Many people ask what is a photovoltaic (PV) cell. Well, here is the answer. It is a device that is used to convert solar power into electricity by the use of the photovoltaic principle. It is also known as a solar cell.
It uses the photovoltaic effect to work. This means that it produces electric current directly from light energy. It does this by the use of a photoelectric material. This type of material absorbs light photons and release electrons. These electrons are then channeled to produce an electric current. Most of these types of photoelectric materials are semiconductors such as silicon.
Solar cells are made up of a semiconductor and wires. The semiconductor is made in a way such that it has two terminals. The wires are connected to the terminals. When sunlight falls on the semiconductor electrons are release and channeled through the terminals to form direct current (DC). The wires can then be connected to a load such as a bulb.
Several cells can be connected together to form a module. This is normally done so as to supply the desired voltage depending on the way the cells are connected. They can either be connected in series or parallel.
They are mostly combined to form panels which harness light energy from the sun. These panels are known as pv solar panels. They are also used to detect light and electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength that is close to visible light. An example of such radiation is infrared.
The current produced is directly proportional to the light intensity. The most commonly used type is the single junction. This type only responds to sunlight spectrums that have a higher energy than the semiconductors band gap. Due to this limitation the multi junction type was made. It uses several cells with different band gaps therefore allowing it to detect a range of spectrums.
