|
HOW SOLAR
WORKS?
A solar panel or
photovoltaic panel is an interconnected assembly of
photovoltaic cells, also known as solar cells. The solar
panel is used as a component in a larger photovoltaic
system to offer electricity for commercial, residential
and other applications. Because a single solar panel can
only produce a certain amount of wattage, installations
intended to produce larger electrical power capacity
require an installation of several panels and this is
known as a photovoltaic array. A photovoltaic
installation typically includes an array of solar
panels, an inverter, batteries and interconnection
wiring.
Solar panels use the Photovoltaic (PV) technology to
produce electricity directly from sunlight. This is
probably one of the most environment friendly processes
of power generation, as the solar cells use no fuel and
generate no greenhouse gases.
The solar cells comprise of two layers of oppositely
charged semiconductor material, usually silicon,
joined together by wire. Sunlight is made of photons,
small particles of energy. When sunlight strikes the
solar cell these photons are absorbed by and pass
through the semiconductor material of the solar cell or solar
photovoltaic panel. The photons 'agitate' the electrons
found in the material of the solar cell, knocking loose
the electrons from the atoms in the semiconductor
material, this creates an electric field across the
layers, causing electricity to flow.
The electricity produced is in the form of direct
current or DC. However, DC is not useable for most
common purposes. So the DC power is then fed into an inverter that converts it to
standard AC (alternating current) electricity. Batteries
are often used in PV systems for the purpose of storing
energy produced by the PV array during the day, and to
supply it to electrical loads as needed (during the
night and periods of cloudy weather).
|
