Solar Panel Selection

Including solar panels on the "wings" of the shell is an integral point of my proposal, it allows my illumination solution to be self sufficient - or as close to it. Therefore it is important to define exactly which type I will use.

I noted the key points of three main categories of solar panels as follows - Mono crystalline, Poly crystalline, and Thin Film.

Mono crystalline solar panels have the highest efficiency rates (15- 20 %), are space efficient, and perform well in low light. However they are also the most expensive, and the circuits are vulnerable to break down if covered with dirt or shade which will not work on the side streets with the foliage running down the road. They can be identified by an external even coloring and uniform look.

Poly crystalline panels have a lower heat tolerance, are only 13 - 16% efficient and have lower space efficiency. They can be picked out by a speckled blue colour aesthetic.

Lastly Thin Film Panels come in multiple material forms (Amorphous silicon (a-Si)Cadmium telluride (CdTe) Copper indium gallium selenide (CIS/CIGS) Organic photovoltaic cells (OPC)). They are durable in the outdoors, extremely easy to manufacture and cheap. Currently TFP's are reaching 19% efficiency depending on the material. These films are flexible and are more resistant to shading also.

I choose to use CIGS Thin Film solar panels for the above reasons, and being most applicable to my form and environment. They are also cheap, easy to manufacture, while being reasonably efficient (Best solar module efficiency 14.5%).

References

http://energyinformative.org/best-thin-film-solar-panels-amorphous-cadmium-telluride-cigs/

http://energyinformative.org/best-solar-panel-monocrystalline-polycrystalline-thin-film/

Thin film solar modules: the low cost, high throughput and versatile alternative to Si wafers

Hegedus, S.Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 2006, Vol.14(5), pp.393-411 [Peer Reviewed Journal