Basic Understanding Of How Solar Panels Work

Solar cells are made of the same kinds of semiconductor materials such as silicon used in the microelectronics industry.

Basic understanding of how solar panels work.

A cell is a small square of silicon about 6 x 6 with electrical contact plates on the face. How do solar panels work. Ac energy then flows through the home s electrical panel and is distributed accordingly. When electrons flow through such a circuit they generate electricity.

For solar cells a thin semiconductor wafer is specially treated to form. Solar intertie photovoltaic pv systems are not particularly complex. The solar panel converts sunlight into dc electricity to charge the battery. The dc signals are fed into an inverter which converts the dc into grid compatible ac power which is what you use in your home.

When photons hit a solar cell they knock electrons loose from their atoms. Basic steps in solar energy generation and transmission sunlight hits the solar panels and creates an electric field. Exposure to light changes silicon s electrical characteristics which generates an electric current. Solar panels work by absorbing sunlight with photovoltaic cells generating direct current dc energy and then converting it to usable alternating current ac energy with the help of inverter technology.

What are solar panels made of and how do they work. If conductors are attached to the positive and negative sides of a cell it forms an electrical circuit. The conductive wire brings the electricity to the inverter where it is transformed from dc electricity to ac which is used to power buildings. You will be able to identify the key components needed in a basic photovoltaic solar panel system such as is found on a house or building and explain the function of each component in the system.

You will learn to compare solar energy to other energy resources and explain how solar panels or photovoltaics pv for short convert sunlight to electricity. Simply put a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many smaller units. The electricity generated flows to the edge of the panel and into a conductive wire.

A solar panel consists of an array of pv aka photovoltaic pv photo light voltaics electricity cells which consist of a positive and a negative wafer of silicon placed under a toughened layer of glass. The following diagram shows the major components in a typical basic solar power system.