How Is Visible Light Used With Solar Photovoltaic Panels To Produce Electricity

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.

How is visible light used with solar photovoltaic panels to produce electricity.

In the end this seemingly simple process is able to generate enough energy to power a person s home. Solar radiation and light spectrum solar radiation is the main source of energy used by solar panels to generate electricity. A solar pv panel works in a way that allows light particles or photons to heat electrons from atoms which in turn generates a flow of electrical power. Panel prices have dropped by the factor of 10.

Thus the output for each solar panel in your array would. How much energy does a solar panel produce. For the generation of electricity by the cell it must absorb the energy of the photon. 5 hours x 290 watts an example wattage of a premium solar panel 1 450 watts hours or roughly 1 5 kilowatt hours kwh.

We can describe it as the transference of energy from the sun through a set of electromagnetic radiations that are distributed in a light spectrum that goes from ultraviolet to infrared radiation. Electricity generation solar radiation may be converted directly into electricity by solar cells photovoltaic cells. The sunlight is a group of photons having a finite amount of energy. If the photon is absorbed its energy is absorbed by an electron in an atom of the solar cell enabling it to escape from its normal position photon excitation cross the junction and fill a hole.

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 contain cells of semiconductive material usually silicon usually encased in a metallic frame and tempered glass. Pv has become the cheapest source of electrical power in regions with a high solar potential with price bids as low as 0 01567 us kwh in 2020. You see the photovoltaic pv cells solar panels access primarily use the visible spectrum for power production.

This shows that solar panels can only be operational within daylight hours. Photovoltaics pv is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect a phenomenon studied in physics photochemistry and electrochemistry. Some of that light is visible to the human eye and some of it like infrared and ultraviolet light are not visible. Once in the atmosphere those photons slam into a cell.

If absorbed the photovoltaic effect happens and electricity is captured. Working of a solar cell. From the sun visible light photons travel millions of miles to earth. When subject to sunlight photovoltaic cells create a flow of electric charge inside the solar panel due to the photoelectric effect.

The absorption depends on the energy of the photon and the band gap energy of the solar semiconductor material and it is expressed in electron volt ev. When a visible light photon strikes a solar cell it can do one of three things.