Solar Homes Blog

Creating a green living environment is most effectively accomplished by switching from conventional sources of energy to renewable sources of energy. One of the most common and effective sources of renewable energy is solar power. Many hundreds of thousands of households have converted to home solar power as their main source of heat and energy. The benefits are endless as the environment is protected and the pockets are relieved of financial stress! But how do home solar power sources really work?

Home solar power is mainly acquired through installation of home solar panels attached to the roofs of houses. They are a common sight on many rooftops and people immediately understand the environmental implications when they see them. What most people do not understand, however, is how the sun’s energy ends up powering the house!

Well, simply put, solar panels allow conversion of the sun’s energy into electricity. More specifically, solar panels have what are called photovoltaic cells (PV) that directly convert sunlight into electricity or heat. Now that we are getting more technical, let us find out how PV cells do what they do.

PV cells are made of special materials called semiconductors. The most commonly used semiconductor or element in PV cells is silicon, which has proven to be most effective at helping to convert the sun’s energy to electricity. When stripped of its impurities, silicon makes an ideal stage for transmission of electrons in the PV cell. PV cells actually work to produce current as a result of free flowing electrons through the circuit.

Sunlight contains many energy elements or particles, one of which is the photon. When the sunlight strikes the PV cells, the photons come into contact with the silicon and are absorbed within it. This basically means that the energy of the absorbed light is transferred to the silicon or whichever other semiconductor in use in the PV cell. The energy produced knocks electrons loose, allowing them to flow freely, thereby producing current. As this energy transfer continues to happen, electrons continue to be knocked around, and electricity is eventually generated.

PV cells also all have one or more electric fields that act to force electrons free by light absorption to flow in a certain direction. This flow of electrons, as previously mentioned, is a current, and by placing metal contacts on the top and bottom of the PV cell, we can draw that current off to be used externally. The end result is, of course, electricity for the home! Now you are ready to do it yourself.

From the information outlined in the previous paragraphs, we have successfully explored the process by which seemingly unsuspecting home solar panels convert the sun’s light into electricity. It is evident that no environmental impurities are released in the process, making home solar panels an excellent choice when thinking about converting from conventional energy sources.