Solar Panels Generate Electricity

 Electricity is produced from different sources. But regardless of what source it is produced from, the principle behind electricity production is always the same. Electricity is generated because of the flow of electrons from oppositely charged plates. So all sources from which electricity is produced tries to induce oppositely charged plates so as to produce electricity. No let us take a detailed look at how solar panels generate electricity.

Various websites and blogs on the internet also have information regarding how solar panels generate electricity and in this article, I aim to explain the whole process in detail. The material that is used to prepare solar panels is the same element that sparked a revolution in the form of the computer industry, i.e., silicon. The various forms in which silicon is used include amorphous, mono crystalline and poly crystalline silicon. However, silicon in its purest form is ideal for use in solar panels.

3D Array Solar Panels:

To get you to properly understand why silicon is the best element to be used, here are some details. Every element has orbitals viz. "s","p","d" and "f". These orbitals together make shells. Every element has something called valence electrons which are basically the number of electrons in the last shell. These valence electrons determine the chemical properties of the element in question.

Silicon has 4 valence electrons. Also, every element's ambition is to try and fill up its last shell with electrons. The maximum number of electrons that can be contained in silicon's last shell are 8 electrons. So Silicon needs 4 more electrons to be satisfied. Silicon does that by bonding with another silicon atom. The 2 silicon atoms share the outermost 4 valence electrons in order to have 8 electrons.

In the case of solar panels, two different plates are used. One of the plates is made up of a combination of silicon and phosphorus. Phosphorus has 5 valence electrons and hence the combination of the two elements leaves one excess electron lying around. The other plate is made up of a combination of silicon and boron. Boron is next to silicon in the periodic table and has 3 valence electrons. The combination of the 2 elements leaves a "lack of an electron". Thus the former plate is negatively charged and the latter plate is positively charged.

This is the basic principle behind why "solar panels generate electricity". Let's take a look at how the photon particles from the sun actually help in making the above process possible. The photons from the sun have energy in them and fall on the solar panels. When this happens, the extra electron in silicon phosphorus gets excited and moves away from the combination and towards the other oppositely charged plate. This plate attracts the free because of the "lack of electrons" and thus as more photons hit the plate, the more electricity is generated. In specific chemical terms, this is how photovoltaic plates or solar panels generate electricity.

A combination of cells such as the one described above results in solar power plants that are capable of generating larger amounts of electricity. Although single solar cells are not of much use since they do not generate a lot of electricity, they are can be used for smaller applications such as in a solar powered watch or in solar powered calculators. Solar panels capable of generating larger amounts of electricity are typically used to provide energy and power to satellites and for other purposes such as setting up huge power plants in deserts so that the energy needs of tens of thousands of people can be satisfied.

Efficiency in these solar panels generating electricity are something that many scientists and researchers are working on as this could lead to people using the tax-free and clean renewable energy that the sun generates in almost all places in the world to reduce their own energy bills or cut costs.

I hope that this article helped you in learning how solar panels generate electricity.