Half-cut cells provide several benefits over traditional solar cells. Most importantly, half-cut solar cells offer improved performance and durability. Performance-wise, half-cut cells can increase panel efficiencies by a few percentage points. And in addition to better production numbers, half-cut cells are more physically durable than their traditional counterparts; because they are smaller in size, they’re more resistant to cracking.

Half-cut cells are more resistant to the effects of shade than traditional solar cells. This is not due to the cells being cut in half, but rather a result of the wiring methods used to connect half-cut cells in a panel. In traditional solar panels built with full cells, the cells are wired together in rows, known as series wiring. In series wiring schemes, if one cell in a row is shaded and not producing energy, the entire row of cells will stop producing power. Standard panels typically have 3 separate rows of cells wired together, so shade on one cell of one row would eliminate a third of that panel’s power production.