PV Gap

Lucy Said:

what is the process of making the solar cells from sand ?

We Answered:

The above is correct, but I will try to summarize.

First make an ultra pure crystal of silicon, which can use sand as the first raw material in a very long, complex process.

Then infuse tiny amounts of certain impurities, like phosphorous, into certain places in the silicon to make a pattern of different areas with different impurities. This takes expensive high temperature equipment.

Then vacuum deposit a pattern of thin layers of metal, like aluminum, onto the pattern of impurities to pick up the electrons.

Then connect very fine wires to that aluminum layer to take the electricity out for use. These wires are usually made of gold.

Make hundreds of these and connect them all together to make a solar panel.

There are also some new technologies that use other methods, but they either produce less electricity or are even more difficult to manufacture.

Glen Said:

If a solar cell makes 36 microamperes, can it power a light bulb??

We Answered:

Watts is a measure of power. You also need to know the voltage that you are dealing with in order to know the power. If you take amperage x voltage you get watts.

36x10-6amps can not power much of anything unless it is at 100,000 volts. micro = .000001

A 40 watt bulb is usually powered at 110Vac and would draw .36 amps. Which is 100,000 times 36 microamps.

Jaime Said:

Does it matter what Silicon bonds with when making solar cells?

We Answered:

The element silicon bonds with has much effect on the charac. of solar cells.Good solar cells hav impurities in them of trivalent or pentavalent atoms.These create electron deficiency for one silicon atom & which causes for the other & so on.so only a weak concentration of such atoms make the solar cells more effective.

Susan Said:

I am making a solar cell in science class. we are using copper sheeting and using an electic stove?

We Answered:

http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/JF…

In the book above, they say to use a bunsen burner or propane torch instead of using a gas stove.

Look up "Cuprous Oxide" and "solar cell" and you will probably find more sites and instructions.


This one uses an electric stove but says "An electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won't work -- mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot."

http://worldwatts.com/homemade_solar_cel…

I don't think the heat source matters much as long as you can get the temperature high to the right point. I would expect things like a MAPP gas (usually a yellow metal bottle rather than blue) torch would be too hot.

One of the links below shows a drawing of the torch and how it is positioned at the copper sheet.

Good luck experimenting. If you need more help, leave a comment at http://nlcpr.com/contactus.html

Tyrone Said:

in solar cell making process can the plasma etching machine run on argon gas?

We Answered:

I do not understand your question clearly, but I don't think argon can be used instead of electricity. To obtain cold plasma you need electricity.