how solar panels work (and why they\'re taking over the world)

by:Tunto     2020-03-21
From the popular mechanical solar energy is crucial for many future.
At the micro level, there is a booming solar industry in the United States and around the world.
Since Congress passed the tax credit in 2006, the Solar Industry Association (SEIA)
He said the industry has grown at an average annual rate of 50% over the past decade.
This will be macro news in most areas.
But the mission of solar power is not just to make money.
It\'s supposed to save the Earth.
No plan to stop mankind.
Without solar panels and the energy they can convert, the Earth\'s climate is permanently distorted, causing global warming.
\"The role of renewable energy solutions in mitigating climate change has been confirmed,\" the United Nations development project said . \".
Some industry insiders believe that in order to alleviate this demand, solar energy will grow by 6,500 as an industry by 2050.
Although solar panels are important, they are still mysterious.
Stiff, black rectangle with a slight threat, with neither the look of the Savior nor the feeling of the Savior.
The spectacular waterfalls and dams look heroic, but the solar panels are not. So. . .
How do they work?
The solar work began in 1839 when a young French physicist named Edmund Becquerel discovered what is now called a photovoltaic effect.
Becquerel works in a family business.
His father Antoine Becquerel is a good man.
Famous French scientists who are increasingly interested in electricity.
Edmund was very interested in the role of light, and when he was 19, their two interests were met --
He found that electricity could be generated by sunlight.
Over the years, the technology has made small and stable progress.
In their 1940 s, scientists like Maria Telkes tried to store energy from the sun with sodium acetate to build Dover solar houses.
Engineer Russell Shoemaker Ochs examined a cracked silicon sample while studying semiconductors and noticed that it was still conducting electricity despite cracks.
But the biggest leap took place in April 25, 1954, when chemist Calvin Fuller, physicist Gerald Pearson, and engineer Daryl chalbin revealed they had made the first practical silicon.
Like Ochs, the three worked for Bell Labs and had previously been challenged to create that balance.
If regular batteries run out, Chapin has been trying to create power for remote phones in the desert.
Pearson and Fuller are studying the performance of controlling semiconductors, which will later be used to power computers.
The three men decided to cooperate, aware of each other\'s work.
These earliest solar cells were basically manufactured by hand.
Robert Margolis, senior energy analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said: \"The assembled equipment (NREL).
To understand how silicon solar panels generate electricity, it needs to be scaled down to the atomic level.
The atomic number of silicon is 14, which means that it has 14 protons in the center and 14 electrons in the center.
Using a classic image of an atomic circle, there are three circles moving in the center.
In the most complete two electrons, eight in the middle.
However, the outermost circle containing four electrons is halffull.
This means that it always wants to fill itself up with the help of nearby atoms.
When they are connected, the so-called crystal structure is formed.
With all these electrons reaching out and connecting to each other, there is not much room for the current to move.
That\'s why the silicon found in solar panels is impure and mixed with another element like phosphorus.
The outermost circle of phosphorus has five electrons.
The fifth electron becomes a so-called \"free carrier\" that can carry current without much stimulation.
Scientists increase the number of free carriers by adding impurities to a process called doping.
The result is what we know, N-type silicon. N-
The surface of the solar panel is silicon.
Under the opposite mirrorP-type silicon. Whereas N-
Silicon has an extra electron, P-
Type uses impurities from elements such as gallium or boron, which have fewer electrons.
This creates another imbalance, when the sun shines on P-
Type, the electrons start to move to fill the gap between each other.
A balancing action repeated over and over to generate electricity.
Solar cells are made of silicon wafers.
These elements are made of silicon, a hard and brittle crystal solid that is the second richest element on Earth after oxygen.
If you see shiny black spots on the beach, it\'s silicon.
As Ochs discovered, it naturally converts sunlight into electricity.
Like other crystals, silicon can grow.
