Solar Panels – Solar Cells
Solar panels, also known as photovoltaics, are solar cells that can be used to convert sunlight into electricity through the use of photoelectric effect. Solar cells are used in calculators, lamps, watches and other electrical devices. A solar panel, or Photovoltaic Cell, is an electric device that directly converts the radiant energy of the sun into electricity by the photoelectric effect, this is a chemical and physical process. Photovoltaics, which can be simply stated as the conversion of visible light into electrical current, is perhaps one of the greatest innovations in the history of the human race, and its development is partially responsible for our modern day economy.
The solar cells are usually made out of semiconductors such as silicon or gallium arsenide, which are the two most commonly used semiconductor materials in modern photovoltaics. The best way to convert sunlight into electricity is through the use of photovoltaics or PV systems, but the photovoltaics systems can also be generated artificially through the use of silicon chips. The photovoltaics system is not only useful to us in our everyday lives, but is also highly useful to researchers all over the world as it can be used to generate electricity without any pollution. This is especially true in places such as remote islands, where the electricity generated could help with things such as water and food supply.
The silicon solar cells are basically where the PV concept in lay its foundation. The silicon solar cells are made up of little diodes called n-type, where n is the negative charge and C is the positive charge. By placing these two types of diodes on the top side of a wafer of silicon, we can make a positive charge, called a diode, and an electrical field that can push the electrons away from the surface area. When an electric current is applied to this positive charge, we get an output called a photovoltaic cell (PV). The electrical field can be generated with the use of one of the many different methods available to us for PV generation, such as: parabolic troughs, concentrated light energy, and solenoid controlled systems.