Energy 4 Earth- Home Made Energy Reviews » Cells…

Solar Panel Cells – Managing the Power of Sun

peterslove — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:00:02 +0000

The Global warming, continual population growth, economy crisis and power shortage are all points that caused the breakthrough discovery of the solar energy uses. Not surprisingly the word “solar energy” is not new to many people, for when we discuss solar energy; we are basically speaking about the power that comes from the sun. This abundant energy which is the light that comes from the sun is the main source of solar energy. But exactly how does solar energy works? How can we make full use of the the power of the sun and convert it into electricity? These are the few of the questions which been considered by simply different experts along with scientist involved in the “solar energy project”. They realized which in order to use the energy on the sun, it has to possibly be collected and located to be available in its use later. With these things of their minds, a new technology is born; the solar panel cells, the major pieces of solar energy.

Solar panel cells are the medium used in collecting and storing the energy coming from the sun. It is consists of arrays of solar cells which were linked together so that you can store a considerable amount of power that comes from the sun. But you’re quite mistaken if you think why these cells alone can easily produce enough energy that can be use in it’s purpose. In order for these cells to function well, they must be collected into what we called module, then these modules are being combined together to produce more electrical voltage which is the ability that can be use. That’s where did they create power, his or her work in groups. Solar cell is also referred to as photovoltaic cells which mean the materials that is used in this solar cells are made from photovoltaic materials. These cells are responsible in capturing the light coming from the sunlight and then being changed into electricity. The power that is certainly produced by these solar panels are measured in watts and kilowatts just like the regular electricity we all knew, in order to know if these solar cells can produce the necessary power in a particular purpose.

These solar panel cells are available in distinct sizes, there are being used as solar cell phone charger, lanterns and bulbs. These solar cells accompany battery for the storage purpose of the energy to be presented in later makes use of. There are two types of solar cells that are being used nowadays, one is the crystalline cells. These cells utilizes thin wafer like silicon that is composed of two layers that is responsible for your conduction of charge. One more type is the amorphous silicon solar cells, these type of solar cell is formed due to the vaporization in the depositing silicon alloys in many layers. This kind of solar cell is much less prone in damages that may occur in taking it unlike to the crystalline type. The uses of these solar panels are gaining a worldwide attractiveness and recognition that one could see it everywhere even just in your neighbor’s rooftop.

As the demand for the use of solar energy has significantly elevated, many bright as well as intellectual people never stop in searching how you can further develop your uses of this solar energy. The energy of the sun is abundant that merely one hour of pure energy coming from the sunlight can provide power to the needs of mankind in one Earth revolution. That’s how highly effective the sun is, it is source of power is limitless. Investing in these solar panel cells in your home is an excellent place to start to help our mother Earth in coping with the effect of global warming. To have such possibility is a privileged to consider because it is our responsibility to do our part In saving our home, the Earth.

Micky V. Howard has been in the field of solar panel cells for a long time and maintains a website about solar cell where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.

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Timeline Of Solar Cells

peterslove — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:00:02 +0000

Timeline

US685957 : Rays falling on insulated conductor connected to a capacitor; the capacitor charges electrically

1800s

1839 – Alexandre Edmond Becquerel observes the photovoltaic effect via an electrode in a conductive solution exposed to light.

1873 – Willoughby Smith finds that selenium shows photoconductivity.

1877 – W.G. Adams and R.E. Day observed the photovoltaic effect in solidified selenium, and published a paper on the selenium cell. ‘The action of light on selenium,’ in “Proceedings of the Royal Society, A25, 113.

1883 – Charles Fritts develops a solar cell using selenium on a thin layer of gold to form a device giving less than 1% efficiency.

1887 – Heinrich Hertz investigates ultraviolet light photoconductivity and discovers photoelectric effect

1887 – James Moser reports dye sensitised photoelectrochemical cell.

1888 – Edward Weston receives patent US389124, “Solar cell”, and US389125, “Solar cell”.

1888-91 – Aleksandr Stoletov creates the first solar cell based on the outer photoelectric effect

1894 – Melvin Severy receives patent US527377, “Solar cell”, and US527379, “Solar cell”.

1897 – Harry Reagan receives patent US588177, “Solar cell”..

1900-1929

1901 – Nikola Tesla receives the patent US685957, “Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy”, and US685958, “Method of Utilizing of Radiant Energy”.

1902 – Philipp von Lenard observes the variation in electron energy with light frequency.

