What is the Difference Between Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline Solar Panels? Solar panels take advantage of a powerful yet free energy source - the sun. In a single hour the sun transmits more energy to the earth's surface than the world uses in a year. Our guide outlines how you can use solar panels to make use of this free source of energy to generate electricity and hot water for you home. Types of solar panels The two main types of active solar panel systems are Monocrystalline Panels ,Polycrsytalline Panels (also known as multicrystalline) The differences between these two types of solar panels relate to the manufacturing process rather than product characteristics. Monocrystalline solar cells are produced from a single crystal of silicon while polycrystalline solar cells are produced from a piece of silicon consisting of many crystals. Monocrystalline Panels The solar cells in monocrystalline panels are slices cut from pure drawn crystalline silicon bars. The en