Comparison of the Efficiency of Polycrystalline and Thin-Film Photovoltaic Outdoors

Abstract

In this paper, a comparison was made between two types of PV modules widely used in the market: polycrystalline and thin-film (both of them are silicon-based manufacturing) to identify the variables and parameters affecting the efficiency of solar cells. The efficiency of polycrystalline is higher than thin-film, although the open circuit voltage is more affected by solar radiation. The comparison was made in Gödöllő in Hungary, characterized by a moderate climate temperature and humidity on a partly cloudy day to study the effect of clouds and the change in the amount of solar radiation on solar cells. The flexible feature of thin-film cells can be used in many applications, especially those related to covering surfaces, as it is considered thin-layer and does not require an expensive metal structure to install. All these variables were calculated and discussed. The difference between the efficiency of polycrystalline and thin-film modules was a small percentage ranging between (-0.2% to 0.5%). This difference comes from the manufacturing technology method and the manufacturing quality itself.