Types of Solar Panels available in Kenya.

Buying a solar panel online in Kenya can be a confusing affair.

Probably because of the hundreds if not thousands of brands fighting for your attention and promising all sorts of things

Knowing the types of panels to choose from can make things a bit easy.

Let's get straight into it:

There are 4 types of solar panels available in Kenya today

1. Monochrystalline solar panels

2. Polychrystalline solar panels

3. Armophous/Thin film panels

4. Hybrid solar panels.

Monochrystalline solar panels

Made from high quality crystals

They are the most effective at 15% efficiency.

Last longer and perform better under low light.

More expensive but require less space than other types.

Disadvantages.

They cost slightly higher.

Can be affected by dirt and shade.

Polychrystalline solar panels

Economic choice for home owners since they are cheaper than the mono solar panels.

They have a 13% efficiency.

Made from lower quality crystals.

Their main shortcoming is that they require more space than the mono solar panels.

They are the most common in Kenya today and maybe the ones on your neighbors roof.

Armophous/thin type

They have a 7% efficiency.

They are the cheapest in the market.

Work well in low light conditions (even moonlight)

Since they are made from non chrystalline material they can be transferred to other materials such as glass

Can be mass produced.

The main challenge of installing this type of panels is the huge space and their lower efficiency at 7%.

They are not preferred by home owners because they require a lot of space.

They also degrade faster compared to other types.

Hybrid solar panels

Have the highest efficiency at 18%.

They are made from a mix of armophous and monochrystalline cells for maximum efficiency.

These types of panels are in their development stage and are not readily in our market today.

A 20 watts monochrystalline solar panel from SolarMax