How Do Solar Panels Produce Energy

Solar power is arguably the cleanest most reliable form of renewable energy available and it can be used in several forms to help power your home or business solar powered photovoltaic pv panels convert the sun s rays into electricity by exciting electrons in silicon cells using the photons of light from the sun.

How do solar panels produce energy.

When this occurs a flow of electricity is generated and this electricity is harnessed and preserved as electrical energy. How much energy does a solar panel produce. Based on the efficiency of the average solar panel you can expect to convert between 15 and 20 of sunshine into electricity. A solar panel looks so simple to the naked eye but how does something this thin convert sunlight to energy.

To find out let s dig into the materials that make up a solar panel. When subject to sunlight photovoltaic cells create a flow of electric charge inside the solar panel due to the photoelectric effect. This flow travels in a circuit of wires that connect groups of solar panels called arrays. This electricity can then be used to supply renewable energy to your home or.

Solar panels actually comprise many smaller units. What are solar panels made of. How do solar panels work to generate electricity. How much energy does a solar panel produce.

Solar panels work by allowing particles of light called photons to knock electrons from their atomic orbitals. 5 hours x 290 watts an example wattage of a premium solar panel 1 450 watts hours or roughly 1 5 kilowatt hours kwh. Simply put a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity. When talking about solar power production we are merely speaking of the energy in watts we get from converting the sunlight into electricity.

Solar panels are made of several layers of material. The conversion can either be done through photovoltaics indirectly through concentrated solar power or using both methods. Thus the output for each solar panel in your array would. Unlike fossil fuels solar energy is an infinitely renewable energy source.

Solar panels contain cells of semiconductive material usually silicon usually encased in a metallic frame and tempered glass. For the sake of example if you are getting 5 hours of direct sunlight per day in a sunny state like california you can calculate your solar panel output this way. Solar panels use photovoltaic cells to produce electricity according to the united states department of energy. A 360 watt panel will tend to produce around 20 more energy than a 300 watt panel even if they don t operate at their rated wattage in actual projects.

The top layer of glass protects the individual smaller units called solar cells.