What is Solar Panel Made of?!!

06/04/2010

What is Solar Panel Made of?!!

Solar panels are typically constructed with crystalline silicon, which is used in other industries (such as the microprocessor industry), and the more expensive gallium arsenide, which is produced completely for use in photovoltaic (solar) cells.

Other, more efficient solar panels are assembled by depositing amorphous silicon alloy in a continuous roll-to-roll procedure. The solar cells created from this process are called Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells, or A-si. Solar Panels constructed using amorphous silicon technology are more strong, efficient, and thinner than their crystalline counterparts.

For very significant solar projects, such as space probes that have to rely on solar energy, very-high efficiency solar cells are constructed from gallium arsenide by a process called molecular beam epitaxy. Solar cells constructed by this process have several p-n junction diodes, each considered to be maximally efficient at absorbing a given part of the solar spectrum. This solar panels are much more efficient than conventional types, but the process and materials involved make them far too expensive for everyday applications.

The newest solar panels function on the molecular or quantum level, and represent an exciting new technology coming into play. These solar panels are created by implanting carbon nanotubes or quantum dots into a treated plastic. Unlike silicon-based solar panels, these solar panels do not have to be constructed in a clean room, and therefore production costs are somewhat dimished.

For continued instruction in the manufacture of solar panels, see Discover of Making Solar Panel

The practical applications of solar panels constructed from plastics are amazing - they could be overlaid onto a laptop screen to provide continuous power, or provide supplemental power to any number of outdoor appliances. The primary problem for this new technology is efficiency, and these 'plastic' solar panels have an operational efficiency of about .11% of their silicon-based counterparts. The only short-term solution to this energy problem is for these plastic solar panels to generate electricity from light outside the visible spectrum of light. Some highly-experimental plastic solar panels have been made to absorb infrared energy, and if a solar panel is made that can absorb both infrared energy and light from the visible spectrum, the operational efficiency could increase up to thirty percent.

What is Solar Panel Made of?  Solar panel is typically constructed with  crystalline silicon, which is used in other industries...       How Much is Solar Panel Power Produce? In direct sunlight at the surface of the equator, a maximally efficient photovoltaic cell about...   Where does Solar Energy Come from? Solar energy originates in the depths of our sun. We encounter the resultant energy...   Discover of Making Solar Panel Making solar panels is a fragile process, and for this reason that major solar advances...