How Are Solar Panels Used To Generate Electricity

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How are solar panels used to generate electricity.

Solar power is arguably the cleanest most reliable form of renewable energy available and it can be used in several forms to help power your home or business solar powered photovoltaic pv panels convert the sun s rays into electricity by exciting electrons in silicon cells using the photons of light from the sun. Eventually fossil fuels a non renewable energy source will be depleted and the world will have to turn toward renewable energy. This flow travels in a circuit of wires that connect groups of solar panels called arrays. Solar panels contain cells of semiconductive material usually silicon usually encased in a metallic frame and tempered glass.

Photovoltaic method using solar panels and semiconductors is the easiest and most widely used method of harnessing solar energy to generate electricity for homes and small to medium sized industrial and commercial establishments. So how do solar panels actually generate electricity. Then it makes energy with no energy cost at all for the rest of its life. Solar radiation may be converted directly into electricity by solar cells photovoltaic cells.

Many solar panels use silicon one of the planet s most common elements. Solar energy is one of the most affordable renewable energy sources available today. Solar panels use photovoltaic cells to produce electricity according to the united states department of energy. To generate solar energy the photons radiated from the sun to earth must be collected converted into a usable format and then delivered to an electronic device or the electric grid.

In such cells a small electric voltage is generated when light strikes the junction between a metal and a semiconductor such as silicon or the junction between two different semiconductors. Solar energy solar energy electricity generation. Wattage is calculated by multiplying volts x amps where volts represents the amount of force of the electricity and amperes amps refers to the aggregate amount of energy used. Solar panel wattage represents a solar panel s theoretical power production under ideal sunlight and temperature conditions.

So a solar panel will make many times more energy than it takes to make it. When subject to sunlight photovoltaic cells create a flow of electric charge inside the solar panel due to the photoelectric effect. Here s the process demystified. To find out how solar panels work you need to understand how they re made.

Arrays of photovoltaic cells are normally used to collect the energy from the sun and convert it into electricity. Even ten years ago this study said it takes about 2 years of energy generation to pay back the energy used to make the solar panel. Unlike fossil fuels solar energy is an infinitely renewable energy source.