1904 – Albert Einstein publishes a paper on the photoelectric effect. Wilhelm Hallwachs makes a semiconductor-junction solar cell (copper and copper oxide).

1913 – William Coblentz receives US1077219, “Solar cell”.

1914 – Sven Ason Berglund patents “methods of increasing the capacity of photosensitive cells”.

1916 – Robert Millikan conducts experiments and proves the photoelectric effect.

1918 – Jan Czochralski, a Polish scientist, produces a method to grow single crystals of metal. Decades later, the method is adapted to produce single-crystal silicon.

1920s – Solar water-heating systems, utilizing “flat collectors” (or “flat-plate collectors”), relied upon in homes and apartment buildings in Florida and southern California.

1930-1959

1932 – Audobert and Stora discover the photovoltaic effect in Cadmium selenide (CdSe), a photovoltaic material still used today.

1946 – Russell Ohl receives patent US2402662, “Light sensitive device”.

1948 – Gordon Teal and John Little adapt the Czochralski method of crystal growth to produce single-crystalline germanium and, later, silicon.

1950s – Bell Labs produce solar cells for space activities.

1953 – Gerald Pearson begins research into lithium-silicon photovoltaic cells.

1954 – Bell Labs announces the invention of the first modern silicon solar cell. Shortly afterwards, they are shown at the National Academy of Science Meeting. These cells have about 6% efficiency. The New York Times forecasts that solar cells will eventually lead to a source of “limitless energy of the sun”.

1955 – Western Electric licences commercial solar cell technologies. Hoffman Electronics-Semiconductor Division creates a 2% efficient commercial solar cell for /cell or ,785/Watt.

1957 – AT&T assignors (Gerald L. Pearson, Daryl M. Chapin, and Calvin S. Fuller) receive patent US2780765, “Solar Energy Converting Apparatus”. They refer to it as the “solar battery”. Hoffman Electronics creates an 8% efficient solar cell.

1958 – T. Mandelkorn, U.S. Signal Corps Laboratories, creates n-on-p silicon solar cells, which are more resistant to radiation damage and are better suited for space. Hoffman Electronics creates 9% efficient solar cells. Vanguard I, the first solar powered satellite, was launched with a 0.1W, 100 cm solar panel.

1959 – Hoffman Electronics creates a 10% efficient commercial solar cell, and introduces the use of a grid contact, reducing the cell’s resistance.

1960-1979

1960 – Hoffman Electronics creates a 14% efficient solar cell.

1961 – “Solar Energy in the Developing World” conference is held by the United Nations.

1962 – The Telstar communications satellite is powered by solar cells.

1963 – Sharp Corporation produces a viable photovoltaic module of silicon solar cells.

1964 – Farrington Daniels’ landmark book, Direct Use of the Sun’s Energy, published by Yale University Press.

1967 – Soyuz 1 is the first manned spacecraft to be powered by solar cells

1967 – Akira Fujishima discovers the Honda-Fujishima effect which is used for hydrolysis in the photoelectrochemical cell.

1970 – First highly effective GaAs heterostructure solar cells are created by Zhores Alferov and his team in the USSR.

1971 – Salyut 1 is powered by solar cells.

1973 – Skylab is powered by solar cells.

1974 – Florida Solar Energy Center begins .

1974 – Dr. Joseph Lindmayer and Dr. Peter Varadi founded the Solarex Corporation first BI-PV Solar Factory Roof

1974 – J. Baldwin, at Integrated Living Systems, co-develops the world’s first building (in New Mexico) heated and otherwise powered by solar and wind power exclusively.

1976 – David Carlson and Christopher Wronski of RCA Laboratories create first amorphous silicon PV cells, which have an efficiency of 1.1%.

1977 – The Solar Energy Research Institute is established at Golden, Colorado.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter installs solar panels on the White House and promotes incentives for solar energy systems.

1977 – The world production of photovoltaic cells exceeded 500 kW

Late 1970s: the “Energy Crisis”; groundswell of public interest in solar energy use: photovoltaic and active and passive solar, including in architecture and off-grid buildings and home sites.

1980-1999

1980 – The Institute of Energy Conversion at University of Delaware develops the first thin-film solar cell exceeding 10% efficiency using Cu2S/CdS technology.

1982 – Spherical solar cell was developed.

1983 – Worldwide photovoltaic production exceeds 21.3 megawatts, and sales exceed 0 million.

