There are four basic kinds of thin film solar panels, each with pros and cons: Amorphous silicon, organic photovoltaic, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide. These are the ...

In a process called light-induced degradation, amorphous-silicon panels usually degrade about 15 percent in the first 1,000 hours of exposure to sunlight, then stabilize. A thinner silicon layer ...