Solar Panels

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Solar Cells are made up of silicon with semiconducting properties, chemical doping will be done with phosphorus with silicon on the negative side (-ve) is called an N-type junction diode (surplus of electrons) and boron with silicon on the positive side (+ve) is called as P-type junction diode (deficit of electrons). When the doped silicon absorbs photons released from the sun, the electrons flow from negative to positive which establish the flow of current.

A group of solar cells (semi-conducting devices) working on a PN-junction diode working principle. A group of solar cells connected in parallel and series, togetherly called “Solar Panels”.

 From Solar Panels, Direct Current (DC) power is generated initially, with the help of Solar Inverter electricity is converted into Alternating Current (AC) used in Residential appliances. The solar panel installation is used for solar ground-mounted and solar rooftop purposes. There are different types of solar panel technologies:

  1. Monocrystalline
  2. Polycrystalline
  3. Thin Films
  4. Bifacial Solar Panels
  5. Concentrated PV
  6. Solar Tiles
  7. Transparent Solar Panels

Each of these technologies are having its own solar cell efficiency and benefits. These solar panels are installed in series and parallel, which forms an “Array” which will be having a generation capacity in a range of W-kW scale, arrays can be installed on the rooftop and ground-mounted as well. A number of arrays connected in series and parallel are called “Solar Parks” which will be having a generation capacity in a range of kW-MW scale. 

  1. Monocrystalline Solar Panels: (Panel Efficiency 18% & Higher) These cells are manufactured from a single silicon crystal (sliced wafers from “ingots”), these are connected in rows and columns. (Manufacturing process of solar cells)
  2. Polycrystalline Solar Panels: (Panel Efficiency 15-17%) These cells are manufactured from multiple crystalline fragments of silicon. These fragments may be the leftover pieces from monocrystalline cell production which are arranged in an irregular manner. these are rectangular than the cell in monocrystalline cells.
  3. Thin Films: (Panel Efficiency 11-15%) These are also known as second-generation cells made up of different materials:
    1. Amorphous Silicon
    2. Gallium Arsenide
    3. Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS)
    4. Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)

    These think films are very thin when compared to “mono” and “poly”. These panels can be applied as an adhesive directly on surfaces likes residential roofs, boats, any other open surface and bodies, etc. 

Solar panel Technological Developments:

Continuous research and development are taking place on solar panels focusing on:

  1. Improving the efficiency of solar panels
  2. Minimize the cost of the material 
  3. Increase the life span of the panels
  4. Availability of solar panels in different forms
  5. More options of recycling the solar modules and cells

Reference: https://solarmagazine.com/solar-panels/ 

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