This document provides a history of solar panels from 1839 when the photovoltaic effect was first observed up until modern applications. It discusses key inventors such as Becquerel, Smith, Fritts, and Ohl who made early breakthroughs. The principles of solar panels using silicon cells are explained along with the major types of panels. Merits include being environmentally friendly and having low maintenance, while demerits include limited nighttime use and high upfront costs. Future applications include large solar farms and use in space.

1. ACROPOLIS INSTITUTION OF TECHNOLOGY
AND RESEARCH,INDORE
TOPIC :- SOLAR PANEL
SUBMITTED TO:-
SWATI HILLAL MA’AM
SUBMITTED BY:-
DAKSHESH SINGH SHERAWAT
CHETAN SINGH SISODIYA
DHARMENDRA SONGIRA
DALI VAISHNAV
DEVANSH DIXIT

2. CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
HISTORY
PRINCIPLE
TYPES
WORKING
PROCESS
MERITS
&
DEMERITS
FUTURE
ASPECTS
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

4. The most common way of harnessing energy from
the sun is through photovoltaic (PV) panels – those
large, mirror-like panels you've likely seen on
rooftops, handheld solar devices, and even
spacecrafts. These panels operate as conductors,
taking in the sun's rays, heating up, and creating
energy (and electricity).

5. HISTORY
In 1839, the ability of some materials to
create an electrical charge from light
exposure was first observed by the
French physicist Edmond Becquerel. At
age 19, experimenting in his father's
laboratory, Becquerel created the world's
first photovoltaic cell. In this experiment,
silver chloride or silver bromide was used
to coat the platinum electrodes; once the
electrodes were illuminated, voltage and
current were generated.

6. HISTORY
Because of this work, the
photovoltaic effect has also been
known as the "Becquerel effect".
Though these initial solar panels
were too inefficient for even
simple electric devices, they were
used as an instrument to
measure light.

7. HISTORY
Willoughby Smith was an English electrical
engineer who discovered photo conductivity of
the element selenium. This discovery eventually
led to the invention of photoelectric cells. In
1848, he began working for the Gutta Percha
Company in London where he developed iron
and copper wires insulated for use as under
water telegraph wires. In 1849, Smith
supervised the manufacture and laying of 30
miles of underwater telegraph wire from Dover,
England to Calais, France.

8. HISTORY
In 1873. Smith developed a method for
continually testing an underwater cable as it
was being laid. For his test circuit, he needed a
semi-conducting material with a high resistance
and selected selenium rods. Selenium seemed
to do the job in the lab, but in actual practice the
device was inconsistent. He discovered though a
lab experiment that the conductivity of the
selenium rods increased significantly when
exposed to sunlight.

9. HISTORY
In 1881, the American inventor
Charles Fritts created the first
commercial solar panel, which
was reported by Fritts as
"continuous, constant and of
considerable force not only by
exposure to sunlight but also to
dim, diffused daylight."[4] However,
these solar panels were very
inefficient

10. HISTORY
Charles Fritts was the American
inventor credited with creating the
first working selenium cell in 1883.
The world's first rooftop solar
array, using Fritts' selenium cells,
was installed in 1884 on a New
York City rooftop. Fritts coated the
semiconductor material selenium
with an extremely thin layer of
gold.

11. HISTORY
In 1939, Russell Ohl created the solar cell design that is used in many
modern solar panels. He patented his design in 1941.[5] In 1954, this
design was first used by Bell Labs to create the first commercially
viable silicon solar cell. Russell S. Ohl was an American engineer
who was a notable semiconductor researcher. In 1839, he discovered
the P-N junction (having a positive side and a negative side inside a
single crystal semiconductor). He studied the conductivity and
properties of various types of crystals. His work with
semiconductors and P-N junction led to things such as the
transistor, LEDs and laser diodes, and in 1841, his creation of the first
silicon solar cell, a design still used in today’s modern solar
photovoltaic (PV) panels!

12. PRINCIPLE
Solar panel is made by Solar
cells. Solar cell is also called as
photo-voltaic cell. And most
common solar cell is silicon.
Silicon is by far the most
common semiconductor
material used in solar cells. A
solar cell is made of n-type and
p-type silicon sandwiched
(attached) together.

13. This energy creates electrical charges that move is response
to an internal electrical field in the cell, causing electricity to
flow. PV into DC electricity. The current flows into an inverter,
which converts is to AC electricity to use. Solar cell do not
utilize chemical reactions or require fuel to produce electric
power and they do not have any moving parts. When photons,
or particles of light hit the thin layer of the silicon on the top of
the solar panel, the knock electrons of the silicon atoms. When
the sun shines onto a solar panel, energy from sunlight is
absorbed by the photo voltaic cells in the panel.

