The Pros
* Amorphous solar panels are produced by depositing a thin layer of silicon onto a base material in the form of a vapor. Base materials can be any number of things including glass, or flexible plastic.
* Amorphous cells also typically produce more power on cloudy days than some other technologies available today.
* Amorphous cells are much lower in initial cost do to a less expensive manufacture process.
* Amorphous panels suffer lower losses due to shadow casting across the surface of the panel and can produce closer to their rated output in these circumstances.
* Amorphous panels are less prone to failure due to damage because of the nature of the construction.
The Cons
* Amorphous panels have lower peak efficiencies than their higher priced cousins.
* Amorphous panels require more space per watt than other panels
* Amorphous panels can suffer permanent production losses due to exposure to extremely bright light
I didn't want to get too technical here, I just gave you a general overview of some of the known properties of amorphous panels to help you figure things out. There is tons of information out there if you want to go check it out for yourself (which I strongly encourage). I personally have amorphous panels on my sailboat for our power needs for a few reasons.
First - the low initial cost is obvious.
Second- on a boat especially a sailboat I always have shadows bouncing about willy nillie and mono or poly panels would suffer more losses for it.
Third- I like the idea that I can crack a panel and it will keep producing power with whatever portion is still intact, (good to have on a boat, I have even heard of some people cutting off an end to fit in an odd spot, but I think this kind of abuse is frowned upon by the warranty people; )
I am not too worried about the loss due to bright light exposure for the simple reason I never really have a good angle on the sun. If I do its not for very long before the wind gives me another little push.
This may not be the panel setup for everyone but I do think its a good one to learn the basic principles of solar production, it's forgiving technology and it's inexpensive in case of the accidents that often befall a maiden voyage in unfamiliar waters. Last of all, it is nice to get everything as a "set" to avoid all the headache of figuring out all the capacities of all the individual components till you get a feel for things.
Flip...
