Mono or Poly?

[tanuki.himself]

i'm about to invest in a solar system for the roof of my slide-in camper. I'm planning on using Victron energy 175 watt panels as they are a good fit to my roof shape and dimensions and will allow me to add more pairs if I need to. The key question is whether to go monocrystalline or polycrystalline?- both are listed as the same weight, physical dimensions and output.

i will be using the camper mostly around Europe and north Africa from arctic circle to about 30 degrees north, and hopefully a shipped trip down to southern Africa which will be closer to the tropics for a few months. Panels will be horizontally roof mounted and will be the main power source for the camper - i would rather put on more solar that will work every day than rely on charging from the truck for when the camper is demounted or we are not driving.

I expect the biggest load will be a compressor fridge/freezer which I expect will use more power during the day and when it is hotter, so when more energy is available from the panels. I'll be fitting a 100/50 victron charge controller to give me headroom on the capacity and have a single (at present) 100Ah LiFePO4 house battery. I've been advised by the vendor to run the panels as pairs in series to give a more efficient supply to the controller.

given the latitudes and therefore sunshine angles and intensity, which panel is going to give me the best performance?

 

[gtitonta]

I am new for solar panel, but I had searched a lot of threads in this forum. You said that weight, physical dimensions and output of mono and poly are same. I am kind of wondering if there is any difference of max amp output between those panel? usually mono is better quality and tougher generally speaking. However, it is pretty much not much difference between mono and poly if the size and company are same.
Many people from this forum commented that solar panel for resident use is usually more efficient. So if you can find resident solar panel which fits to your roof, you should get one.

 

[john61ct]

And for maximum efficiency delta from MPPT like Victron, getting up to 40Voc rating or higher gets a bit more Ah per day actually into the bank.

The cheapie consumer-channel marketed panels tend to be much lower so as to not waste as much with cheaper PWM controllers.

 

[luthj]

There is quite a variance within each group. You can find mono panels which are lower density than high end poly and vice versa. Poly panels tend to do better in cloudy conditions. Mono panels typically have more output per area, but these are not absolutes.

I would check to see if the temperature coefficient is the same for the panels. If one looses less output as it warms, that would provide a small boost in output at high temps. Conversely if you operate in cold weather all the time, the higher coefficient panel will produce more output when cold.

 

[tanuki.himself]

these are the figures for the two panels - temperature coefficients on the data sheets are identical across both types

the poly is 1 kilo heavier, but 19 euros cheaper......

FEATURES:	Polycrystalline photovoltaic solar panel ... Polycrystalline solar module Victron Energy ... € 127.46 € 157.36 -19% Reduced price! Add to cart View	Monocrystalline Photovoltaic Solar Panel ... Monocrystalline solar module Victron Energy Bluesolar ... € 146.11 € 167.50 - € 21.39 Reduced price! Add to cart View
Voltage	12V	12V
Solar panel power	175 W	175 W
Cell type	Polycrystalline	Monocrystalline
No. of cells	36 cells	36 cells
Solar module weight	12 kg	11 kg
Solar panel dimensions	1485 × 668 × 30 mm	1485 x 668 x 30 mm
Nominal power (Pmax)	175 W	175 W
Max Tension power (VMPP)	18.3	19.4 V
Max current power (IMPP)	9.56	9.03 A
Open Circuit Voltage (VOC)	21.90	23.7 V
Short Circuit Current (ISC)	10.24	9.89 A
Input voltage	12V	12V
Output power		175 W
Warranty		5 years

• Keep buying

 

[67cj5]

Mono Panels also last longer,

 

[Alloy]

Mono vs Poly is an endless discussion.

Residential (higher voltage) panels have more technology like glass and heat control.

Choose a panel based on the efficency.

I chose Panasonic becasue more efficent panels were exponentially more expensive.

https://news.energysage.com/what-are-the-most-efficient-solar-panels-on-the-market/