Click here to see information from the infographic above in a table. By far the most common solar energy technology, photovoltaics are an “additive” energy source that can be used on a single home’s rooftop or in a large farm producing thousands of megawatts of electricity—enough to power a midsize city.
Solar energy is energy from the sun that we capture with various technologies, including solar panels. There are two main types of solar energy: photovoltaic (solar panels) and thermal. The “photovoltaic effect” is the mechanism by which solar panels harness the sun’s energy to generate electricity. What is solar energy?
The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for electricity generation and as photosensors. A photovoltaic system employs solar modules, each comprising a number of solar cells, which generate electrical power. PV installations may be ground-mounted, rooftop-mounted, wall-mounted or floating.
The use of PV as a main source requires energy storage systems or global distribution by high-voltage direct current power lines causing additional costs, and also has a number of other specific disadvantages such as variable power generation which have to be balanced.
A photovoltaic (PV) cell, commonly called a solar cell, is a nonmechanical device that converts sunlight directly into electricity. Some PV cells can convert artificial light into electricity. Sunlight is composed of photons, or particles of solar energy.
Learn solar energy technology basics: solar radiation, photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), grid integration, and soft costs.
OverviewApplicationsEtymologyHistorySolar cellsPerformance and degradationManufacturing of PV systemsEconomics
There are many practical applications for the use of solar panels or photovoltaics covering every technological domain under the sun. From the fields of the agricultural industry as a power source for irrigation to its usage in remote health care facilities to refrigerate medical supplies. Other applications include power generation at various scales and attempts to integrate them into homes and public infrastructure. PV modules are used in photovoltaic systems and include a lar…