Efficiency Rating Solar Panels

A higher solar panel efficiency rating means a panel will produce more kilowatt hours of energy per watt of power capacity.

Efficiency rating solar panels.

The efficiency of a panel is calculated by the maximum power rating w at stc divided by the total panel area in meters. Total panel efficiency is measured under standard test conditions stc based on a cell temperature of 25 c solar irradiance of 1000w m2 and air mass of 1 5. High quality solar panels can exceed 22 efficiency in some cases and almost reach 23 but the majority of photovoltaic panels available are not above 20 efficiency. The most efficient solar panels commercially available today have solar panel efficiency just under 23.

If a solar panel has 20 percent efficiency that means it s capable of converting 20 percent of the sunshine hitting it into electricity. Simply put solar panel efficiency is referred to the ratio of peak power compared to the amount of sunlight that arrives at the solar cells of the module. So if a solar panel has an efficiency rating of 15 that means 15 of the sunlight that hits the solar panels will be converted into electricity. The graphic below shows how dramatically solar panel performance has improved over time.

Solar panel efficiency is a measure of how much sunlight that hits the surface area of a solar panel is converted into usable electricity. Most solar panels are between 15 and 20 efficient with outliers on either side of the range.