How do you get energy from solar panels

How do I get solar power?

Here are the steps to take to get powered by sunshine. Choose a solar installer. An installer can help you determine whether your roof is suitable for solar panels. Begin by researching qualified, insured installers online or asking for recommendations from people who’ve gone solar.

How do solar panels turn sunlight into 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.

How do solar panels work?

You're likely most familiar with PV, which is utilized in solar panels. When the sun shines onto a solar panel, energy from the sunlight is absorbed by the PV cells in the panel. This energy creates electrical charges that move in response to an internal electrical field in the cell, causing electricity to flow.

How does a solar cell generate electricity?

In the photovoltaic effect, photons from the sunlight are absorbed by a solar cell. Those photons energize the electrons within the solar cell material, causing them to escape their atomic bonds and become free. Solar cells have a PN junction composed of semiconductor materials, which directs the flow of free electrons, generating electricity.

How do solar panels capture sunlight?

Solar panels capture sunlight through a process known as the photovoltaic effect (this is why they’re also called photovoltaics or PVs). Technically speaking, the photovoltaic effect is a property of specific materials called semiconductors (nonmetals with conductive properties) that create an electric current when exposed to sunlight.

How do solar panels convert solar energy into heat?

Instead, the solar panels, known as "collectors," transform solar energy into heat. Sunlight passes through a collector's glass covering, striking a component called an absorber plate, which has a coating designed to capture solar energy and convert it to heat.