Amorphous Silicon Cells are composed of silicon atoms in a thin homogenous layer rather than a crystal structure. Amorphous silicon absorbs light more effectively than crystalline silicon, so the cells can be thinner. Amorphous silicon is also known as a “thin film” PV technology and it can be deposited on a wide range of substrates, both rigid and flexible. Amorphous cells are less efficient than crystalline based cells, with typical efficiencies of around 6%, but they are easier and therefore cheaper to produce.

Monocrystalline Silicon Cells are made from very pure monocrystalline silicon. The silicon has a single and continuous crystal lattice structure with almost no defects or impurities. The principle advantage of monocrystalline cells are their high efficiencies, typically around 15%, although the manufacturing process required to produce monocrystalline silicon is complicated, resulting in slightly higher costs than other technologies.