Solar Panels - Your Gateway to Energy Conservation
65The sun has been a source of energy for all forms of life since time immemorial. Have you ever wondered, we are not utilizing even a fraction of this energy properly? With a rapid depletion of the non-renewable sources of energy, brought home by fast paced urbanization; it has become quintessential for human beings to learn to utilize solar power and depend upon it. Solar energy can be used properly by using solar panels. A solar panel acts like a refined form of active solar power. It is actually a device that harvests sunlight and converts it into active electricity.
Constituents of Solar Panels What do these panels constitute? These panels are made up of crystalline silicon. Some people use an alloy of silicon and amorphous to make a solar panel. These alloy based panels are durable, thin and very efficient as compared to the crystalline counterparts of theirs. In some of the solar panels, gallium arsenide is exclusively used to increase the efficiency. Produced by a highly technical process namely molecular beam epitaxy, the arsenide based panels constitute of solar cells with some p-n junction diodes. These diodes absorb a particular part of solar spectrum efficiently.
Although the arsenide based solar panels are more effective than the conventional ones yet they cannot be practiced at home due to them being too expensive. Working on quantum or molecular level, these advanced types of solar panels stand for ultra modern technology being unveiled by them.
Making of a Solar Panel How to successfully make a solar panel is a question on every conservationist’s mind. The process of making a solar panel is very delicate. To make a solar panel, one requires cutting crystalline silicon into very thin disks, thinner even than a centimeter. These wafer-like disks go for polishing thereafter so that any damage occurring due to slicing can be repaired. After the polishing is complete, one spreads the metal conductors evenly all over the disks. Thereafter, only a thin grid like matrix is spread on solar panel's top. This grid ought to face the earth for optimal results. The output of a solar panel also depends on the intricacy with which the wires have been woven. The extent of intricacy of the wires actually deepens the grid hence affecting the amount of energy produced.
What is the source of energy for Sun Having discussed too much about solar panels and solar cells, it is essential for you to know actually where the sun gets its energy from. Actually in the inner layers of sun, a continuous fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium keeps taking place. This fusion liberates high amounts of energy in the form of thermonuclear explosions. And, it is this energy that strikes earth's surface in the form of radiation and produces heat.
The solar panels also use this energy of the radiation and convert it into electrical energy. This electrical energy is thence saved in the batteries for later use by us. In a recent survey, it has been found that more than 10 times of earth's energy requirement of a year goes unused. This can be optimally used for harvesting solar energy to meet our day-to-day energy needs.
