How Do Solar Panels Work?
Even though solar panels have become a mainstream affair, I still hear the question, how do solar panels work? They do seem magical if you don’t understand the functioning behind them.
Think about it. It’s not connected to anything mechanical, like a wind mill or water mill or stream generator, all which require a mechanical generator to convert kinetic energy to electrical energy.
Solar panels are different in that they convert not kinetic energy but photonic energy to electrical energy. Now, we are not going Star Trek on you and I may just be making this up, but truly, your solar panels are creating electrical energy because of photons in the light striking the solar cells.
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Hmm, thinking about it, it may just be an extreme from of kinetic energy conversion! At the molecular level. Photons are still a bit of a mystery but we can gauge and measure the results we see when dealing with photons.
But photons are moving. And they are striking the solar panels at the molecular level, and they are moving electronics into motion, so maybe.
How’s that for scientific. But enough of that for now.
How Do Solar Panels Work – Construction
When we are looking at how do solar panels work, we must also consider the physical construction of a standard solar panel.
If you look closely, most solar panels are built from many smaller panels or better called solar modules. It seems counter productive when trying to build larger solar panels, but there is a reason behind this.
If any one small section of a solar panel has a manufacturer defect, then the whole panel is defective. Breaking up the solar panel into solar modules, each can be tested before, and during assembly.
Now, a solar panel is traditionally made with 36 solar modules all wired in series. Each module outputs about 1/2 of a volt, so putting 36 of them in series, will create a solar panel that outputs a maximum voltage of 18 volts. (0.5 x 36).
Now, your solar panel will not output 18 volts all of the time, only when it is getting maximum sunlight. The voltage can drop off dramatically on a partially shaded solar panel. Again, this is the effect of the modules being wired in series.
If you are not getting maximum sunlight, it is not unusual for your solar panel to only output 3 to 5 volts. At this point, your solar cells are pretty much useless.
Next, you will want to mount these solar modules in a water tight container that has a glass cover on the top. This will allow maximum sunlight penetration while protecting the sensitive solar modules within.
We’ve taken a quick look at answering how do solar panels work. I hope that I’ve answered some of your questions. If you are really interested in building your own solar panels, I suggest that you check out the resource below.
