We speak a lot about renewable Energy, solar energy, solar panels, advances in science and new discoveries. But, how does solar energy exactly works?  What type of solar panels exists and what are they compose from? We will try to make a brief introduction to the world of the sun like an energy source.

There are two main ways to use the solar energy, one is like heat source for thermal Solar System, and the other is as source of electricity for photovoltaic Solar System. We will be focusing in this last application.

In principle the form in which the light of the sun is captured to turn it in to electricity is through solar panels or photovoltaic panels. These panels are formed by groups of the so called solar cells or cells that are the ones that change the light energy (photons) into electricity (electrons).

These cells are connected to each other in a serial circuit thus to increase the current of the out coming electricity, that might be 12 or 24 volts.  At the same time several panels coupled in parallel circuit will increase the amount of electrical production that the panels will be able to provide.  

Because the electric current type that solar paddles provide is direct current (DC), an investor and/or power converter is often used to transform the DC into alternating current (AC), this is the one that we normally use in our houses, offices and stores.

When we speak about renewable energy, new discoveries or advances in science, generally, we are making referred to the discovery or development of new and better materials to produce solar cell.  

A solar cell works basically in the following manner: photons coming in the solar radiation, hit on the surface of the cell and there they are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as crystalline silicon. The photons strike to electrons releasing them from the atoms to which they belonged. So the electrons start to run around the material, and as a result they produce electricity.

This basic process is the same for all semiconducting materials used in solar cells, as long as they enclose conductive properties and absorb the light.

The cells in solar panels that are most commonly used in the market are done out of silicon, a semiconductor that is very abundant on the planet, but it is also difficult to extract and to synthesize, resulting in expensive solar paddles usually heavy and hard to install. But new materials are appearing that are easier to produce and are more efficient.

Therefore scientists of the entire world work continuously on the search of new materials with similar or better result, cheaper, more efficient, lighter, thinner and able to have greater amount of applications, hoping to find even one being able to be caned as spray.  

That’s how we can appreciate that to manufacture solar cells; materials as copper, Indium, gallium, selenium and even germanium are used. This last one gives the best results in efficiency but they are very expensive to produce, therefore its use is restricted to organizations like the NASA. There are also composed cells that are made with double or triple lyre cells, using several added elements, in thin layer, using dye-sensitized Graetzel solar cell, hybrid materials, and nanotechnology.  

The Greatest bet of the future is placed in organic solar cells, that are made out of organic polymer, like certain types of plastic, that have the same conduction properties of the silicon but that can “be printed” or “be stick” on almost any type of material. The solar panels made out of organic cells are cheaper to manufacture, lighter and easier to install. The great disadvantage they present is that they can’t yet manage to reach the level of efficiency conversion that has the silicon panels. Although we see continuously that scientist achieve these efficiency levels, but it will still take some time to get them to a commercial level.

New Solar Circuit Technology

Freescale Semiconductor unveiled new technology for power conversion for photovoltaic devices at this year’s Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) in mid-February.

New Circuit Technology for Solar Cell Phones

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