This article written on Solar Energy and the role of solar panels as well as the process of Conversion of Absorbed Solar Energy into Electrical Energy in details.
Solar energy is the most abundant & cleanest energy resource on earth. The amount of solar energy that hits the earth’s surface in an hour is almost the same as the amount required by all human activities in a year.
Solar energy can be used mainly in three ways one is direct conversion of sunlight into electricity through PV cells, the two others being concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar thermal collectors for heating and cooling (SHC).
Role of Solar Panels
Solar panels are responsible for generating electricity and in most cases they are located on the roof of any building.
These solar panels also known as the modules are usually southern faced for maximum potential and electricity production.
Each of these solar panels is made up of a special layer of silicon cells, a metal frame, a glassed casing which is further surrounded by special film and wiring.
For maximum electricity production, the solar panels are arranged together into “arrays”. Through these solar cells also known as photovoltaic cells, the sunlight is absorbed during the daylight hours.
Conversion of Absorbed Solar Energy into Electrical Energy
Installing solar cells or photovoltaic cells is the first initial step to convert solar energy.
Each Solar cell has a thin semiconductor wafer which is made up of two layers of silicon. Silicon semiconductors can act as both conductors as well as insulators.
One silicon layer is positively charged known as the N-type and the other silicon layer is negatively charged known as the P-type.
N-type gives away electrons easily while on the other side P-side semiconductor receives the extra electrons in the electric field. This positive and negative layer hence compliments the formation of an electric field on the solar panel.
Energy from the sun comes on the earth in the form of little packets called photons When the sunlight strikes these photovoltaic cells already forming an electric field, the photons of sunlight startle the electrons inside these cells activating them to start flowing.
These loose electrons that start flowing on the electric field further create the electric current.
The electrical energy which we get from the solar energy through the photovoltaic cells is normally known as the Direct current (DC) electricity.
To convert DC into alternating current (AC) special solar inverters need to be installed.
The inverter turns DC electricity to 120 volts AC that can be further put into immediate use for the home appliances.
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