Renewable energy is a really hot topic nowadays. People are trying to find ways to reduce their ecological footprint by finding alternate ways of generating energy. One of these ways is to use solar panels to convert direct sunlight into usable energy. These solar panels can be placed on the roof of your current house, absorbing as much sunlight as possible. Other configurations such as on the ground mountings are also possible. These panels usually come in an array of 8 or more, to ensure that enough energy is provided to your household.

The real interesting concept behind these solar panels is the solar cell that powers them. Solar cells are devices that are built entirely from solid material and in which the electrons or charge carriers are confined entirely within the solid material. They convert the energy given by direct sunlight into electricity by a process known as the photovoltaic effect.

Photovoltaics is a widely used method of generating electrical power by converting sunlight into direct current electricity, using semiconductors which can exhibit the photovoltaic effect. As previously mentioned, photovoltaic power generation is only possible through solar panels, which are essentially composed of a number of solar cells, which contain this photovoltaic material. There are many materials that are currently used for photovoltaics, which include monocrystalline silicon, copper indium selenide, cadmium telluride or amorphous silicon. The photovoltaic effect was actually first discovered in 1839 by French physicist A. E. Becquerel. It was as early as 1883 when the first working solar cell was built by Charles Fritts, who accomplished this by coating the semiconductor material selenium with a very thin layer of gold to form junctions. The device was merely 1% efficient in converting sunlight to usable energy. The growing demand of renewable energy sources has accelerated the manufacturing of sol

ar cells and photovoltaic arrays. Due to this, technology of photovoltaic arrays and solar cells has advanced significantly in recent years.

A collection of cells are used to create solar modules, which are known as solar panels to most people. These solar cells are grouped together on a grid to absorb as much sunlight as possible. When these solar cells begin capturing solar energy, they begin generating energy, known as solar power. When solar cells are electrically connected together, they are referred to as a module. These photovoltaic modules most often have a sheet of glass on the front side, which allows light to pass through while protecting the semiconductor wafers from sharp abrasion or impact from wind-driven debris, rain or natural elements. The cells can be connected in series or parallel, allowing the generation of direct current. It is known that when these cells are connected in parallel, they usually yield higher current.

To actually use the energy created by these solar panels, the electricity is injected into the electricity grid using inverters or stored in a battery to be used when needed. Solar panels have numerous applications, from charging your car battery to your phone. If you want to reduce your energy bill and help the environment, one thing is certain; solar panels are the way to go.