by Red on September 16, 2009
A Single Solar Cell with Soldering Leads Attached
A solar cell is a device that converts photons from the sun into electricity.
In general a solar cell that includes both solar and non-solar sources of light (such as photons from incandescent bulbs) is termed a photovoltaic cell.
Fundamentally, the device needs to fulfill only two functions: photo generation of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a light-absorbing material, and separation of the charge carriers to a conductive contact that will transmit the electricity. This conversion is called the photovoltaic effect, and the field of research related to solar cells is known as photovoltaics. [click to continue…]
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by Red on September 15, 2009
A Solar Photovoltaic Array
A solar cell is any device that directly converts the energy in light into electrical energy through the process of photovoltaics.
The term “photovoltaic” comes from the Greek Word meaning “light”, and the name of the Italian physicist Volta, after whom the volt (and consequently voltage) are named. It means literally of light and electricity.
The photovoltaic effect was first recognized in 1839 by French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. However, it was not until 1883 that the first solar cell was built, by Charles Fritts, who coated the semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold to form the junctions. The device was only around 1% efficient.
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by Red on September 14, 2009
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Solar Panels Come in all Shapes and Sizes
Photovoltaics or PV for short can be thought of as a direct current (DC) generator powered by the sun.
When light photons of sufficient energy strike a solar cell, they knock electrons free in the silicon crystal structure forcing them through an external circuit (battery or direct DC load), and then returning them to the other side of the solar cell to start the process all over again.
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