2.4.

3 Colour and texture

PV cells usually have a dark appearance because they are designed to reflect a
minimum of light, in order to produce maximum electricity output. Monocrystalline
silicon PV cells are typically black, grey or blue, while polycrystalline silicon cells
are usually medium or dark blue. The appearance of thin-film amorphous silicon
cells is uniform, with a dark mat surface; colours include grey, brown and black.
Cells based on CIS and CdTe are dark brown to black.
By varying the thickness of the anti-reflection coating, other colours can be obtained,
such as the multi-coloured polycrystalline cells shown here (Fig. 2.21). But by doing
this, the overall reflection will increase and the efficiency will decrease by 15–30%
depending on the colour. These modules are considered as custom-made prod-
ucts, and their price can be two or three times the price of normal cells.
The glass laminate that supports the PV cells can be modified to provide a different
appearance of the panel, by using the available glass techniques.
A ceramic silk-screen frit can be applied to the back pane of a glass laminate PV
module to achieve the required aesthetics. In the case study in section 6.6, one of the
glass laminates has been treated to provide a translucent diffusive appearance.
A large range of patterns and colours of ceramic fritting is available. Ceramic fritting
is often used to produce look-alike glass units, to be installed where PV modules
would be inappropriate, such as permanently shaded areas.
A printed or coloured interlayer can be built into a glass laminate PV module, below
the silicon cell. Interlayers may have printed photographic images applied.

Fig. 2.21 Examples of the coloured effects on poly-

crystalline silicon cells created by varying the thick-
ness of the anti-reflection coating.
Photo courtesy: Sunways AG

28 2. PV BASICS