If you are interested in greening up your lifestyle, it helps to do a little research first. Not only will it make you more informed when you make future purchases, but the technology that is going into green projects is both state of the art and fascinating. For instance, if you would like to save money on your monthly electrical bills as well as do your part to reduce the carbon output of the planet, you might want to consider a carbon neutral power source such as solar panels. Depending on your climate, you might be able to use solar panels to power all your electrical needs. However, you should first learn about how solar cells and then go out and explore your different buying options. Learn how solar cells work below…
A solar cell uses basic chemistry to produce electricity from the sun’s rays. It isn’t so much capturing the energy of the sun and turning it into usable electricity; the process is a little more complicated than that. It starts with a silicon molecule.
You’ve probably heard silicon mentioned when referring to computer chips. It’s the same substance. Silicon is a stable molecule that can form a long last bond with other silicon molecules. That is because it has room for eight electrons in its outer ring but only keeps four around all the time. Therefore, when two silicon molecules are joined, they are both neutrally charged and very happy.
To make a solar cell work, you need to have a positively and a negatively charged silicon molecule. Generally, there is an entire panel of negatively charged molecules put on top of a panel of positively charged molecules. The negative cells are made by combining silicon with phosphorus, an element that has five electrons.
The extra electron creates a negative charge. The positive cells are made by combining silicon with boron, an element with three electrons. The missing electron makes for a positive charge.
Now comes the sun. The sun produces photons, which for our purposes, are like little molecular hammers. When photons in a certain spectrum hit the negative solar cells, the extra electron is shot through to the positive panel.
When too many electrons have built up in the positive panel they are pulled through some attached wiring to produce electricity for your house. The more photons that hit the panels the more electricity you are going to produce at any given moment. The photos also ‘recharge’ the negative panel by returning the electrons it lost so that the process can go on indefinitely.
Solar cells can continue to create power as long as the sun is shining. However, they do not produce a lot of power compared to the surface area that they take up. Advances are being made every day, especially in the area of nanotechnology. Building solar panels out of tiny silicon towers would drastically increase the surface area without taking up more roof space. Now that you know how solar cells work, you should decide if it time to use some and take your home off the grid, save money, and know that you are doing your part to help our planet by keeping your home a green one.