1984 – 30,000 SF Building-Integrated Photovoltaic [BI-PV] Roof completed for the Intercultural Center of Georgetown University. At the time of the 20th Anniversary Journey by Horseback for Peace and Photovoltais in 2004 it was still generating an average of one MWh daily as it has for twenty years in the dense urban environment of Washington, DC.

1984 – Amoco Oil pulled factory loan to takeover of Solarex Corporation factory in Frederick, Maryland.

1985 – 20% efficient silicon cells are created by the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering at the University of New South Wales.

1986 – ‘Solar-Voltaic DomeTM’ patented by Lt. Colonel Richard T. Headrick of Irvine, CA as an efficient architectural configuration for building-integrated photovoltaics [BI-PV]; Hesperia, CA field array.

1988-1991 AMOCO/Enron used Solarex patents to sue ARCO Solar out of the business of a-Si (see Solarex Corp.(Enron/Amoco)v.Arco Solar, Inc.Ddel, 805 Fsupp 252 Fed Digest. )

1989 – Reflective solar concentrators are first used with solar cells.

1990 – The Cathedral of Magdeburg installs solar cells on the roof, marking the first installation on a church in East Germany.

1991 – Efficient Photoelectrochemical cells are developed; the Dye-sensitized solar cell is invented.

1991 – President George H. W. Bush directs the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (transferring the existing Solar Energy Research Institute).

1992 – SOLAR DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE founded by Eileen M. Smith, M.Arch. to assure timely mainstream deployment of quality BI-PV Solar Architecture supported by reliable service industry in the U.S. and global marketplace.

1992 – University of South Florida fabricates a 15.89-percent efficient thin-film cell

1993 – The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Solar Energy Research Facility is established.

1994 – NREL develops a GaInP/GaAs two-terminal concentrator cell (180 suns) which becomes the first solar cell to exceed 30% conversion efficiency.

1996 – The National Center for Photovoltaics is established. Graetzel, cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland achieves 11% efficient energy conversion with dye-sensitized cells that use a photoelectrochemical effect.

1998 – August and September University of New South Wales made premiere offering of on-line ‘Advanced Photovoltaics Short Course’

1998 – Historic Joint Agency Rulemaking into the Role of the Utility Distribution Company [UDC] in Distributed Generation [DG] before the California Public Utilities Commission 98-12-015 and 99-10-025; California Energy Commission 99-DIST-GEN(1) and 99-DIST-GEN(2); California Oversight Board 99-1-A-DG

1999 – Total worldwide installed photovoltaic power reached 1000 megawatts.

2000

2002

President George W. Bush installed a 9 kW ‘building-integrated photovoltaics’ panel on the roof of a grounds maintenance building at the White House for the National Parks Service. Also installed were two solar water heating systems.

2004

March – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed Solar Roofs Initiative for one million solar roofs in California by 2017.

June 1 – Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius issued a mandate for 1,000 MWp renewable electricity in Kansas by 2015 per Executive Order 04-05.

2006

Polysilicon use in photovoltaics exceeds all other polysilicon use for the first time.

January 12 – California Public Utilities Commission approved the California Solar Initiative (CSI), a comprehensive .8 billion program that provides incentives toward solar development over 11 years.

December 5 – New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology – New Solar Cell Breaks the 40 Percent Efficient Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier.

2007

Investors begin offering free installation in return for a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).[citation needed]

April 23 – Start of construction of Nellis Solar Power Plant, a 15 MW PPA installation. 5 MW began operation on October 12, and the final third was completed in December.

May – The Vatican announced that in order to conserve Earth’s resources they would be installing solar panels on some buildings, in “a comprehensive energy project that will pay for itself in a few years”.

June 18 – Google solar panel project begins operation .

July 30 – University of Delaware claims to achieve new world record in Solar Cell Technology without independent confirmation – 42.8% efficiency.

December 18 – Nanosolar ships the first commercial printed CIGS, claiming that they will eventually ship for less than /Watt. However, the company does not publicly disclose the technical specifications or current selling price of the modules.

2008

Photovoltaic World production, 1980-2007 (log scale). The line shows the best-fit exponential to the production for the most recent 10 years, indicating a doubling of production every 2 years. Units are peak MW. Image by Geoffrey A. Landis

August 13 – New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Efficiency: Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have set a world record in solar cell efficiency with a photovoltaic device that converts 40.8 percent of the light that hits it into electricity. The inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cell was designed, fabricated and independently measured at NREL.