Scientists, like scientists at Bell Labs, grow silicon in test tubes as a single, uniform crystal, expand the test tubes, and cut the resulting flakes into so-called wafers.
\"Imagine the round rod,\" compare EnergySage, founder and CEO of Pandit Aggarwal ~
Shopping market for solar panels.
The stick was cut down like an \"salami\" and a roll of salami was cut into thin sandwiches --
\"They shaved their beard very thin,\" he said.
This is a very difficult place in history --
Either too thick, too wasteful, or too thin to make them inaccurate and prone to cracking.
\"They are trying to make these wafers as thin as possible and get as much value from the crystals as possible.
This type of solar cell is made by single
Crystalline silicon.
While the first solar cell is similar in appearance to today\'s, there are some differences.
Returning to Bell Labs, the initial hope was that solar cells would be good for the upcoming space race, so it would be good to keep weight, says Margolis.
Photovoltaic cells are well known to be placed in a lightweight package. And it worked.
Just four years after the first working solar cell development, in March 17, 1958, the Naval Research Laboratory built and launched the world\'s first solar cell
Power satellite.
Today, the quality of photovoltaic cells
Making and cutting with a laser is more accurate than any scientist at Bell Labs can imagine.
When they are used in space, they find more purpose and value on Earth.
As a result, solar manufacturers now do not emphasize weight, but strength and durability.
Goodbye, light package, hello glass that can withstand the weather.
One of the main concerns of any solar manufacturer is efficiency --
How much sunlight on solar panels per square meter can be converted into electricity.
Aggarwal said it was \"a basic math problem\" at the center of all solar production \".
Efficiency here refers to the passage of P and N-type silicon.
\"Let\'s say you have 100 square feet of space on your roof,\" he said in a hypothesis . \".
\"In this limited space, if the efficiency of the panel is 10%, then it is less than 20% efficient.
Efficiency refers to how much electrons can be generated per square inch of silicon wafer.
The more efficient they are, the more economic they can bring.
About a decade ago, solar efficiency hovered around 13%, Margolis said.
Solar efficiency rose to 20% in 2019.
There is a clear upward trend, but one that says Margolis has a limit on silicon.
Due to the nature of silicon as an element, the upper limit of solar panels is 29%. So. . .
Where are we going from here?
Some scientists are studying the use of new materials.
There is a mineral called perovskite described by Aggarwal as \"very exciting.
\"For the first time in the Urals Mountains in western Russia, perovskite has attracted attention in the test --
Efficiency increased from 10% in 2012 to 20% in 2014.
It can be made manually with ordinary industrial metals, making it easier to find, and using a simpler process to conduct electricity than the balance dance of P-type and N-type silicon.
But both Aggarwal and Margolis have warned that the technology is still in its early stages.
\"The efficiency of the lab is rapidly improving, but the lab is different from the real world,\" Margolis said . \".
While perovskite shows great progress in the clean environment, when it is introduced into elements like water, it shows a rapid drop, which may be encountered in daily use.
Margolis and his team are working on a concept that he calls \"solar energy\" rather than new materials.
\"As solar usage increases,\" the interaction of solar energy with other overall buildings \"has the potential to improve, he said.
Imagine the summer in this city is very hot.
You go to work in the office and go home at night.
It\'s hot and humid, so you turn on the air conditioner-
The same is true of the rest of the city.
The power grid became tense.
But Margolis believes it is possible to store and utilize solar energy to reduce stress.
\"Two hours before you go home, the air conditioner may be in advance when the sun is still running
Run ahead and cool your house.
\"In the cold winter, the risk of frozen pipes is also the same.
\"During the hot day, you can super heat your water, and you can also wash dishes or take a bath with hot water the next morning. . .
We are just beginning to think about how to integrate solar energy into our system.
\"Despite solar domination like natural gas competition and a political climate conducive to fossil fuels, Margolis is optimistic.
\"We are at a time when utilities and engineers understand that solar energy has become big enough and we have to deal with it.
The challenge is interesting. \"(
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