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Jun 01 2018
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Why Are Solar Panels Blue?

By Solar Panel Installation Process No Comments

If you have ever driven through a residential neighborhood in states like California, Arizona, North Carolina, or any of the other top states for solar, it is likely that you have seen the stereotypical blue solar panels covering some of the rooftops. Blue solar panels are very common for several reasons, but they are not the only color that a solar panel may come in.

The color of a solar panel is largely based on the way in which the solar module is manufactured.

Monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels are the two main forms of consumer solar panels and vary in color from either blue or black. Both of these types of solar panels use silicon as the conductive material, but the way the silicon is treated and molded into the solar cell is quite different.

Check out this video to find out the difference between mono and poly crystalline solar panels.

In this post, we will take a look at each type of panel and see why they take on the color they do.

Polycrystalline Solar Panels

Polycrystalline solar panels are the more common, blue colored solar panels that have been widely popular for over a decade in the solar market. Polycrystalline solar panels are manufactured through a process where silicon is melted and poured into a mold. This leads to a solar cell that is made up of several silicon fragments.

The name of these panels comes from the fact that they include many (‘poly’) silicon crystals, whereas monocrystalline panels only include one (‘mono’) silicon crystal in each cell. The reason why this form of the solar panel is much more popular than monocrystalline panels is that they are cheaper to manufacture.

One drawback of the polycrystalline solar panel, however, is that is less efficient. This is a result of the solar cell being packed with numerous silicon crystals, which limits the space available for photons to travel through.

The blue color of a polycrystalline solar panel is a side-effect of both the way the silicon crystals reflect light, as well as from the anti-reflective coating that the panels are treated with.

Monocrystalline Solar Panels

As was touched upon earlier, monocrystalline solar panels make use of one silicon crystal within each solar cell in the panel. The manufacturing process for monocrystalline panels requires more work, and as a result, it is more expensive to produce these units.

The production of monocrystalline solar cells involves the Czochralski process, which in this case is a method used for growing single silicon crystals. This is accomplished by slowly lifting a silicon seed crystal out of a dish of melted silicon. As you lift it out, it slowly forms one larger crystal. These are then cut into squares which are used in the monocrystalline panel as a solar cell.

Monocrystalline panels are black as opposed to blue and are more efficient for a couple of reasons. First, the black is a color that naturally absorbs more light than blue, and secondly, there is more space for the photons to travel through with one silicon crystal in each cell.

Sistine Solar Skins

Sistine Solar Skins change solar panel colorSistine solar skins are a relatively new technology coming out of an MIT startup. Their patent-pending technology allows you to change to look of your solar panels to anything you want. These solar skins do not fundamentally change the color of your solar panels, but they do offer a solution for consumers that are looking for something outside of the traditional blue or black color.

This is actually a much bigger issue than one would assume, considering the Department of Energy estimates that there are 13 million homes across the country that decide not to adopt solar because of the appearance of the panels. Solar skins are a great way to address this problem.

Blue Beginnings

It is true that the majority of solar panels you will see around the country are blue in color, which is a result of their cheaper price and wider availability, but there are also other options if blue is not your thing. With black monocrystalline panels, solar skins, and even solutions like Tesla’s solar roof, there will soon be an option for everyone.

If you are looking to get started on your solar project, you can connect with one of our experienced Energy Advisors today!

Jun 01 2018
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Solar Policy Update – The Latest Home Solar Laws in Florida

By Solar Incentives by State No Comments


Solar has been getting a lot of attention in the past couple of years in Florida, and there is a reason why. Not only has the cost of solar been going down significantly year by year, but Florida is also one of the best states in the country for solar.

In fact, Florida ranks 3rd in the nation in solar potential, yet they fall much lower when looking at how much solar is actually installed in the state. Florida ranked 12th in the nation in regards to that aspect.

People are starting to recognize that in past Florida has not taken the correct path to make use of their state’s solar potential, so now they are stepping up to the task. In the past couple of years, there has been some new policies, updates, and advances being made.

In this post, we will give you the latest in home solar laws in Florida.

South Miami Solar Requirement

Earlier this month, California made a historic decision to require all new homes and major home renovations to include a solar panel system. The reason why this was such a groundbreaking move is that it was the first time an entire state enacted a policy like this. Before this, there were already a few cities that had a similar mandate in place, and South Miami was one of them.

South Miami was the first city outside of the state of California to enact such a measure. The new rules took effect on September 18, 2017, and require a minimum of 175 square feet of solar panel installations for every 1000 square feet of exposed roof, or at least 2.75 kW of capacity for that same space.

This applies to all new homes that are larger than 1,100 square feet and some major home renovations but is not a requirement for commercial properties. The cost for a single-family home will rise by around $11,000, but this will increase solar installations tremendously.

Amendment 4 of Senate Bill 90

Last November, two amendments to Senate Bill 90 were proposed in the Florida Senate. Only one of these amendments was approved (Amendment 4), which extended property tax exemptions from just residential solar systems to also include commercial solar systems. Although Amendment 4 has a lot to do with solar, it is not limited to just this form of renewable energy.

Since 2014, residential solar panel systems in Florida were exempt from a homeowner’s property assessment for their taxes. This means that the value of the system would not be added to the home’s value when assessing how much the homeowner should pay in property taxes. This helps save hundreds and even thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the solar panel system.

Amendment 4 simply extended this exemption to include commercial buildings as well as homes. The only difference for commercial buildings is that only 80% of the value of the renewable energy system can be exempted from the property assessment, whereas 100% of a home system’s value can be exempted.

Florida Solar Lease

Not everyone can afford to buy their own solar panel system outright. For these consumers, solar leasing is a potential option. Most states use the power-purchase agreement (PPA), which allows a utility company or other energy provider to own a home’s solar panel system and then sell that home the electricity at a cheaper rate.

Unfortunately, this model is illegal in Florida and therefore, it has been much harder for policymakers to figure out an effective alternative.

In the past couple of months, however, the Florida Public Service Commission made a decision that will change solar leasing for the future. They decided that Sunrun Inc., the largest U.S. residential-solar company, could now operate in Florida and provide 20-year solar-equipment leases to consumers.

The Commission made this conclusion because they decided that a solar lease did not constitute a retail sale of electricity, which is the underlying issue behind the ban. With this move, solar leases will become available to people in Florida, which should drastically increase the adoption of solar.

Reaching its Potential

Florida has a ton of potential for solar, and in the past couple of years, policymakers have recognized this and started to step up.

They are home to a city that is one out of just a handful of others that require solar installations on new homes, they are enacting policies to help make solar more affordable and accessible to both commercial and residential properties, and they now allow solar leasing so that more consumers can take advantage of this technology.

The future is bright for solar in Florida, and on top of all of that, you can always take advantage of the 30% federal tax credit no matter which state you are in.