Photovoltaic cells – The science behind it

Photovoltaic cells or PV's as they are also known are one of the smartest inventions of the 21^st century that has enabled people to make use of solar energy advantages and convert it into electrical energy which can in turn be converted into other sources of energy. Photovoltaic cells basically turn the energy from the sun by receiving the photons (light particles) and converting them into direct current electricity. Many materials go into the preparation of photovoltaic cells and the most common materials that are used include different types of silicon such as monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon. Other materials included are cadmium telluride and copper indium sulfenide. The research that goes into enhancing the technology for photovoltaic cells has been given a big boost thanks to the increasing demand for solar energy products. Many countries have made solar energy producing power plants an important part of their agenda and has made it an important factor to improve researching facilities that goes into the production of efficient photovoltaic cells.


The production of Photovoltaic cells has been growing at a stunning rate of 20% each year and photovoltaic cells have the privilege have the privilege of being called as the "fastest growing technology of the world". Most solar power stations today have capacities that range from 10-60 MW. Many of the new solar PV's have are expected to have capacities of more than 120 MW. When the technology of photovoltaic cells first came out, the manufacturing costs were incredibly huge. Thanks to the global awareness that has been circulating about the prevention of global warming and other similar problems that the whole world is facing, many countries now offer financial incentives for those who get solar energy panels installed in their houses for generating their own energy to support the needs for various equipment that they use in their homes such as electrical appliances and lighting etc. However, the average American household does tend to use a lot of the solar energy that they get from solar panels that they put up at their house for heating purposes as it is ideal for solar energy to convert cold water into hot water or cold air into hot air thus providing enough heat to keep the house warm or the water warm.


To talk scientifically and technically to explain the phenomena of the photoelectric effect, the various "electrons" get knocked into a higher state thanks to the incoming photons which has energy in it thus resulting in the generation of electricity. This is because electricity is generated by the movement of electrons. Thus the electrons that get pushed into a higher energy state get excited and result in the creation of electricity. Solar photovoltaic cells use sun light to produce direct current which is basically the type of current that is used to power equipment or recharge batteries. These solar photovoltaic cells find their practical usage in plenty of solar cars and other solar powered equipment such as satellites which are located at ideal places to use the solar energy to produce electricity. However, we know that most household appliances use AC to power the equipment used. Therefore, in such cases, inverters can be used to convert the DC produced by the photovoltaic cells into AC thus being able to power the entire house if used in a residential complex.


To enable large scale usage of photovoltaic cells that make use of the various solar energy advantages, many of these single photovoltaic cells can be combined together to form what we know as solar panels or modules. The basic structure consists of these photovoltaic cells being placed behind strong glass sheets in order to protect them from damage.
The worldwide usage of these photovoltaic cells is enormous and was close to 6 Giga Watts Peak in 2009. However, it shows that there is room for improvement in other countries, especially developing countries as 90% of this worldwide usage came from only three countries, namely, USA, Japan and Germany with Germany having the highest number of "solar photovoltaic cells" installation. Germany, so far, holds the record for having the highest electricity generating solar PV installation. It set up a 3,800 MW PV installation in 2009. The United States comes in at a distant second with about 500 MW installed in 2009. The difference, as you can see, is huge.


Another big solar energy advantage is that comes from utilizing these solar energy modules is the fact that it totally boosts the country's economy. This is a result of the enormous number of jobs that the industry can create and has created. Germany is the perfect example for this with over 10,000 jobs generated in the installation and production of these monolithic Solar PV panels. It is also the fastest growing solar energy market in the whole world. This is really great for the country as the amount of fossil fuel reserves are depleting as the years are passing and as opposed to that, the demand for solar energy and other sources of renewable energy is really increasing at a rapid rate.


One of the places where these photovoltaic cells are used a lot is in the power plants. At a close second comes the many buildings that can use anything varying from solar powered roofs to solar installations that are less than a couple of 100 square feet large in area.
Solar PV's are also used a lot in transport although this market is yet to evolve and become more efficient. Since the area required to power a car with the help of solar energy advantages is quite large, the car can become quite bulky which is contradictory to the normal styles of cars these days which are usually found to be tiny, slim, sleek and well, just "modern".


I hope that this "photovoltaic cells" post helped you in understanding more about them and consider getting some for your own house to generate what little electricity you can. Also consider my "solar energy advantages" posts found in this blog to learn more about making your own solar panels.


To a greener future,


Andy.