Why Is Silicon Used To Make Solar Panels

In households silicon solar panels placed on rooftops can serve as a stand alone system used to heat water for home consumption.

Why is silicon used to make solar panels.

These panels can also become a source of free electricity if they charge a rechargeable battery which can then be used to supply power to the homes. The working of a solar energy system is dependent on the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells. The basic component of a solar cell is pure silicon which has been used as an electrical component for decades. Need the blue gem to make the solar panels.

Solar panels are made up of solar photo voltaic pv cells. Finally amorphous silicon cells create flexible solar panel materials that are often used in thin film solar panels. They are lean and bendable unlike a standard panel. The silicon is all oriented the same way in a monocrystalline solar cell creating one large silicon crystal.

You have to burn a lot of hardwood trees to make charcoal for smelting solar silicon because about 75 of the wood is lost to smoke heat and co2. To understand how silicon solar panels make electricity requires shrinking down to the atomic level. Silicon has some special chemical properties especially in its crystalline form. Silicon solar panels are often referred to as 1 st generation panels as the silicon solar cell technology gained ground already in the 1950s.

Reasons why silicon is used is making solar cells. For this reason thin film solar panels are true to their name. Amorphous silicon cells are non crystalline and instead are attached to a substrate like glass plastic or metal. Silicon has an atomic number of 14 which means that it has 14 protons in its center and 14.

An atom of sili con has 14 electrons arranged in three different shells. Bandgap http photochemistry epfl ch pc pc2 lesson 6 pdf the same electrical property of silicon that makes it conductive in one direction and insulating in the. These photovoltaic cells are made using silicon. Currently over 90 of the current solar cell market is based on silicon.

Because of the way light interacts with a monocrystalline silicon layer monocrystalline solar panels appear black in color. The silicon used to make monocrystalline solar cells has a high level of purity. The first two shells which hold two and eight electrons.