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:

    “Psychotherapy—The theory that the patient will probably get well anyway, and is certainly a damned ijjit.”
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    “Freud was a hero. He descended to the “Underworld” and met there stark terrors. He carried with him his theory as a Medusa’s head which turned these terrors to stone.”
    —R.D. (Ronald David)

    “Don’t confuse hypothesis and theory. The former is a possible explanation; the latter, the correct one. The establishment of theory is the very purpose of science.”
    —Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962)