How are solar panels made?

Answer 1

Solar panels that make electricity directly from sunlight are arrays of solar cells. Solar cells are semiconductors; similar to computer chips but of simpler design, although making them still requires ultra pure materials and expensive, high tech equipment. Production also takes quite a bit of energy and produces toxic waste.

Answer 2

Solar panels are made of several solar cells, in a solar cell there are two layers of semi conductor material which is usually silicon or germanium. The pure crystals by themselves are insulators the each have four valence electrons and when bonded with other silicon atoms in a crystal their is no imbalance of proton and electrons and therefore no electrical properties.

To make a semi-conductor small levels of impurities are added to the silicon during crystallization with either three (boron) or five (arsenic) valence electrons which imparts a minute positive or negative charge to the crystals. for a photo voltaic cell you will need one wafer of both.

Now to build a photo voltaic cell sandwich a thin dielectric material (insulating) layer between between the silicon wafers attach metal leads to both the top and bottom and you have a rudimentary photo cell.

To get better performances you want maximum contact between the metal leads and the wafers, which is why the bottom of the cell is usually completely coated with metal. but on the surface you need to let the light through so you usually see a metal lattice work on the top. Cells also are usually covered on the surface with a non-reflective coating to maximize the suns energy used for generation of the electric current. Some places have actually experimented with semi-transparent cells that are stacked and placed under a lens that focuses more light onto the top surface to get maximum output.

It's a bit of a delicate balancing act to get a respectable amount of power from a cell.

Answer 3

This is all i could find, hope it helps.

The term solar panel is best applied to a flat solar thermal collector, such as a solar hot water or air panel used to heat water, air, or otherwise collect solar thermal energy. But 'solar panel' may also refer to a photovoltaic module which is an assembly of solar cells used to generate electricity. In all cases, the panels are typically flat, and are available in various heights and widths.

An array is an assembly of solar-thermal panels or photovoltaic (PV) modules; the panels can be connected either in parallel or series depending upon the design objective. Solar panels typically find use in residential, commercial, institutional, and light industrial applications.

Solar-thermal panels saw widespread use in Florida and California until the 1920's when tank-type water heaters replaced them. A thriving manufacturing business died seemingly overnight. However, solar-thermal panels are still in production, and are common in portions of the world where energy costs, and solar energy availability, are high.

Recently there has been a surge toward large scale production of PV modules. In parts of the world with significantly high insolation levels, PV output and their economics are enhanced. PV modules are the primary component of most small-scale solar-electric power generating facilities. Larger facilities, such as solar power plants typically contain an array of reflectors (concentrators), a receiver, and a thermodynamic power cycle, and thus use solar-thermal rather than PV.

Answer 4

DS1's Photovoltaics are made out of gallium arsenide (GaAs). GaAs is made into a cylinder that is then sliced into cells. These solar cells are then connected to the rest of the power network. Solar concentrators, made of clear plastic, are placed above them to focus the Sun's rays.

Answer 5

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