Describe How A Solar Panel Produce Electricity

How much energy does a solar panel produce.

Describe how a solar panel produce electricity.

For the sake of example if you are getting 5 hours of direct sunlight per day in a sunny state like california you can calculate your solar panel output this way. This electricity can then be used to supply renewable energy to your home or business. This is a well known phenomenon and you will see it listed in the specifications on your solar panel datasheet. Simply put a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity.

5 hours x 290 watts an example wattage of a premium solar panel 1 450 watts hours or roughly 1 5 kilowatt hours kwh. Solar panels actually comprise many smaller units. How much energy does a 100 watt solar panel produce. Solar powered photovoltaic pv panels convert the sun s rays into electricity by exciting electrons in silicon cells using the photons of light from the sun.

This flow travels in a circuit of wires that connect groups of solar panels called arrays. Inside each solar panel is a conductive metal plate connected to wires that lead to a fused array combiner. Because of physics there are losses in converting the energy from the sun into dc power and turning the dc power into ac power. When subject to sunlight photovoltaic cells create a flow of electric charge inside the solar panel due to the photoelectric effect.

The conversion of sunlight into electrical energy by a solar cell is called the photovoltaic effect hence why we refer to solar cells as photovoltaic. Solar panels contain cells of semiconductive material usually silicon usually encased in a metallic frame and tempered glass. This is because that solar panels produce less electricity when it s hot. The electricity generated flows to the edge of the panel and into a conductive wire.

Sunlight hits the solar panels and creates an electric field. Solar panels produce direct current dc and your home runs on alternating current ac. Energy from the array is sent through an inverter which transforms the initial direct electrical current into the alternating electrical current required to power human made structures. A solar panel is made up of six different components but arguably the most important one is the photovoltaic cell which actually generates electricity.

This ratio of ac to dc is called the derate factor and is typically about 8. It is called the power temperature coefficient and it will be listed as a percentage of power output loss per degree celsius c.