Panels
Monofacial vs bifacial solar panels in South Africa
Today’s mainstream SA residential modules are high-efficiency monofacial mono-crystalline (PERC/TOPCon). Bifacial panels can also use light from the rear — useful on carports, ground mounts and light-coloured commercial roofs — but on a dark tiled house roof the extra yield is often small. Buy quality and warranty; do not chase bifacial marketing for every suburban roof.
- Ask for flash-test / datasheet wattage and product + performance warranty years.
- Match string design to inverter MPPT voltage windows — see MPPT.
- Shade: microinverters/optimisers help complex roofs; simple north roofs often need neither.
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