How Do Solar Panels Work?

This article is for those between ages 10 and 110. Children are discovering new information every day. Senior citizens are, too, and many do not understand solar panels. They have not had an opportunity to study the technology and learn how solar panels work. So this article is basic. It is simple. It is for all those, of any age, who are beginning to learn how solar panels work.

Solar Panel Defined

Solar panels are photovoltaic (PV) cells mounted in a frame. Solar cells are modular. Things that are modular have units that can be “plugged in” to increase the size. You can plug in more PV cells to increase the size of a solar panel.

The “photo” part of the word “photovoltaic” refers to light and the “voltaic” part refers to electricity. Solar panels collect sunlight and change it into electricity. Of course, this does not mean that sunlight can electrocute you as lightning might. Something must happen to it inside the solar panel.

So How Do Solar Panels Work?

A solar panel is a large, flat box filled with small cells, or compartments. Read the points below to see how solar panels work.

* Silicon: The cells of solar panels are made of very thin slices of silicon. Silicon is the same substance you find in sand. If you walk on a beach, you are walking on mostly silicon. There is more silicon on Earth than almost any other element.

* Cooking Silicon: To make the thin slices for solar panels, manufacturers must “cook” silicon at extremely high temperatures.

* Adding Chemicals: Chemicals are added to the silicon. Boron and phosphorous are the most common. Adding these chemicals makes the silicon “come apart” more easily. We say that it becomes unstable. It doesn’t hold its electrons as tightly after these chemicals have been added.

* Electrons: The electrons of silicon are very small particles - too small to be seen under a microscope. Electrons move around within the chemically changed silicon of a solar panel.

* Contacts and Wires: Metal contacts are placed on the tops and bottoms of the silicon cells. Electric fields are set up by the contacts. Wires are inserted to carry the electric produced.

* Photons: Sunlight that hits a solar panel contains “photons” - small bundles of electrical energy. When photons hit the silicon of a solar panel, the solar cells swallow some of them. We say the photons are absorbed. The energy of the absorbed photons knocks loose some of the silicon’s electrons.

* Electricity Produced: The loosened silicon electrons flow through the wires of the solar panel. Electric fields force them to flow in one direction. This flow of electrons is electricity.

Using the Electricity

Once your solar panels change the sunlight’s energy into electricity, you can use it just as you would use electricity from the power company. You can send the power to light bulbs, a television set, a computer, or even a satellite.

If you need more power, you connect more solar panels to your first solar panel. This is called a solar system or solar array. The more solar panels you add, the more electricity you can produce.

Summary

How do solar panels work? Almost like magic. Once you install a solar panel, there is very little you have to do. The silicon cells collect sunlight; photons in the sunlight knock loose silicon electrons; electrons flow through wire; and you get electricity.