Solar Panel Report
Solar Panel
The world’s energy demands increase year after year, while its resources are consistently being depleted in order to sustain these energy demands. These limited resources will one day be no more. A dependable source of renewable energy must be found. Currently solar energy is not efficient enough to sustain the population. However, the technology is constantly advancing, and solar energy could one day be that source. The solar cell’s roots can be traced all the way back to the 1800s with Antoine-César Becquerel. In 1839, Antoine discovered that electrons can be emitted from materials that absorb the energy from light, known as the photoelectric effect, after immersing an electrode in a conductive liquid. Almost fifty years later the first solar cell was created by Charles Fritts, in 1883. His solar cell was composed of selenium and gold, and had an efficiency of around one percent. By the mid-1900s, Bell laboratories released the first modern solar cell. The cell featured p-n junctions that are still used in solar cells today, and reached about six percent efficiency. In 1958, the first satellite powered by solar cells was launched into space; the Vanguard I. Solar cell technology reached an efficiency of twenty percent, in 1985, due to the efforts at the University of New South Wales. The current record for efficiency is slightly over forty percent. China has become the leading manufacturer of solar cells, with prices as low as $.6 per watt, which is far less than the price in the 1950s of around $250 per watt. The general idea behind solar cell technology is that the energy from light is absorbed by a material. This causes electrons to be released and travel in order to generate current. However, it is much more complicated than that.
For a solar cell to function, an electric field must first be generated. This is accomplished by p-n silicon junctions. When silicon is made for solar cells, it is generally doped with
The world’s energy demands increase year after year, while its resources are consistently being depleted in order to sustain these energy demands. These limited resources will one day be no more. A dependable source of renewable energy must be found. Currently solar energy is not efficient enough to sustain the population. However, the technology is constantly advancing, and solar energy could one day be that source. The solar cell’s roots can be traced all the way back to the 1800s with Antoine-César Becquerel. In 1839, Antoine discovered that electrons can be emitted from materials that absorb the energy from light, known as the photoelectric effect, after immersing an electrode in a conductive liquid. Almost fifty years later the first solar cell was created by Charles Fritts, in 1883. His solar cell was composed of selenium and gold, and had an efficiency of around one percent. By the mid-1900s, Bell laboratories released the first modern solar cell. The cell featured p-n junctions that are still used in solar cells today, and reached about six percent efficiency. In 1958, the first satellite powered by solar cells was launched into space; the Vanguard I. Solar cell technology reached an efficiency of twenty percent, in 1985, due to the efforts at the University of New South Wales. The current record for efficiency is slightly over forty percent. China has become the leading manufacturer of solar cells, with prices as low as $.6 per watt, which is far less than the price in the 1950s of around $250 per watt. The general idea behind solar cell technology is that the energy from light is absorbed by a material. This causes electrons to be released and travel in order to generate current. However, it is much more complicated than that.
For a solar cell to function, an electric field must first be generated. This is accomplished by p-n silicon junctions. When silicon is made for solar cells, it is generally doped with
References: 1. Jimenez-Gonzales, Concepcion, and Costable, David J.C. “Green Chemistry and Engineering A Practical Design Approach.” John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2011. 13. Desideri, U., F. Zepparelli, V. Morenttini, and E. Garroni. "Comparative Analysis of Concentrating Solar Power and Photovoltaic Technologies: Technical and Environmental Evaluations." August 21, 2012. 14. CdTe Technologies, First Energy. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://www.firstsolar.com/Innovation/CdTe-Technology 15 16. Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells, Calfinder. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://solar.calfinder.com/library/solar-electricity/cells/cell-materials/gallium-arsenide 17