Solar Cell - Theory

Theory

The solar cell works in three steps:

  1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as silicon.
  2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms, causing an electric potential difference. Current starts flowing through the material to cancel the potential and this electricity is captured. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction.
  3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC) electricity.

Read more about this topic:  Solar Cell

Famous quotes containing the word theory:

    “Won’t this whole instinct matter bear revision?
    Won’t almost any theory bear revision?
    To err is human, not to, animal.”
    —Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    “Could Shakespeare give a theory of Shakespeare?”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “There never comes a point where a theory can be said to be true. The most that one can claim for any theory is that it has shared the successes of all its rivals and that it has passed at least one test which they have failed.”
    —A.J. (Alfred Jules)