Solar Cell Efficiency
The are a lot of variables that must be taken into account when determining how efficient your solar power panel is. Ultimately, the average efficiency is held at around 12%. But there are many different ways in which to measure the efficiency. There’s Quantum Efficiency, Max power point, Thermodynamic Efficiency, and fill factor.
Quantum Efficiency is measuring the amount of photons of light that actually become electricity. There are 2 stages to this: an external and internal process. The External Quantum Efficiency (EQE) measures the amount of light that was reflected and not absorbed, either because of a bad angle, or dirt on the panel, or for some other reason. Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE) measures the amount of light actually absorbed through the system. So technically, the IQE should always be smaller than the EQE.
There are many more ways to measure efficiency, such as the maximum power at a specific current and voltage. However, the most important way in which solar panels are efficient is how much they save you. Over the lifetime of energy provided by a solar panel, you make back more energy than it costs to buy from a power company. In other words, no matter what the cost is on the solar panel, in the long run you are saving money, and the planet.
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