14. TYPES
There are 4 major types of
solar panels available on the
market today .
➢ Monocrystalline Solar Panel
➢ Polycrystalline Solar Panel
➢ PERC
➢ Thin-Film Panels

15. MONOCRYSTALLINE
SOLAR PANEL
A monocrystalline solar panel is a solar
panel comprising monocrystalline solar
cells. These cells are made from a
cylindrical silicon ingot grown from a
single crystal of silicon of high purity in
the same way as a semiconductor. These
panels are quite popular among solar
rooftops in urban and rural areas.

16. POLYCRYSTALLINE
SOLAR PANEL
Polycrystalline or Multicrystalline solar
panels are solar panels that consist of
several crystals of silicon in a single PV
cell. These solar panels are square in
shape and they have a shining blue hue as
they are made up of several crystals of
silicon. They are used in standalone or
self-powered devices such as traffic
lights in remote areas, off-grid
households, etc.

17. PERC
SOLAR PANEL
PERC also known as “Passivated Emitter
and Rear Contact” solar cells, are
becoming more common today as an
option for making solar panels. PERC
solar cells are modified conventional cells
that enable the cells to produce 6 to 12
percent more energy than conventional
solar panels.

18. THIN-FILM
SOLAR PANEL
A thin-film solar cell is a second
generation solar cell that is made by
depositing one or more thin layers, or thin
film (TF) of photovoltaic material on a
substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal.
But these are less efficient and have
lower power capacities than mono and
polycrystalline solar cell types.

19. Merits of Solar Panel
1. Solar energy is environment friendly . When in use, it does not
release CO2and other gases which pollute the air . Hence, it is
very suitable for India, India being one of the most polluted
countries of the world.
2. Solar energy can be used for variety of purposes like as
heating, drying, cooking or electricity, which is suitable for the
rural areas in India. It can also be used in cars, planes, large
power boats, satellites, calculators and many more such items,
just apt for the urban population.
3. Virtually no maintenance as solar panels last over 30 years.

21. Merits of Solar Panel
4. Solar power is inexhaustible. In an energy deficient country
like India, where power generation is costly, solar energy is the
best alternate means of power generation.
5. Creates jobs by employing solar panel manufacturers, solar
installers, etc. and in turn helps the economy.
6. Excess power can be sold back to the power company if the
grid inner tied.

23. Demerits of Solar Panel
1. We cannot generate energy during the night time with
solar energy.
2. Only those areas that receive good amount of sunlight
are suitable for producing solar energy.
3. Solar panels also require inverters and storage batteries
to convert direct electricity to alternating electricity so as to
generate electricity. While installing a solar panel is quite
cheap, installing other equipments becomes expensive.

25. Demerits of Solar Panel
4. Energy production is quite low compared to other forms of
energy.
5. Cloudy days do not produce as much energy.
6. Solar panels are not being massed produced due to a lack of
material and technology to lower the cost enough to be more
affordable (this is starting to change).
7. Lower solar production in the winter months.

26. FUTURE ASPECTS
Generation of solar energy has tremendous scope in India. The
geographical location of the country stands to its benefit for
generating solar energy. The reason being India is a tropical
country and it receives solar radiation almost throughout the
year, which amounts to 3,000 hours of sunshine. This is equal to
more than 5,000 trillion kWh. Almost, all parts of India receive
4-7 kWh of solar radiation per sq meters. This is equivalent to
2,300–3,200 sunshine hours per year

27. FUTURE ASPECTS
States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, and West
Bengal have great potential for tapping solar energy due to their
location. Since majority of the population live in rural areas,
there is much scope for solar energy being promoted in these
areas. Use of solar energy can reduce the use of firewood and
dung cakes by rural household. Many large projects have been
proposed in India, some of them are: i).Thar Desert of India has
best solar power projects, estimated to generate 700 to 2,100
GW, ii). The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)
launched by the Centre is targeting 20,000 MW of solar energy
power by 2022.

29. Well talking about Future Aspects of using Solar panel is not
only limited to earth. It is also used in space crafts, rovers,
satellites etc. And this is the more efficient way of harnessing
sun energy to run the technical machines and in future it will
be going to used on a large scale.

31. This is the International Space Station orbiting around the
earth also known as ISS. It is launched by 5 participating
space agencies. As you can see there’s an entire system of
solar panels on it and to run the whole station more amount of
energy is required other then the fuel.

32. CONCLUSION
So at the last I want conclude that the solar energy is a
clean, pollution free and renewable source of energy.
We just have to figure out that where we are lagging in the
technology and other resources so that we can extract
more amount of energy from the solar panels.

33. BIBLIOGRAPHY
➢ WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM
➢ WWW.RESEARCHGATE.NET
➢ WWW.SEPCO-SOLARLIGHTING.COM
➢ WWW.HISTORYINFORMATION.COM
➢ WWW.BRITANICA.COM
➢ WWW.SMITHSONIANMAG.COM