How does a solar cell work? Is it possible to create one using simple lab apparatus?
Asked by: Megha Answer Solar cells (photovoltaics), use the energy from light photons to create electrical potential between two layers of silicon crystal. The atomic nature of silicon, with some added impurities, is what makes it all possible. The outer orbital electron shell of a silicon atom contains four electrons. Since it takes eight electrons to fill the electron shell, a silicon atom is continually looking for four electrons to bond with. This it finds by bonding covalently with other atoms of silicon forming a characteristic crystalline structure. Silicon atoms thusly joined are very stable and are not electrically conductive, but this is where the impurities come in. By “doping” the silicon with substances such as phosphorus and boron, entirely different electrical properties are introduced into the silicon creating semi-conductive material. For instance, when phosphorus joins with silicon, it creates an N-type semi-conductive material because phosphorus has five electrons in
Related Questions
- The idea of the HTML_AJAX is very good, but the documentation is very confused. Its possible to create a more simple and direct tutorial, as SAJAX and XAJAX?
- IEC 61131-3 seems to be very complicated. Is it still possible to create simple Ladder programs by users unfamiliar with IEC 61131-3?
- Is it possible to create simple IVR applications using SpeechDraw?
