Renewable Power And Sunlight Energy - Thin-Film Solar Panel Products

As technology constantly advances there are many new green technologies released each day that can help us improve our energy efficiency. One such technology is the "Thin-Film Solar Panel." How are thin-film solar panels being utilized by consumers today? How do they compare against traditional photovoltaic (PV) panels?

How Solar Cells Work

Because every solar panel is built using lots of individual cells its important to understand how these cells work. According to GE, "Solar cells convert one form of energy (sunlight) into another form of energy (electricity). When the sunlight is reduced or stopped, for example, whenever a cloud passes in front of the sun or whenever the sun goes down in the night, the conversion process slows down or stops completely. When the sunshine returns, the conversion process resumes. Solar cells do not store electricity. At evening, a solar electric system demands some form of energy storage, usually batteries, to draw on instead of the solar cells."

What is a Thin-Film Solar Panel?

A thin-film panel is called more for it's manufacturing process than it's actual size. Considered by many as piece of the 2nd generation of photovoltaic cells, thin-film solar panels use a production process that involves applying several thin layers of a sunshine reactive substance onto a base information.

What are the Advantages of Thin-Film Solar Panels?

Unlike their "thick-film" cousins, thin-film panels use much less raw information in production. Also thin-film cells can be manufactured in a large-area process. This process can be both continuous and automated. Another unique characteristic of thin-film panels is their ability to be deposited on flexible substrate materials. This means thin-film solar panels can be integrated into roofing tiles and other architectural products. Thin-film panels are also much lighter than traditional photovoltaics.

Creating Thin-Film Solar Panels

Like many new technologies not everything is positive. While thin-film solar panels can offer a "green" method to make electricity it's important we realize their underlying environmental cost also. Thin-film panels, like other solar panels, are very energy intense to produce. They also require precious limited resources such as silicon, copper and cadmium.

Thin-Film vs. Traditional Solar Panels

Whilst the efficiency of solar cells can vary widely from 6%, for amorphous silicon-based solar cells, to 42.8%, for non-commercial, multiple-junction research lab cells. The most common commercially available type of solar cell is the "Multicrystalline Si" which offers between 14-19% efficiency. While thin-film solar panels are catching up in efficiency, currently, they provide between 7-9% efficiency.

With Lower Efficiency Rates Why Should I Consider Thin-Film Panels?

Thin-film solar panels are lighter than traditional crystalline photovoltaic materials. Thanks to their lighter weight you can install them in a multitude of places you'd never be able to install traditional solar panels. Consider a roof installation, thin-film solar panels are easier to install because you can avoid large, ugly and expensive roof mounted racks. Why would you want to install a rack whenever you can simply bond thin-film PV laminates to your roof? According to a recent Mom Earth News post it takes just "five to 10 minutes to apply each PV sheet to a roof panel."

Thin-Film Solar Panel Pricing

If you're willing to trade the efficiency loss for more flexible installation options you'll probably be amazed to discover that thin-film panels are priced competitively compared to similarly sized traditional solar panels. Depending upon where you purchase your panels you need to find them priced between $4 to $5 per watt. Remember to include the installation cost into the total purchase cost because thin-film solar panels require significantly less labor to install.

Solar Incentives and Rebates

Incentive and rebate programs differ greatly based on where you reside but due to the volume available I encourage you to look for incentives and rebates online. The Database of State Incentives for Renewable & Efficiency (DSIRE), run by the North Carolina Solar Center, is a great place to begin.  
While thin-film panels aren't for everyone they can offer some people a flexible way to include solar power to their home or business. In today's market, thin-film panels are already competitive and as technology improves you can expect their efficiency to increase. Solar panels can slowly reduce our dependence on fossil fuel based power. Residential electricity generated by fossil fuels is the third largest contributor of CO2 emissions in the United States.
Do your part to fight international warming - by going solar.