The history of solar energy dates back two thousand seven hundred years. During that time period, people used glass lenses in order to ignite a fire. Greeks were the first people to use passive solar designs. They created buildings with southern-facing windows that allowed the sun to heat and light their homes. In the nineteenth century, a French physicist named Edmund Bequerel discovered that light energy could create a “photovoltaic effect.” A “photovoltaic effect” occurs when a device uses light from the sun to create an electric current. Solar cells were invented in the …show more content…
There are electrons in the panel that are part of the silicon material. The electrons are restrained so they cannot participate in the flow with the released electrons. In order for a solar panel to function, light must be emitted to release the electrons from their bound state. After the electrons are freed by the sunlight, they travel along wires of the external circuit. During the process in which the electrons travel along external circuit, they create a blue color that allows more light into to solar cells. Finally, the electrons fall into holes near the silicon that was created when other electrons were freed. The procedure in which electrons allow more light into the solar cells is an immensely complex