Monocrystalline
Solar cells made from a single silicon crystal, offering higher efficiency (22%+) than polycrystalline.
Detailed Explanation
Monocrystalline silicon is the standard material for solar cells in 2026, producing modules with 22-26% efficiency. Mono cells are recognizable by uniform dark color and cut corners (pseudo-square shape). They replaced polycrystalline (multi-crystal) as the dominant technology around 2018-2019 due to cost parity achieved by the Czochralski process. All current Tier-1 modules (TOPCon, HJT, PERC) are mono. Polysilicon is grown into ingots, sliced into wafers, then processed into cells.
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