What Is The Next Revolution In Solar Cells?

peterslove — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:17:10 +0000

First generation solar cells began with a large amount of Silicon and only single junctions.
Second Generation solar cells called thin film cells, began with much less Silicon. In addition first generation solar was improved with multiple junctions.
Third Generation Solar Cells aim to keep Silicon use low while enhancing cell efficiencies.
In addition there are technologies that blend electricity generation with heat generation. And also aim to reduce installation and system design costs through building inverters inside solar panels. There is also technologies that use multiple junctions and concentration to enhance efficiencies. And aim to use bio-based plastics to replace petroleum based plastics used as back sheets in solar panels.
Idea’s of the future include thin film concentration solar cells, thin film multi-junction cells, and thin film multi-junction concentrating cels.

What Do You Think Is The Most Important Problems That Could Be Encountered When Using Solar Cells In Space?

peterslove — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:38:56 +0000

The days in outer space are not short enough. The days in outer space are not long enough. The solar cells might get wet. There is not enough concentrated sunlight in outer space to power the cells. Related posts: What Are The Environmental Factors When Using Solar Cells As An Energy Source ? Solar Cells [...] Related posts:

How Much Does It Cost To Install Solar Cells In A Typical American House, And When Will It Be Paid Back?

peterslove — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:01:40 +0000

I am very concerned about global warming, and when I grow up (I’m fourteen), I plan on helping to solve the world’s problems by looking into environmental research (college course options would be nice to include in your answers) and I’m wondering currently how much it costs to install solar cells and how long it will take to pay off.

Can Anyone Please Help Me With This Question On Solar Cells?

peterslove — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:50:58 +0000

Go to one or more local stores that sell electronics equipment. Make a list of all the products you can find that are powered by solar cells. What conclusions can you make about the kinds of products that are made to be solar-powered? What other products do you think could be solar-powered? Related posts: Are [...] Related posts:

Are Solar Cells Really That Great Of An Investment If You Have A Whole Roof Of Them?

peterslove — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:39:59 +0000

I’m trying to decide whether to use solar cells as a primary means of electricity in my house. Is it a good investment or not. This area gets plenty of sun and the electric prices are going up. So can anyone help out? Related posts: Are Solar Cells Ever Worth The Investment? Physics: How Large [...] Related posts:

What Happened To The 2002 Promise Of Super Efficient (up To 70%) Solar Cells Using Indium Gallium Nitride?

peterslove — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:38:40 +0000

I knew I’d heard something about researchers developing new solar cells which will triple the output efficiency of solar panels. When I go online to research this…NOTHING since the initial discovery at Berkely in 2002. Did some oil company gobble it up? Related posts: How Much Does It Cost To Install Solar Cells In A [...] Related posts:

What Is The Process To Make Solar Cells ?

peterslove — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:39:58 +0000

What is the process to make solar cells to which an ordinary man can also make ? Related posts: Are Solar Cells Ever Worth The Investment? What Types Solar Cells Are Better For Use In Solar Panels? What Are The Environmental Factors When Using Solar Cells As An Energy Source ? Related posts:

How Solar Cells Save the Environment

peterslove — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:38:57 +0000

Sure, we all know that solar panels are green and clean, but how really green are they? Wouldn’t it be nice to actually see some facts and figures for a change instead of hearing phrases like solar cells save oil or solar cells reduce air pollutants? Anyone can say that about anything green, but here we will now look at some honest to goodness hard facts to ponder.

First things first, a 2.5kw solar panel array, which is very common, will supply about 380 kilowatts per month calculated with 5 sun hours per day. The average house, meanwhile, burns about 700 kilowatts of electricity per month. In raw terms, those electrical savings will amount to over 300 barrels of oil saved per year, or the equivalent mileage of 270,000 driven miles.

Want more details? Having that system saves 2 tons of coal burning which generates the same amount of electricity. Needless to say, that cuts down on the equivalent amount of acid rain emissions, and literally reduces all greenhouse gases by over one quarter of a million pounds!

Over 25 years, in a botanical and environmental sense, this is like planting 5000 trees, doing all that good from the roof of your house! Now, , couple those figures with the rising cost of electricity, and you are doing just as much good for your pocketbook as you are for the environment.

Those are just the facts. But maybe best of all, knowing about all of this and then going solar gives you something much better then just facts, it gives you some piece of mind.

Cooler Planet is a leading solar resource for connecting consumers and commercial entities with local solar Installers. Cooler Planet’s solar energy resource page contains articles and tools such as our solar calculator to help with your solar project.