How Do Solar Panels Work? Photovoltaic Guide 2025 | SolarTech
Solar panels have revolutionized how we harness this abundant resource, transforming sunlight directly into usable electricity through an elegant scientific process.
How Does Solar Power Create Electricity? Solar power generates electricity by using either solar thermal systems that convert sunlight into heat to produce steam that drives a generator, or photovoltaic systems, which transform sunlight into electricity through the photovoltaic effect.
A single solar cell won't produce very much electricity on its own – solar panel designers group a bunch of solar cells together into one panel. Most solar panels contain either 60 or 72 smaller solar cells. This results in a more significant electrical current of clean energy. But there's one more step.
Here's how solar arrays create a usable electricity system for your home: As we've explained, the solar cells that make up each solar panel do most of the heavy lifting. Through the photovoltaic effect, your solar panels produce a one-directional electrical current, called direct current (DC) electricity.
Solar cells consist of layers of silicon that turn sunlight into electricity, but it takes more equipment than just that to get energy from the sun into your toaster. You've probably wondered what kind of magic in solar panels converts sunlight into electricity. It's not magic. It's science. Specifically, it's the photovoltaic effect.
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