Key Takeaways
- Efficiency? Monocrystalline are better
- Cost? Monocrystalline are more expensive
- Colour? Monocrystalline are black, poly are blue
- Lifespan? They’ll both degrade by 0.5% per year – next to nothing!
- What Solar Fast offer: Monocrystalline DMEGC 440s
What’s the difference between monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels?
The difference between monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels is that the cells in the monocrystalline panels are made of one single crystal of silicon, but in the polycrystalline they’re all mashed together. Hence, mono for one, and poly for more than one.
Specs |
Polycrystalline |
Monocrystalline |
| Efficiency | 13% – 19% | 19% – 24% |
| Cost | £90 – £120 per m2 | £120 – £350 per m2 |
| Lifespan | 25 years plus | 25 years plus |
| Manufacturing | Cheaper and less wasteful | Expensive and wasteful |
| Appearance | Blue/white and black | Black on black |
What do monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels look like?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of monocrystalline solar panels compared to polycrystalline?
The biggest disadvantage is cost. It’s not that monocrystalline panels cost a fortune, it is just they are much more expensive than polycrystalline. Polycrystalline is about £90-£120, whereas monocrystalline is about £120-£350 per m2.
The biggest advantage is monocrystalline are more efficient than polycrystalline because they’re better at turning solar energy into the electricity you actually want to use.
Should you choose monocrystalline or polycrystalline solar panels?
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER.
What is a Polycrystalline Solar Panel?
Polycrystalline panels are panels that are made up of lots of silicon crystals.
Polycrystalline is considered old technology now, but they are still a very popular choice in developing nations, on solar farms and for DIY solar projects.
When you look up at a solar array on someone’s roof or drive past a huge solar park, if the panels have a blue hue about them … they are polycrystalline solar panels.
You can still see them ‘out in the wild’ on older, domestic solar systems too.
Polycrystalline vs monocrystalline solar panels
This blog may have put a bit of a downer on polycrystalline panels, but they are still very useful bits of kit.
If you have plenty of room to lay panels out, you may save money by installing polycrystalline panels over a wide area.
This also makes them a good choice for a solar farm.
Learn more about solar panel efficiency.
FAQs about monocrystalline & polycrystalline
- Low Cost
- Slightly Greener
- Longevity
Low Cost
As we stated before, the manufacturing process for polycrystalline panels is much simpler than mono panel production – and simpler means cheaper.
Monocrystalline panels are much more efficient but much harder to produce, so they usually come with much higher price tags – between with the square metre metric, they come in at about £120 – £350.
Slightly Greener
As we have mentioned, the price of a polycrystalline cell is much cheaper due to not separating the silicon into single crystals. The nice side effect of that is, the process wastes less silicon because nothing is thrown away. Less waste means less mining silicon, less purifying silicon and less power needed overall.
Longevity
Luckily, all solar panels last for absolutely ages, regardless of how they are made. There are no moving parts in a solar panel, and all the action happens at an atomic level, so there’s not much that can go wrong.
However, silicon degrades year on year and there is nothing you can do about that. This degradation means the panels gets 0.4% less efficient every year – by the end of 25 years they are down to 80% of their original efficiency.
This is the industry standard for a panel being at the end of its life, but they will continue to generate electricity for decades after. This is why many DIY enthusiasts buy second-hand polycrystalline panels.
- Higher yield
- Looks cool
- Longevity
Higher Yield
As domestic installs aren’t usually enormous, the advantage of the monocrystalline is they are more efficient, so you need less coverage to get the same yield. This also gives you the advantage of needing fewer panels for the roof. In a domestic system, the cost is probably the same as an equal yield from polycrystalline.
Looks Cool
Another advantage is the way a monocrystalline panel looks – and that is a complete accident. When silicon crystals are all mashed together during the manufacturing process, they appear to be a vibrant blue colour. This is why polycrystalline panels are blue.
However, the process of creating single crystal silicon makes the base material look black. So, with a little bit of design forethought, you can make black on black panels that look ultra-sleek on your roof.
