PV Gap

Rafael Said:

What energy is better, Solar or electricity?

We Answered:

battery charger

Louise Said:

A cell that converts solar energy to electricity?

We Answered:

Photovoltaic cell

a combination of these cells is an array.

here's a paper on solar hope it helps.

All the Best!

Christina Said:

How Solar Energy transforms into Electricity?

We Answered:

To really understand it you need quantum physics. Sorry about that!

Here's a copy/paste from an earlier answer I gave:




Solar cells consist of two semiconductors stuck together.

Silicon has 4 outer electrons so forms 4 bonds. If you put a tiny bit of something with 3 outer electrons in one block of Si, then that will be missing a bond.

If you put a tiny bit of something with 5 outer electrons in another block of Si then that will form 4 bonds and it turns out the thermal energy at room temperature is enough to 'exite' the spare electron into the conduction band so it can move around.

You bring the two blocks into contact and the excited electrons flow from one block to the other. Remember the first one had some stuff with only 3 outer electrons in? Well, it wants to fit in with teh rest of the Si, so it needs 4 electrons. That's where those spare ones go.

You've taken electrons from one block and put it in the other - you've moved charge, which creates a voltage/electric field.

If you shine light on the semiconductor, the light is absorbed by electrons which use the energy to get up into the conduction band. Now that you have an electric field, this will push them in one direction. Electrons moving in one direction is a current!

That's how you convert light to electricity.