Energy Self-Sufficiency in Building through Photovoltaic Cells

Solar energy can save us. Solar energy can reduce pollution by burning fuels in extoridant

The greatest energy that can be produced by the sun is electricity. Photovoltaics, or solar cells, capture the sun and convert it into electricity. Solar cells were discovered by the Europeans back in the 1870’s when they used selenium to develop the telegraph. They found that when light hits selenium it would produce and electrical current. Soon enough there were many scientists and engineers working on photovoltaic systems. Silicon and Selenium proved to be the two best elements to conduct electricity when light hits them. Photovoltaic systems (PV cell) work by converting the suns light into electricity. A semi conducting material absorbs the sunlight, that energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, this allows the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity. The further development of solar cells can be attributed to the satellite industry. Solar cells were expensive and there was no use for them until satellites came. Because it is impractical to tether satellites it became important to develop solar energy at any cost that would power these satellites. This created a sustainable market for solar power, the first of its kind.

Solar power is the most abundant most renewable resource that we have and it is free. The process starts when the sun shines on Solar PV panels that have been installed on your roof. Photovoltaic refers to the scientific process by which solar energy is converted into electricity. There are a number of silicon cells within each PV panel. These react with photons, or units of light, from the sun to produce direct current or electricity. DC electricity then travels to an inverter, which converts this energy to electricity known as alternating current or AC that can be used in your home or office. AC electricity then travels to the distribution network in your home powering your domestic or office appliances. When your solar panels produce more electricity than your home or office is using, the extra electricity gets fed back into the national grid. Yet, there are many processes the PV cell actually goes through to produce power of electricity. The top and bottom layer of the PV cells are protective glass layers with conducting coding’s. Electricity in the form of electrons flows in and out of these conducting coding’s while electrical production process happens in the middle layer of the PV cell. At the molecular level, a photon strikes a dye molecule absorbed on the surface of the TiO2 causing an excited state, which releases an electron into the TiO2 that exists through the conductive layer. The

4. How could you increase the electricity generated by a solar cell during the day, when the

Purpose: Make a new type of solar cell that, in theory, could be used in solar panels. This new solar is more environmentally friendly and safer to use.

Recently, the price of unrenewable energy resource such as oil, coral and natural gas is increasing by time because of rare and more and more usage for individual and industries. Solar panels which use energy from Sun are considered as renewable energy through the form of solar radiation, UV. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they

In addition, solar energy operational costs are manageable. It is free from monthly charges compared to conventional sources of energy. Solar energy does not require raw materials such as oil and coal, and once the panels are built, there will be no monthly charges. In addition, the prices of fossil fuels are increasing day by day, and this means conventional energy will be very expensive. Solar energy will remain the most capable world’s future power supply because, it is cost effective once the plants are built, and there will be no transport costs like for conventional energy sources. Therefore, solar energy is cost-effective, and will help in future energy supply, as the maintenance cost is affordable, as long as they are installed properly, and are working efficiently ( Hans, 2012). Furthermore, with the improvement and advancement of technology, it will increase its efficiency, and cost of production thus, making it more cost effective and the world’s best

At the University of California, Las Angeles, a team of scientists had a theory, that if you rearrange the components of a solar panel to resemble the natural system of a plant that taps into the sun’s energy. It may be possible to separate positive, and negative charges in a stable way that could last up to several weeks compared to just millionths of a second, which is the modern standard for solar panels. In photosynthesis, plants exposed to sunlight use carefully organized nanoscale structures within their cells to separate charges. “That separation is the key to making the process so efficient.” (Sarah Tolbert) Silicon cells are used in most rooftop solar panels to capture energy, however It can be expensive. Another alternative is plastic cells that are less efficient because the positive and negative charges recombine before they can become electrical energy. “Modern plastic solar cells don’t have well- defined structures like plants do because we never knew how to make them before,” (Tolbert). By imitating the plant like structure, and further investigating this method they are able to increase the retention of energy captured, making it last much longer then

Solar cell or photovoltaic (PV) systems usually transformed energy from the sun in to electric current. It can be measured in terms of ‘‘conversion efficiency’’, the proportion of solar energy transformed to electricity. (Henderson, Conkling, & Roberts, 2007) Sunpower primarily focused on the production of solar cell. But by moving in to wafer manufacturing it soon incorporated in to manufacturing of solar power module units. In general Sunpower manufacturing process needed approximately two times as many steps as the usual solar manufacturing process need and many of these steps were distinctive to Sunpower. Sunpower has nearly 15 -20 established cell manufactures, a handful of silicon – based cell manufacturing upstarts and a number of thin film solar companies offering potentially unsettling technologies.

