Efficiency Ratings For Solar Panels

Solar panel efficiency is a measure of the amount of solar energy irradiation which falls on a panel surface and is converted into electricity due to the many recent advances in solar cell technology over the last 5 years average panel conversion efficiency has increased from 15 to 20.

Efficiency ratings for solar panels.

The n peak series panels and recently released alpha series high efficiency panels utilising n type heterojunction half cut cells now position rec among the industry leading manufacturers in high performance solar. The most efficient solar panels commercially available today have solar panel efficiency just under 23. This large jump in efficiency resulted in the power output of a standard size. A higher efficiency rating is better because it means that your solar panel is able to convert more of the sunlight it captures into electricity.

Med high see the detailed rec solar panel review. The average efficiency of solar panels falls between the 17 to 19 percent efficiency range. For example if two solar panels both have 15 percent efficiency ratings but one has a power output rating of 250 watts and the other is rated at 300 watts it means that the 300 watt panel is about 20 percent physically larger than the 250 watt panel. Solar panels have been consistently increasing in efficiency at about 5 annually since 2010.

So if a solar panel has an efficiency rating of 15 that means 15 of the sunlight that hits the solar panels will be converted into electricity. The highest efficiency solar panels on the market today can reach almost 23 percent efficiency. The graphic below shows how dramatically solar panel performance has improved over time. Factors that affect solar panel efficiency.

A higher solar panel efficiency rating means a panel will produce more kilowatt hours of energy per watt of power capacity. What is solar panel efficiency. The efficiency of the solar cells used in a photovoltaic system in combination with latitude and climate determines the annual energy output of the system for example a solar panel with 20 efficiency and an area of 1 m 2 will produce 200. Solar cell efficiency refers to the portion of energy in the form of sunlight that can be converted via photovoltaics into electricity by the solar cell.

The best solar panels available on the market today are sunpower s a series residential solar panels which are 22 8 efficient at their maximum.