The principles of solar electricity

Solar power has been around since the 1800s.

A solar panel generates electricity using the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon discovered in the early 19th Century when it was observed that certain materials produced an electric current when exposed to light.

To create this effect, two layers of a semiconducting material have to be combined. One layer has to have depleted number of electrons. When exposed to sunlight, some of the photons are absorbed by the material which excited the electrons, causing some of them to jump from one layer to the other. As the electrons move from one layer to the other, a small electrical current is generated.
 

Silicon is the semiconducting material for solar panels 

The semiconducting material used to build the solar cell is silicon. Very thin wafers of silicon are cut and polished. Some of these wafers are then contaminated so there is an imbalance between the two layers. That imbalance creates the electrical current.

The wafers are then aligned together to make a solar cell. Conductive metal strips are attached to the solar cells to move the electricity from the cell to electricity we can use.
 

What happens when light photons hit a solar cell?

When a photon of light hits the solar cell, one of three things will happen. It can be absorbed by the solar cell, be reflected off the cell, or pass through the cell.

If a photon is absorbed by the silicon, then it causes some of the electrons to move from one layer to another creating the electrical current. The more photons of light that are absorbed by the silicon solar cell, the greater the current generated.

Solar cells generate most of their electricity from direct sunlight, although they can still absorb light on cloudy days. There are solar panels n development that can also generate small amounts of electricity from moonlight, and even ones that can harness power from rain falling on the panels directly.

To learn more about how you can join the solar revolution, visit HahaSmart and try out our Price Checker Tool yourself. You can not only see how much a solar panel system would cost and how much you can save.

For information relating to going solar don’t forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.