How Solar Panels Produce Electricity

This flow travels in a circuit of wires that connect groups of solar panels called arrays.

How solar panels produce electricity. This all happens as light hits a unit called a photovoltaic cell. Electricity generation solar radiation may be converted directly into electricity by solar cells photovoltaic cells. Solar panels use photovoltaic cells to produce electricity according to the united states department of energy. In such cells a small electric voltage is generated when light strikes the junction between a metal and a semiconductor such as silicon or the junction between two different semiconductors.

Solar panels work by allowing particles of light called photons to knock electrons from their atomic orbitals. When this occurs a flow of electricity is generated and this electricity is harnessed and preserved as electrical energy. All solar panels are rated by the amount of dc direct current power they produce under standard test conditions. Unlike fossil fuels solar energy is an infinitely renewable energy source.

To produce the maximum amount of power per square foot a solar panel has to be well designed to handle temperature spectrum angle and amount of light. Inside each solar panel is a conductive metal plate connected to wires that lead to a fused array combiner. Solar panel output is expressed in units of watts w and represents the panel s theoretical power production under ideal sunlight and temperature conditions. Eventually fossil fuels a non renewable energy source will be depleted and the world will have to turn toward renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.

Energy from the array is sent through an inverter which transforms the initial direct electrical current into the alternating electrical current required to power human made structures.