Production of Solar Panels
Solar panel adoption has been a slow but ongoing process around the world. More and more energy is generated by power companies using vast arrays of solar panels and by individual homeowners using the solar energy not only for their own homes but to feed electricity into the common power grid. Adoption has been slow, however, largely due to the complex and expensive production process of solar panels.
Other People Are Reading
-
Solar Cells
-
Solar cells are created by layering two types of silicon, each with particular impurities, creating diodes, a semiconducting construction that allows electric current to pass in one direction but not the other. When exposed to light, photons within a certain frequency knock electrons from one of the silicon layers toward the other and thus create current.
Types
-
There are three types of solar panels currently being produced. Monocrystalline panels are made from single large crystals produced in sheets which can be cut to create a single cell for each solar panel. These are the most efficient type of solar panels but also the most expensive to make. Polycrystalline panels use smaller cells connected in a series. These are the most common solar panels available today. Amorphous, or thin film, solar panels use silicon that does not have a crystalline structure but is rather spread over the solar panel material. Amorphous solar cells are relatively inexpensive to produce and are quite durable and require fewer components than other types of cells. They are, however, less efficient. Amorphous solar panels also wear out with use faster than other types.
-
Costs
-
The cost of production is falling rapidly. One company, First Solar, reports that it can construct solar cells at a price of less than $1 per watt. Production costs, however, are only a part of the barrier to greater solar power adoption. Installation costs still remain rather high.
The Near Future
-
If their efficiency can be improved thin film solar cells may pave the way to a future with much higher use of solar power. Some scientists even predict that homeowners will soon be able to "print" solar cells from home ink jet type printers.
Experimental Work
-
Other advances that may simplify production include the use of organically based carbon nanotubes which can take the place of layers of silicon to create diodes. These are reportedly more efficient conductors even than copper. If engineers can employ carbon nanotubes in this way, it may be possible one day to simply paint solar cells onto surfaces like walls or the rooftops of houses or cars. Predictions about the future of solar technology, however, have thus far been notoriously off base.
-
References
- Photo Credit Solar Panels image by alessbonaventura from Fotolia.com
