Voltaic/Solar Cell question?

Question

I've noticed that solar batteries are always broken up into little sections. Does each section as an individual voltaic cell - and then all of them are connected to series/parrallel?
I know that the frequancy of light affects voltage, and amplitude of light effects amperage. So with that reasoning, i figured that the size of the solar cell won't affect voltage, but would only affect amperage. So the question is this: if i take a square foot of solar cells, but make each cell really small, like a eighth of an inch square, and connect it all in serious, would i be able to make a solar cell that would output 100's of volts or electricity, but have low amperage output?

Answer 1

You know you got it about right.

If you had 100 one volt cells that all put out 1 amp each and hooked all of them in series you would have 100 volts and one amp. Or if you hooked all 100 in parallel you would have one volt and 100 amps. And yes it is just the same has with batteries.

In a SunWize 115 Watt panel, Open Circuit volts (Voc) 21.0, Short Circuit amps (Isc) 7.65 and normally a solar panel has 36 cells in them. For this solar panel one solar cell is .583 volts and your amps would be .2125 each. Not all panels are made just alike. You could still use half the cells and have either half the volts or half the amps.

Answer 2

Solar cells act similar to batteries in that if you connect them in series, there will be an increase in voltage, but no change in current (amperage). Now the funny thing is, no matter how you arrange the solar cells, the power output (wattage) will be the same because power is equal to voltage X current. So increasing voltage (by making splitting up the solar cell and connecting in series) will decrease current for the same amount of silicon. Each cell delivers about a volt (I don't remember exactly) so you would need about a hundred cell or more cells for 100+ volts, which wouldn't be too tough except for the price.

As for the second question, if it is several solar cells in a battery, it is probably connected by series- Because if you want more current, just make a bigger cell, instead of more small ones.