiconductor grade silicon only a few parts per million of impurities and the use of a seed to initiate the formation of a continuous single crystal. Each of the individual solar cells contain a silicon wafer that is made of a single crystal of silicon.

Monocrystalline solar panels are produced from one large silicon block and are produced in silicon wafer formats. To form monocrystalline silicon we use a silicon melt so we heat up silicon until it melts. Monocrystalline solar panels also known for its dark black hue on its surface. To make solar cells for monocrystalline solar panels silicon is formed into bars and cut into wafers.

The main advantage of monocrystalline cells is their high efficiency which is typically around 15. This process is normally performed in an inert atmosphere such as argon and in an inert crucible such as quartz to avoid impurities that would affect the crystal uniformity. Monocrystalline solar panel are also called single crystalline silicon solar panel. Mono crystalline silicon cells are more efficient than polycrystalline or amorphous solar cells.