Solar Energy How It Works

Solar energy power from the sun is a vast inexhaustible and clean resource.

Solar energy how it works. How does solar energy work. How do solar panels work to generate electricity. Solar energy works by capturing the sun s energy and turning it into electricity for your home or business. Our sun is a natural nuclear reactor.

In fact the term photovoltaic literally means light and electric these cells are designed from materials capable of reacting with a photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic pv cells are the powerhouse unit of the entire solar energy industry. A solar cell is a device people can make that takes the energy of sunlight and converts it into electricity. Published jul 14 2008 updated dec 16 2009.

That s a technical way of saying that the panel s photovoltaic cells convert the energy in sunlight to electricity specifically direct current dc. It releases tiny packets of energy called photons which travel the 93 million miles from the sun to earth in about 8 5 minutes. A standard solar panel also known as a solar module consists of a layer of silicon cells a metal frame a glass casing and various wiring to allow current to flow from the silicon cells silicon atomic 14 on the periodic table is a nonmetal with conductive properties that allow it to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. A solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity according to live science.