Today’s solar market is filled with new and inventive technology. The solar shopper om 2019 already has hundreds of different modules and designs to choose from leaving many solar shoppers thinking what will be new to the marker it 2019.

In 2019, solar shoppers can expect to see new aesthetics with phototvoltaic (PV) panels, such as clear solar panels, bi-facial solar panels (double-sided panels). The panels themselves will be more efficient and they can also expect to see integrated inverters.   

New Designs 

One problem that most people have with solar panels is, they don’t like the way that they look on their roof. Their appearance can turn off prospective solar panel buyers off.

When considering solar panels most people want something that will generate energy, but at the same time is also offers chic aesthetics. Solar panel manufacturers have taken this into consideration and have worked on developing more aesthetically pleasing panels.

Frameless solar panels

Most of the perspective solar panel buyers find the least attractive part on panels to be the frames. To solve this problem a few of the manufacturers have created a frameless solar panel.

They are more flush to the roof and have a very sleek look. One problem that they have with these panels is because there isn’t any frames it is hard to find suitable mounting equipment. Therefore, solar panel manufacturers are now producing a mounting structure that is produced specifically for these frameless panels.

Clear solar panels 

The majority of these frameless solar panel designs are encompassed specifically by glass. These glass panels use the same silicon cell technology and materials as a standard panel. But instead of not being able see through the mounting casing, they are sandwiched between two glass casings.

These glass panels are very innovative, in more than one way. They are both visually attractive and more durable than a typical silicon cell. They are more resistant to fire hazards and less prone to erosion.

Most glass-on-glass solar panels are typically used as skylights or windows. Instead of being incorporated to into the buildings envelope the glass-on-glass panels are attached to the building.

Solar windows is a new residential to be watching for in 2019. There have been solar windows in the field for a few years. But in the past these have been used utility scale solar installations, mainly in Europe.

Tesla Solar Tiles  

Tesla has come up with new innovative solar panels that are roof tiles. This is the only product on the market that is anything like this. They are very unique because they aren’t recognizable and look just like roofing tiles.

At Tesla’s launch event, they demonstrated how these roof tiles were even more durable than the standard roofing tiles that are used today. This product is designed to blend in with the roofing tiles and will come in the product line, Tuscan glass, slate glass, textured glass and smooth glass tiles.

Solar skin design

Solar skin is from a Boston-based design group and it allows the solar panels to either blend in with the rooftop or stand out. The Solar skin allow the panels to either directly match the rooftop without having any interference with the efficiency of the panels.

Solar panel product improvements

Since the start of solar panels there have been many improvements and with the industry continuing to grow these improvements are only going to increase. In the past two years, solar panels have seen an efficiency increase in the average solar panel from 14-15 percent ranges to 16-17 percent.

Today there are 60-cell solar panels that which are comparable to 72-cell panels. Because these panels are becoming more efficient it is changing how affordable solar panels are and the residential market is what will benefit from it.

One company that people should keep their eye on is Panasonic. Panasonic offers solar panels that have premium efficiencies for mid-tier prices. A huge reason for this companies success is their heterojunction panel product (HIT).

The HIT product combines maximum efficiency and optimized temperature control, which allows the panels to have top performances while they are under extreme heat.

The latest announcement from the company was that they will be ones manufacturing the solar cells for Tesla’s roofing tiles. This is the latest development in the solar world and is expected to be extremely popular.

Bifacial solar panels

These panels absorb light from both sides of the panels. Therefore when the sun hits the panels at the right angle, the top of the panel will absorb light like all other panels, while the bottom of the panels absorbs light that is reflected by nearby surfaces. This technology has been on the market for a while but is expected to increase it’s popularity in 2019.