Solar Panel Principle Video Tutorial

How do solar panels work?

Solar panels convert light into electricity. They are Photovoltaic, meaning light and voltage. It works with sunlight or artificial light. Take a small solar cell, setup your multimeter, connect the leads and expose it to some light. We instantly see a voltage is generated. The stronger the light, the more electricity is produced.

How does a solar inverter work?

Solar panels produce direct current (DC) electricity, but most homes and electrical grids operate on alternating current (AC) electricity. The inverter’s role is to convert the DC electricity from the solar panels into AC electricity that can be used in your home or fed back into the grid. Solar energy presents numerous advantages.

How do solar cells work?

So do diodes. A solar cell is basically a giant flat LED working in reverse. We can actually shine light into an LED and it will produce a voltage. Check out our LED video HERE to learn how they work. When we look at silicon atoms, they have 14 electrons, with 4 in its outermost shell, known as the valance shell.

Can a solar panel power itself?

Some of this energy will be reflected away, dust and dirt on the solar panel will also block some energy and additionally, as solar cells heat up from the wasted energy, their efficiency decreases. And after we have generated all that energy, we then also have energy losses from the inverter and also the wires. So this red LED can’t power itself.

How do solar panels convert sunlight into electricity?

The process of converting sunlight into electricity begins with the absorption of photons (light particles) by solar cells. This absorption creates an electrical current as electrons are displaced. The current then flows through the electrical circuit built into the solar panel.

How do you make a solar cell?

To make a basic solar cell, we start with a metal conductive plate, this forms the positive electrode. On top of this we find a thin silicon layer. This is our semiconductor material. Typically, this consists of a layer of silicon boron mixture on the bottom and a layer of silicon phosphorus on top.