AwestSolar

 

Welcome to awestsolar. This page is for educational purposes. If you would like additional information, send us an email at information@awestsolar.com Solar power is the result of converting sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly with concentrating solar power (CSP), which normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power. Solar panels (arrays of photovoltaic cells) make use of renewable energy from the sun, and are a clean and environmentally sound means of collecting solar energy. Here at awestsolar we provide you with information relating to solar panels and the field of photovoltaic technology.

Solar Panels

Solar panels are typically constructed with cystalline silicon, which is used in other industries (such as the microprocessor industry), and the more expensive gallium arsenide, which is produced exclusively for use in photovoltaic (solar) cells.

Other, more efficient solar panels are assembled by depositing amorphous silicon alloy in a continuous roll-to-roll process. The solar cells created from this process are called Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells, or A-si. Solar Panels constructed using amorphous silicon technology are more durable, efficient, and thinner than their crystalline counterparts.

For very important solar projects, such as space probes that have to rely on solar energy, very-high efficiency solar cells are constructed from gallium arsenide by a process called molecular beam epitaxy. Solar cells constructed by this process have several p-n junction diodes, each designed to be maximally efficient at absorbing a given part of the solar spectrum. This solar panels are much more efficient than conventional types, but the process and materials involved make them far too expensive for everyday applications.

The newest solar panels function on the molecular or quantum level, and represent an exciting new technology coming into play. These solar panels are created by implanting carbon nanotubes or quantum dots into a treated plastic. Unlike silicon-based solar panels, these solar panels do not have to be constructed in a clean room, and therefore production costs are somewhat dimished.

Photovoltaics

Solar panels collect solar radiation from the sun and actively convert that energy to electricity. The solar cells on these solar panels make use of the extremely small fraction of the sun's energy that passes through earth's atmosphere and strikes the cells on the solar collector. The efficiency of these solar panels, and the resultant energy produced is dependant on many climatic, geographic, and weather-related factors. Arid climates are ideal for solar panels, and they will produce more energy in areas where they are exposed to direct sunlight under clear skies. But even at optimal efficiency, solar panels only convert a small percentage of the energy that strikes it into usable energy. The efficiency factors is in the tens for most solar cells. Advanced solar cells, like those used on the Voyager spacecraft, have much higher efficiency ratings, but are much too expensive to produce en masse for general purposes.