How Do Solar Panels Work Basic

To make a solar panel work with some serious grunt lots of these cells are connected together.

How do solar panels work basic.

A standard solar panel also known as a solar module consists of a layer of silicon cells a metal frame a glass casing and various wiring to allow current to flow from the silicon cells silicon atomic 14 on the periodic table is a nonmetal with conductive properties that allow it to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. Making solar cells into solar panels. How do solar panels work to generate electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many smaller units.

While this is every homeowner s dream not everyone can afford to make the kind of meaty transaction that solar systems require with even basic panel packages frequently costing upwards of 15 000. The more panels you deploy the more energy you generate. First there are panels which collect the sunlight and turn it into electricity. Now that we have a basic idea of the generation and flow of solar electricity let s take a deeper dive into the science behind the solar photovoltaic panel.

The dc signals are fed into an inverter which converts the dc into grid compatible ac power which is what you use in your home. Solar intertie photovoltaic pv systems are not particularly complex. Solar cells are made of the same kinds of semiconductor materials such as silicon used in the microelectronics industry. A typical configuration would be 60 cells which would make a solar panel that produces 60 x 4w 240w of power.

With all the news about solar power lately i thought it would be useful to go back to how pv solar panels work. Simply put a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity. For a comprehensive look at some other solar power technologies check out this. The diagram above illustrates the operation of a basic photovoltaic cell also called a solar cell.

Each of the 60 cells is wired in series the following diagram show how this works. Solar panels work by letting photons released by the sun knock electrons free from atoms and thus generate a flow of electricity.