Longevity
This is an advantage that most solar panels come with – their incredible lifespan. Silicon will degrade over time and the efficiency of the panel will degrade with it. However, this degradation is at a snail’s pace of 0.5% per year – so the panels are still at 80% of their original efficiency after 25 years.
25 years is the industry standard for replacing your panels as the yield drops below an acceptable level. We offer 30..
The panels will still continue to produce electricity for another 25 years though.
Learn more about how long solar panels last.
Learn more about solar panel efficiency.
Less yield. Unfortunately, this is the result of not splitting the silicon into single crystals. The crystals in a polycrystalline panel are all ‘mushed’ together so, when the electricity is generated, it experiences more resistance as it tries to travel across the panels and into your home.
This drops the efficiency and, therefore, the amount of power each panel can produce. Learn more about the pros and cons of solar panels.
The disadvantage is cost. It’s not that these panels cost a fortune, it is just they are much more expensive than their polycrystalline counterparts.
If you were to price polycrystalline panels with the square metre metric, they come in at about £90 – £200, so that’s quite a lot less if you are coving large areas.
No. Monocrystalline solar panels don’t need direct sunlight.. (POLLY PLEASE ANSWER)
It’s more expensive than polycrystalline, but those are very cheap. For monocrystalline, the prices range from about £120 – £350 a square metre.
Yes / No. Monocrystalline solar panels … (POLLY PLEASE ANSWER)
How many monocrystalline solar panels depends on (POLLY PLEASE ANSWER).
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER
Polycrystalline solar panels.. (POLLY PLEASE ANSWER)
Let’s look at that in more detail…
All solar systems installed for the purpose of generating electricity incorporate PV panels. The PV stands for ‘photovoltaic’ which means they convert light particles from the sun, or photons as they are known, into DC power.
This is what differentiates them from ‘thermal’ solar panels that use heat energy from the sun to warm water, food and other materials.
The cells within photovoltaic panels are made from the Earth’s second most abundant element, Silicon.
Silicon is one of the few elements that react to sunlight to generate electricity.
The photons hit the electrons inside the silicon and cause them to ‘jiggle n jump’, the resulting energy flows across the cell, out through the cables and into your home.
That’s very simplistic but does kinda explain what’s going on.
Polycrystalline cells are cheap and easy to manufacture because the crystals inside the silicon are mashed together, rather than separated like they are in a monocrystalline panel.
While this makes polycrystalline panels a little less efficient, it means they are also much more affordable.
Learn more about how solar panels work.
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER
POLLY PLEASE ANSWER
You’d see polycrystalline panels in developing nations, on solar farms and on DIY solar projects.
But they aren’t very popular in the UK right now this wouldn’t be something we’d recommend you’d use.
For information’s sake though, we’ll take a peek at what’s still available.
One reason for using a poly over a mono is they have a smaller carbon footprint.
The manufacture of polycrystalline silicon is much easier and less time consuming than creating single crystal silicon for mono panels.
The less energy you use creating the materials, the more eco-friendly the end product is.
What’s more, mashing all the crystals together in one ‘lump’ creates much less waste – so, once again, much greener!
Polycrystalline solar panels function well between 85 °C and -40 °C.
They do have a pretty low tolerance to heat though, so as things heat up on the roof, the panels get less and less efficient.
The cost of monocrystalline solar panels varies between about £120 – £350 a square metre. They cost different amounts depending on quality and make.
Head to our full guide on how much solar panels cost.
The cost of polycrystalline solar panels varies between about £90 – £120 a square metre. They cost different amounts depending on quality and make.
Head to our full guide on how much solar panels cost.
Trying to get a quote for polycrystalline panels in the UK is not an easy task, but you will find the odd one or two online.
There is also an abundance of second-hand panels becoming available as people update their systems with more efficient units.
When pricing up solar panels, no matter what way they are made, you will be looking to buy as many as your needs dictate.
The best way to look at pricing solar panels is to decide how many square metres you need to get the yield you are after – this means you can price by the metre rather than kWh.
