PV Gap

Megan Said:

Why are people not making transparent solar panels to put on computer screens and things that emit light?

We Answered:

Solar panels work as a result of the photoelectric effect -- effectively, light particles strike the semiconductor lattice and shake electrons loose, resulting in the production of a small current.

If a material is completely transparent, those light particles pass through the material, arguably without striking anything. If the light particles don't strike anything, then they can't shake loose electrons from the material lattice. So transparent materials generally don't make good substrates for solar panels.

Transparent solar panels would be a revolutionary engineering solution though -- imagine all the windows on all the large glass buildings in the world replaced with transparent solar panels. No longer would anyone curse the sunlight beating down on their windows -- the power generated could be used to run a fan (or an air conditioner (since we're making stuff up anyway.) That would be awesome.

Jane Said:

When does Obama start making the solar panels and wind turbines?

We Answered:

Not soon enough. We need solar tax credits now!

Helen Said:

Tell me the guidelines for making solar panels?

We Answered:

I think it will be useful for you.. just try those things ..To begin, you will need a Multimeter which is able to measure DC fractions of voltage and your collection of solar cells, once you have this, position a light source near your solar cells as this will allow you to get a consistent measurement of voltage output of each of the solar cells.set your Multimeter to measure DC voltage and place the negative test lead on the side of the solar cell which shows negative voltage. Then place the positive test lead on the side f the solar cell which shows a positive voltage. Check to see what the maximum voltage output is and don’t move the solar cell around to try and get a higher reading. Next you need to separate your solar cells into groupings of .05 volt increments and this will allow you to take maximum advantage of solar cell output.the next step is to connect the solar cells with tinned interconnection wire and in order to achieve this you will need to take the spool of interconnection wire and cut it into 10.5 inch lengths.next every piece of the tinned interconnection wire should have solder put on it and you can do this by adding solder to 5.25 inches of the wire beginning at one end, then flip the wire over and add solder to the remainder of the wire beginning at the opposite end.now you must solder a length of the interconnection wire to each connection strip which is located on the front of each of the solar cells.

Randall Said:

Are our scientists making solar panels all wrong??

We Answered:

To make electricity, the solar panel MUST absorb energy (heat and light) from the sun. Making them white would reduce the electricity they put out. The reduced electrical output would have to be made up by electricity generated by other means, which might include fossil fuels. A portion of the light and heat absorbed by a solar cell ceases to be heat or light; it is converted to electrical energy. A 100% efficient solar cell (one which converts all of the light and heat which hits it to electricity) would be absolutely black (no reflected light) and cold (all heat converted to electricity. Such a cell is not actually possible.

Luis Said:

What are some good schools to learn about making Solar Panels ?

We Answered:

A good engineering university. say MIT

if your considering a career you need to go cutting edge or you'll just be behind the times.

do some research into sliver cells, they were the latest thing a few years ago.

pretty soon we will be using algal farms to produce hydrogen gas to power cars. these are similar to solar panels, chemical and biological engineers (like myself) design these