Solar cells are made of a semiconductor material, usually silicon, that is treated to allow it to interact with the photons that make up sunlight. The incoming light energy causes electrons in the silicon to be knocked loose and begin flowing together in a current, eventually becoming the solar electricity you can use in your home. 2.
Simply put, photovoltaic cells allow solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. You've probably seen solar panels on rooftops all around your neighborhood, but do you know how they work to generate electricity?
Solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells, convert light energy directly into electrical energy. They are made primarily from semiconductor materials, with silicon being the most common. When sunlight strikes the surface of a solar cell, it excites electrons in the semiconductor material, creating an electric current.
Just like the cells in a battery, the cells in a solar panel are designed to generate electricity; but where a battery's cells make electricity from chemicals, a solar panel's cells generate power by capturing sunlight instead.
Photo: Solar cells aren't the only way to make power from sunlight—or even, necessarily, the best way. We can also use solar thermal power (absorbing heat from sunlight to heat the water in your home), passive solar (designing a building to absorb sunlight), and solar collectors (shown here).
Solar cells are wired together and installed on top of a substrate like metal or glass to create solar panels, which are installed in groups to form a solar power system to produce the energy for a home. A typical residential solar panel with 60 cells combined might produce anywhere from 220 to over 400 watts of power.