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The evolution of future societies with unlimited energy supply?
Published in Kléber Ghimire, Future Courses of Human Societies, 2018
In the last century, owing to the development of new materials that are able to convert directly the light of the sun into electricity, a new technology called solar cell (which is based on the photovoltaic effect) was created. The photovoltaic effect is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Some materials such as silicon exhibit the photoelectric effect, causing silicon to absorb photons of light and releasing electrons, which results in electric current. In 1905, Albert Einstein described the nature of light and the photoelectric effect on which solar cells technologies are based, and later won a Nobel prize in physics.
Synthesis, Properties, and Applications of Nanowires
Published in Rajendra Kumar Goyal, Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites, 2017
A solar cell (or photovoltaic cell) is an electrical device that converts the energy of light into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. The operation of a solar cell requires three important aspects; (i) absorption of light and generating either electron-hole pairs or excitons, (ii) separation of charge carriers of opposite types, and (iii) separate extraction of those carriers to an external circuit. The high-surface area and the high-electrical conductivity along the length of NWs are suitable for inorganic–organic solar cell. The solar cells made of CdSe NWs have high efficiency [32,33]. Recently, Si NWs with diameter of subwavelength have shown much lower losses compared to those of metallic NWs; hence, they can be used for optical waveguides within visible to near-IR range of spectrum. NWs of Au, Ag, Ni, Pd, etc. can be used as barcode tags [34] for different optical readouts.
Engine performance
Published in Mohammad H. Sadraey, Aircraft Performance, 2017
A sun-powered (or solar-powered) aircraft employs a propeller and electric motors that are powered by the solar arrays/cells/panels. A solar cell (also called a photovoltaic cell) is an electrical device that converts the energy of light (in this case, sunlight) directly into electric energy by the photovoltaic effect. A sun-powered engine is surely quieter than a piston-prop engine.
Technical and economic feasibility assessment for a solar PV mini-grid for Matekenya village
Published in Cogent Engineering, 2022
Peter Maliro, Bakary Diarra, Ravi Samikannu
The PV technology was started after discovering the photovoltaic effect in 1839 (Goetzberger et al., 1998; Mertens, 2014; Taguchi et al., 2019). The photovoltaic effect is a process in which PV cells convert the photon energy from the light into electricity (Simya et al., 2018; Zaidi, 2018; Zhang & Yang, 2019). The discoveries proceeded to improve and the first commercial production started in 1955 by Western Electric. The improvements made in solar PV technology include manufacturing processes, raw materials, and efficiency. Solar cells are interconnected to form solar modules and modules are interconnected to form an array. Solar panels are categorized into monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and Thin-films (Ahmad et al., 2020). Monocrystalline panels are made from multiple independent cells, each cell is made from a single wafer of silicon (Richhariya et al., 2020). They are more efficient compared to other types of solar panels (Richhariya et al., 2020). Their efficiency ranges from 15% to 24%(Ahmad et al., 2020; Tripathy et al., 2016). Polycrystalline solar panels are made from multiple solar cells, each cell is made of silicon wafers. They are more efficient than amorphous solar panels and their efficiencies range from 13% to 18% (Ahmad et al., 2020; Tripathy et al., 2016). Thin-films panels also known as amorphous panels do not contain single independent cells as in other types. They are formed by depositing silicon directly on a glass or plastic to form a panel (Tripathy et al., 2016). They have low efficiency compared to other types of panels.
Methods of extracting silica and silicon from agricultural waste ashes and application of the produced silicon in solar cells: a mini-review
Published in International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 2021
Fortunate Farirai, Maxwell Ozonoh, Thomas Chinedu Aniokete, Orevaoghene Eterigho-Ikelegbe, Mathew Mupa, Benson Zeyi, Michael Olawale Daramola
Figure 11 shows the working mechanism of a solar cell. Basically, a photovoltaic solar cell is a thin wafer which consists of a very thin layer of phosphorous doped (n-type) silicon on top of a thicker layer of boron-doped (p-type) silicon. An electrical field is created near the top surface of the cell where the two materials meet (the P-N junction). The photovoltaic effect is created when sunlight hits the semiconductor surface, thus exciting an electron which is attracted towards the n-type semiconductor material and resulting in generation of current. Current generated by a photovoltaic (PV) solar cell is dependent on its efficiency, size (surface area) and intensity of sunlight hitting the surface (Kumar Moluguri, Murthy, and Harshavardhan 2016). Figure 12 illustrates the progress in solar cell efficiency from 1993–2017.
FOPID based MPPT for photovoltaic system
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2018
P. Jeba, A. Immanuel Selvakumar
Solar energy is a way of converting sun’s rays into useful electrical or heat energy. To obtain electrical energy photovoltaic (PV) cells are used. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using photovoltaic effect. The efficiency of PV cells varies depending on their types and technology used for manufacturing. Solar energy is gaining popularity due to it being sustainable and available abundantly in form of sun’s rays. Output efficiency of PV cells is not very high but this efficiency could be increased if PV cell is truly aligned with sun rays. To achieve this usually solar tracking systems are used which is an electromechanical system that ensures suns radiation remain perpendicular to PV cell throughout the day and during the whole year (Iulia et al. 2014).