Solar energy is the most plentiful and purist renewable energy source available. Because it is completely natural, it is considered to be a clean energy source. It does not disrupt the environment or threaten the Eco-systems the way oil and some other energy sources tend to. Nor does it cause greenhouse gases, air or water pollution. Solar energy is an immensely important aspect of life and has been since the beginning of time. Increasingly, we are learning how to harness this important resource and use it to replace traditional energy sources. Modern technology can utilize this energy in a variety of ways, such as; generating electricity, providing light or a comfortable interior environment, and heating water for domestic, industrial, or commercial use. One day solar energy may well become our primary form of energy. This would lead to a clean environment, less money spent on utilities, and a healthier world. It is highly important because it has the potential to allow technology and nature to co-exist peacefully.

Solar energy is one of the common renewable energy sources. Solar panels are used to convert the heat energy from sunlight to electrical current. When the sunlight is absorbed by a solar panel, the electrons on the solar panel get excited and move to the next energy level (Figure 1). Such movements among the electrons generate currents to produce electrical energy. A solar panel can be made with either silicon or copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS). Silicon can convert a large amount of the solar energy to electrical energy because of their large crystalline structures. However, it is very expensive. On the other hand, CIGS has a cheaper cost and smaller crystalline structures in comparison to silicon. Most solar panels are made with CIGS because it is cost effective for frequent use (NYU SOE 2017). An advantage of a solar panel is sunlight is always available without a cost. Modern residential solar panels require a low maintenance fee. A disadvantage of solar panel is the initial set up cost is high.

Abstarct- The aim of this work is a comparison of the merit and demerit of of different generation solar cells i.e. Single crystal silicon wafers (c-Si), Amorphous silicon (a-Si), Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), Cadmium telluride (CdTe), Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) alloy, Nanocrystal solar cells, Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells, Polymer solar cells, Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC), Hybrid - inorganic crystals. Solar cells are becoming a mature technology. Solar cell provides clean energy. As it silently generates electricity and produces no air pollution or hazardous waste. Since there have been rapid advances in the efficiency and reliability of these cells, along with a

Solar cells or Photovoltaic cells capture the energy from the sun and convert it to electrical energy (Singh and Ravindra 2012). They come in all different sizes. They can be small like a phone or large like a house. Each has a different output and efficiency levels. Yet, what things increase or decrease such efficiency levels?

There are many forms of alternative energy sources that take the place of typical fossil fuels. One of the most common uses of these sources for eco houses is solar energy. Solar energy is when sunlight is converted into electricity for use, most commonly through solar panels. Solar panels are comprised of multiple photovoltaic cells, which absorb sunlight and transfer it into standard DC electricity. Photovoltaic cells are usually made of silicon, a semi-conductor (Roaf, 202). Solar panels are commonly installed on the roofs of houses where there is little blockage of the sun. Almost all eco houses employ solar energy as a main source because no waste is produced. Solar

Solar cells are also known as photovoltaic cells, which suggest that light energy is being converted to electrical energy. Most photovoltaic cells consist of silicon in its crystalline structure. In that structure, each silicon atom has four valence electrons, and each one bonds to an adjacent electron. Silicon then is a poor conductor since electrons cannot move freely through the substance, but the addition of impurities such as phosphorus, which is called doping, to the silicon crystalline structure provide extra electrons called free carriers that can be knocked off the atom via light energy.6 The section of the photovoltaic cell that is doped with phosphorus is called the N-type because it has numerous negatively charged electrons flowing and creating a current. On the other hand, the section of the photovoltaic cell that is doped with boron is called the P-type because boron only has three valence electrons.7 When the N-type and