Types of Solar Panels have increased manifold with the surging global solar demand fueled by falling prices of solar panels/modules.Note Solar Panels prices would have fallen by around 75% in 3 years which is a record for any energy let alone solar energy.This has made Solar Electricity on par with Electricity prices in a number of places globally.The number of manufacturers of solar panels too has increased drastically particuarly in China and Asia.The range of technologies being used to made solar panels has also increased in tandem.However polyscrystalline silicon solar panels continues to be the king of solar panels accounting for a lion’s share of solar panels produced globally (around 75% according to my estimates).Each Solar Panel Technology differs from others in terms of efficiency and price.They also differ in their electricity production capabilities depending on temperature.They also differ in weight and flexibility.The Sizes of Solar Panels are also quite different and different powered solar panels are required for different applications.For a small power need like charging a mobile phone only a 5-20 watt solar panel would do while for powering a solar house you would need a number of 200-300 watt solar panels.

Sun Power is the largest source of light in the is universe. It helps in providing food & oxygen for us, where sunlight is captured by plants in the process of photosynthesis. It helps maintaining the environmental balance by the continuous formation of vapours & condensation as rains. On a bright, sunny day, the sun’s rays give off approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the planet’s surface. If we could collect all of that energy, it could easily power our homes and offices for free. Other than these natural benefits, that the solar energy provides, it has many commercial usage too. Countries like Germany generate almost 20 GW of power from the Sun. Italy, Spain & Japan too generate a lot of electricity through the sun. Some of the smaller European countries like Czech,Belgium too are generating lots of solar energy through proactive Green policies.The bigger countries in the world like USA,China and India are slowly realizing the potential of Solar Energy and are rapidly increasing the amount of Solar Energy products. Solar Energy despite many years of development is not used in the generation of Electricity due to its higher costs.However that is going to change as Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are continuously declining compared to other forms of Energy.

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a special type of semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. It has two sides – one with an abundance of electrons called “n-type semiconductor” & the other with bunch of holes that need to be filled by electrons known as “p-type semiconductor “. With the help of these p-n junctions, these semiconductors can control the direction of the flow of electricity. The LED works on the principle that when electrons lose energy, they move from a higher orbit to a lower orbit. The energy lost is in the form of light photons. The color of the light emitted depends upon the frequency of the light photon released. The higher the frequency, the greater is the energy release. Gallium nitride is the light emitting ingredient in LEDs. It is used in the sapphire-based blue and green LEDs. Its practical application is in traffic signals & in lasers in high-definition DVD players.

LED TV is an LCD TV that uses LEDs to illuminate the display. these new sets use LED backlights rather than the fluorescent-type backlights used in most other LCD TVs. LED-backlit LCD TVs cost twice more than standard LCD or plasma TVs. Because of the slim line design of these LED tvs not only is less packaging used, but the vast reduction in overall weight means reduced transport and fuel costs. Most of the LED TVs are mercury free making them extremely eco friendly.

The ET Solar Group was founded in 2007.The company is relatively small compared to the biggest solar panel producers like Yingli,Suntech as its capacity is one/fifth the size of these big panel producers.It is more comparable to small Chinese solar companies like CEEG Solar,Eging and Sunlink..ET Solar is a quasi vertically integrated solar equipment manufacturer with presence in Europe, North America and Australia. ET Solar iis not fully integrated like LDK,Yinglie which makes polysilicon as well.However it does make silicon ingot, wafer, cell, module and a variety of BoS component products. ET Solar offers high-quality modules, inverter, tracker, BIPV, PV Kit and other solar products in more than 50 countries and regions in the whole world. Worldwide more than 500MW projects are already finished.The company is not publicly listed but is funded from Private Equity Sources.In these tough conditions it is questionable whether ET Solar can survive as it is not a Tier 1 producer.ET Solar has a good presence in the UK and Australian Markets.However Australian Solar Power Industry has seen a number of solar panel producers entering the industry and there are good alternatives available from Trina and Suntech

Solar Panels are now available from hundreds of different manufacturers using different technologies like crystalline Silicion,CIGs and Cd-Te.The Solar Panels Efficiency also varies a lot depending on the solar panel manufacturer and the technology used.The cost of the solar panel can also vary a lot depending on the retailer,size of the solar panel,technology and the brand.This makes buying solar panels a confusing problem though most residential and commercial buyers are not involved leaving the decision to the solar installer/EPC company.Sunpower is a US company which makes the most efficient solar panels using its monocrystalline solar cell technology which gives efficiency of more than 24%.The company sells black solar panels with efficiency of 18-20% .The company is a solar system integrator and developer as well building some of the largest solar farms in the US.The company was recently bought by the French Oil Giant Total.Sunpower operates in all the main segments of the market and has reputation for selling some of the highest quality solar panels in the country.