| Solar Panels - How do They Work? |
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| Written by Erick Hanifeld | |
| Friday, 07 November 2008 | |
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Global warming, caused by the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has initiated the search for newer, cleaner sources of producing electricity. Coal, oil and to a certain extent, nuclear power plants let off tons of pollutants, which are the major causes of this global catastrophe.
Global warming, caused by the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has initiated the search for newer, cleaner sources of producing electricity. Coal, oil and to a certain extent, nuclear power plants let off tons of pollutants, which are the major causes of this global catastrophe. The Sun, our nearest and most powerful source of renewable energy could help us produce electricity by tapping its energy. But how could it be done? Well, with the invention of photovoltaic cells, a lot of which comprise a solar panel, makes this dream of tapping the sun's energy a reality. However, the three main drawbacks to the installation, use, and maintenance of these solar panels are - the amount of funding needed to set up a solar plant, rain, and snow. Some of the cost is offset by the savings from other energy sources, but not entirely until some of the costs of solar come down. To understand how solar panels work one will have to brush up one's knowledge of chemistry. Solar panels work on the principle of chemical reactions that are induced to form the electric current. The main component of the panel is silicon (the element Si on the periodic table) or in purely non-scientific terminology, sand. In its natural form, silicon has four electrons but has the capacity for accommodating double that number, that is, eight electrons. One silicon atom can combine with another to form a strong bonding. In this case both atoms share each other's potential capacity for eight electrons. The electrical current however can be produced only by one negative and one positive charge. The positive-negative balance can be introduced to the silicon atoms by using phosphorus which has five electrons. Combined with silicon it lends a negative charge as the silicon does not need the one extra atom. In the same way, a positive charge is created by using boron which has three atoms. The chemical reaction of balancing positive and negative charges by introducing phosphorus and boron releases an electrical current. The most important part of the chemical reaction is when the photons from the rays of the sun hit the silicon-phosphorus atoms, knocking off the extra electron. That electron is attracted by the positive boron-silicon atoms to compensate for the structure of the boron which has only three electrons. As the process repeats, electricity is produced. But for this to really work and produce a good amount of electricity, one needs a lot of solar panels and that's where you'll have to keep a watch on your wallet, because it doesn't come cheap! If you haven't installed any batteries to store the electricity produced by your solar panel, you are wasting the capacity of all of those solar panels. So maybe you don't need to know all of the chemistry, but do know that this cleaner way of producing electricity will save our environment and the world. Authors Bio: Erick Hanifeld is a DIYer who decided to give installing solar panels on his own home a try. His experience left him wanting to know How Do Solar Panels Work. You can gain more Solar Panels Knowledge Here. |
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