Generally speaking, solar cells mainly refer to crystalline silicon cells. This technology uses crystalline silicon as the substrate, cuts the silicon wafer into very thin slices, and prints electrodes to make photovoltaic cells. According to the composition of crystalline silicon, it can be divided into monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon. There are many manufacturers of this technology.
Thin-film batteries with great differences in materials and processes can be made into amorphous silicon by coating a layer on a glass substrate and then making a battery sheet by laser etching. It can transmit light, not as opaque as crystalline silicon. But the power generation per unit area is lower than that of crystalline silicon. At present, there are not many manufacturers of this technology in the world, China Hanergy is the largest, and the United States First Solar is also a big enterprise.
CIGS and miasole are another technology, which can make flexible and bendable battery sheets. The substrate is a very thin steel plate, which can withstand great bending. This is the biggest advantage of glass solar module, which is light in weight and easy to carry and transport. This technology was invented by an American company and is now wholly owned by Hanergy. It can be said that this technology is now owned by enterprises in China.