Solar cells

A solar cell is a device that changes the light from the sun into electricity. More technical term for a solar cell is a photovoltaic cell.

The term "photo" derives from the Greek word for "light", and "voltaic" term comes from the word "volt" which means "electric force". A "cell" is a small container or receptacle containing electrodes to produce electricity.

For example, a photovoltaic cell is a container that creates electric force, through light.

While a solar cell can generate electricity from any source of light, its intended use is the collection of solar energy from the Sun.

-How does a solar cell

The solar cell works as follows:

The photons (which are particles of light in sunlight) reaches the solar cell surface and are absorbed a semiconductor such as Silicon.

These photons (bits of the Sun) knock loose electrons of atoms within the semiconductor. The photons then push electrons along, leaving a "divide" in the atom. Another electron is then extracted from an adjacent atom to fill the gaps. And if an electrical stream is generated.

The simplicity of this is that an atom has an extra electron, and the other atom is missing a. This is called "potential difference". Nature, wanting to remain balanced, tries to even things taking another electron of the atom of neighbour.

A solar panel is composed of a group of solar cells which are linked together to produce the quantity desired of electrical energy.

A group of interconnected solar cells can also be considered a "module". Thus the terms "solar panel" and "solar module" are synonymous with each other and essentially mean the same exact thing. "Solar panel" is the more common term, and "solar module" is the technical term.

Can use solar panels individually or can link several together to generate more electricity. When a group of solar panels is linked together, it is called a "solar". Solar panels are more more included in a solar panel power they produce.

Solar energy is a clean energy source that is practically unlimited. I say "virtually unlimited" because the sun itself will not last forever. But we won't have to worry about that for the next few billion years.

Given that solar energy is a clean energy source that for decades, one may ask why it is not used more. The answer lies partially in the cost of production of solar panels, and the efficiency of solar panels.

We are currently in the second generation of the technology of solar panel and verging on the third. Much has changed since the first generation. Has solar panels are a viable source of clean energy.

The first solar cells were relatively large and bulky compared to the current models of our country. Given the amount of energy and materials necessary to produce the and the amount of energy they produce effectively, it is more expensive to use solar energy to use fossil fuels. The only exception was in places where little or no fossil fuels were available in space.

With the second generation of solar cells, we have tried to tackle this problem. We have tried to improve the techniques of manufacturing to reduce costs, materials and energy needed for the production of solar cells.

Recently, major progress has been made in the production of solar cells, which have reduced production costs.

A contribution to the area has been the development of techniques in the coating of glass or ceramic materials of very thin layers of substances Semiconductor. This allowed to produce solar panels using only a fraction of semiconductor materials that required earlier. The production of solar panels with this second generation technology is referred to as "Thin Film technology".

Third generation solar energy technologies are currently the object of research and developed. The objective is to further improve the power of solar cells (while maintaining the minimum production costs) in which case thirty to sixty percent of the sunlight hitting the panels will be converted to electricity. (Currently, solar panels convert only twenty per cent).

But regardless of the technology of third solar generation, second generation solar cell is effective enough to make viable solar technology - and a host of new solar products hit the consumer market.

Solar-powered calculators have been around for some time now, we have all seen their. We even saw a few other new devices. But only in recent years have solar devices come into serious and practical use.

These last two years in particular have seen a virtual explosion of solar devices hitting the market. Solar lamps (I've often wandered what use they were), solar radios and recently, solar battery chargers.

Can now also find a wide range of solar chargers and portable panels, which are lightweight and easy to carry, yet able to provide a decent amount of power in the most remote. Solar chargers are becoming a standard part of emergency kits and wilderness survival kits.

This is the result of the evolution of the solar cell technology and the arrival of the solar age.

To find more information on solar energy and get a full understanding of solar energy devices, see facts about solar energy and Portable solar energy