How Solar PV Panels Work

So how does a PV Panel create electricity? How much do you need? Read on to learn more about how solar technology works to reduce your electricity expenses and reduce your carbon footprint.

How a Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Panel System Works

A solar power system is intended to provide power for homes and businesses by extracting clean energy from the sun and converting it into operable AC energy.

Some examples are as follows:

1. The solar collector is a panel that absorbs extreme sunlight. Invariably this is a flat panel with a surface coated with silicon, a synthetic substance with crystalline attributes, for pure silicon does not make for a pristine semiconductor. Silicon in solar panels are modi- fied in order to supply a crystalline structure which allows a more active condition for the exchange of electrons and photons that create the solar panel electric current.

2. Photons are the energy of sunlight contained by the solar collector. Electrons are re- arranged by photons within the semiconductor apparatus and begin to move in a fluid manner. The modification of the silicon creates built-in electrical fields which force these floating electrons into all moving in one direction which is an electrical current. The solar panel’s wattage is determined by the size of the electrical current multiplied by the size of the electrical field built into the solar panel.

The surface of the doctored silicon (checker board pattern) consists of the metal that comes from the electrical current and transmits it to the inverter.

3. The metal arranged onto the frame of the collector panels adheres to the electrical current that’s been produced and this is what generates electricity. However, this is what is known as “direct current” (DC). What is needed in your home is “alternating “current” (AC).

4. There is no battery storage in most home solar systems. The cost of the system simply makes it impractical. However, if you do happen to have a battery, the DC power will run directly to the battery.

5. DC power enters through your inverter box and is converted into AC power which then channels into your home’s breaker panel. The breaker panel applies this elec- tricity exactly as the electricity channeled in from your utility.