I've been thinking it may be interesting to buy some solar cells to play with.

I know that monocrystalline cells are grown from a single huge crystal that is a long cylinder drawn up out of a pool of molten silicon. Crystallization is uniform with no imperfections.

By comparison, polycrystalline cells are formed as an ingot poured into a large rectangular mold. The cooling is uneven so it crystallizes randomly, but they are lots cheaper to make than monocrystalline.



So.... what to make of this ebay auction? Is this an example of monocrystalline cells with imperfections (???), or is the seller scamming people trying to pass off cheap polycrystalline cells as monocrystalline?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-made-125...383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a71d354cf


I note they can't be bothered to tell us the product part number so it can be looked up.

 

There are other sellers that have similar prices. And he has 100% positive feedback with more than 3500 sales. Looks not bad.

 

Unknown. Perhaps there are monocrystalline cells with occlusions?


But this is what I would expect to see. Monocrystalline cells are normally flat in shading with no visible "splotching" on the face of the cell.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Grade-125...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item1c1ec78290

 

I'll agree w/ DMahalko... the face of the cell pictured in the Fleabay ad, looks like a sheet of galvanized steel [ only blue ] showing the helter-skelter crystals of the zinc coating.. which is normal to galv. sheetmetal..........

 

although the seller has 100% rating, I think he is pulling the wool over peoples eyes, and others who had previously purchased these solar cells may not have known the difference and just took their word for it..... but the pic does not show a monocrystalline solar cell, if it were, the surface would be one continuous crystal with no grain boundaries...

 

You can never tell for sure what you are going to get via a stock photo they use.

Take for example of the two panels I recently acquired,they both had the same description and photo, they are identical in stats,yet the actual layout is very different..

Can't really complain as even the manufacturer model number is the same for both.

So,maybe they are just using the wrong stock photo and the cells are indeed mono,or maybe not.

 

I've been thinking it may be interesting to buy some solar cells to play with.

I know that monocrystalline cells are grown from a single huge crystal that is a long cylinder drawn up out of a pool of molten silicon. Crystallization is uniform with no imperfections.

By comparison, polycrystalline cells are formed as an ingot poured into a large rectangular mold. The cooling is uneven so it crystallizes randomly, but they are lots cheaper to make than monocrystalline.



So.... what to make of this ebay auction? Is this an example of monocrystalline cells with imperfections (???), or is the seller scamming people trying to pass off cheap polycrystalline cells as monocrystalline?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-made-125...383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a71d354cf


I note they can't be bothered to tell us the prod\uct part number so it can be looked up.

The other examples in the price rang seem much higher quality so I'd go that route or see if you can get an acutal picture.

 

I asked the seller. His answer:

You are correct.. The one on the picture is polycrystalling.. I have stock of both that I picked up from BP Solar?s facility.. Whichever type you need I can supply.. If you like I can send you some samples first..

 

I asked the seller. His answer:

You are correct.. The one on the picture is polycrystalling.. I have stock of both that I picked up from BP Solar?s facility.. Whichever type you need I can supply.. If you like I can send you some samples first..

There you go, I may need some samples for a project I'm working on, good find. Thanks

 

Yep. It's glued together little broken bits of solar cell.