2. The History of Solar Panels
In 1767, a Swiss scientist named Horace-Benedict de Saussure created the
first solar energy collector (Exploring Green Technology par.1)
It was not until 1839 Edmond Becquerel really founded the photoelectric
effect that truly opened the industry (Exploring Green Technology par.2)
Albert Einstein came up with photoelectric effect, which laid a foundation to
solar energy (Exploring Green Technology par.6)
Solar power became very popular during the WWII (Exploring Green
Technology par.17
3. The photoelectric effect
Photoelectric effect contains both light’s wave-particle duality and quantum
mechanics
Einstein thinks that light is consist of quanta, what we called photons.
The photons can hit semiconductor particles with very large amount of energy
and eject an electron out making a hole in the electron orbit.
And the free moving electrons in Brownian Motion create current!
(Helmenstine par.2)
4. Semiconductors
Silicon is a very popular form of semiconductor used in solar cells.
Notice that is has four electrons in the outer shell, it behaves like a carbon
and join hands with other four silicon atoms to form a stable crystalline
structure
Once a impurity is added to the semiconductors, like a phosphorous atom is
added in every million of silicon atoms, the five electron outer shell made it
hard to form stable bonds and made the extra electrons more susceptible to
photons (Toothman 3)
5. And the rest……
After a electron hole is made on the particle surface, electrons will want to
fill in the hole.
By using electric field you can separate the electrons from where they want
to go and lead them to it forms a current.
And then you have power, electric power (Toothman 4)
9. Work sited
Toothman, Jessika, and Scott Aldous. "HowStuffWorks "How Silicon Makes a Solar
Cell"." HowStuffWorks. Discovery, n.d. Web. 3 Apr.
2014.<http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-cell.htm>
Advameg, Inc, "Solar Cells - Chemistry Encyclopedia - structure, metal, equation,
The pn Junction." Chemistry: Foundations and Applications. 2011. Web. 3 Apr.
2014.<http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Ru-Sp/Solar-Cells.html>
Helmenstine, Anne M. "Photoelectric Effect - Explanation of the Photoelectric
Effect." About.com Chemistry. About.com Chemistry, n.d. Web. 8 Apr.
2014.<http://chemistry.about.com/od/electronicstructure/a/photoelectric-
effect.htm>
Exploring Green Technology. "History of Solar Energy." Exploring Green Technology
| Solar, Wind, And Green Energy Technology. ExploringGreenTechnology.com, n.d.
Web. 5 May 2014.http://exploringgreentechnology.com/solar-energy/history-of-
solar-energy/
Thiele, Timothy. "Solar Power - Top 10 Solar Energy Uses...Solar Power At Its Finest
- Uses For Solar Panels." About.com Electrical. About.com, n.d. Web. 5 May 2014.
http://electrical.about.com/od/appliances/tp/Top-10-Solar-Energy-Uses.htm
