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Solar Power And The Future Of Solar Energy

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Introduction:
Solar power is a renewable form of energy in which the power of the sun is harnessed to produce electricity. It was discovered 100 years ago, yet, more development and implementation has occurred only recently. In 1958, the solar panel technology was utilized for the first time to power satellites and till this day it is used to power satellites such as International Space Station.
History: In 1873, electrical engineer Willoughby Smith discovered that the element selenium is photoconductive when exposed to sunlight. Later in 1876, William Grylls Adams and his student discovered that, selenium can conduct electricity. In 1905, Albert Einstein came up with the theory of photoelectric effect, which is the breakage of electrons from the surface when light hits the surface. In 1958, NASA used the solar panel to power the satellites. Starting 1970s, advances were made in this field to make it more efficient and cheaper.
Direct Applications: The direct applications for solar energy is that it can be used to provide electricity to the remote areas where the electricity grid is not available to people. Furthermore, people in remote areas can be provided with thermal energy through thermal energy systems that uses sun’s energy to heat water.
This is how electricity is produced:
In a solar cell, crystalline silicon is sandwiched between 2 conductive layers, which are basically silicon doped with phosphorous and boron. The one that is doped with phosphorous is called

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