Introduction to solar panels & how they work
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2020
- In this video, we're going to discover how solar panels work and how they are made. The main 3 parts of the sun are the convective zone, the radiative zone and the core. The core produces almost all of the sun’s heat through the nuclear fusion reaction of hydrogen into helium. This energy is carried by packets of light called photos all the way to earth.
In the late 1800s, scientists tried to capture this solar energy or photons with various elements like selenium, germanium, gallium, lithium and cadmium. In 1954, Bell Labs used silicon to create the first practical solar panel. Pure silicon is extracted from silicon dioxide or sand. This silicon is purified even further using a floating zone technique. This solid pure silicone ingot is sliced into thin wafers, 100-200 mm in width and 100-500 microns in thickness.
Why do we use silicon? First off, it’s a semiconductor. It doesn’t lose electrons as easily as a conductor and it isn’t as resistant to accepting electrons like an insulator. They are very versatile and act as a great base or starting point. Secondly, it’s resistivity falls as its temperature rises unlike metals. This means that when silicon is exposed to the sun and heated up, it allows electrons to flow more easily. Another reason is that silicon is the second most abundant material on earth. Most of the other semiconductor elements like germanium are scarce and hence more expensive.
Silicon has 4 valence electrons which are tied to other silicon atoms so it’s difficult to excite them. Other elements are added to silicon to provide the free electrons. Phosphorus, which has 5 valence electrons, is added to silicon in a process called negative or n type doping. Boron, which has 3 valence electrons, is added to silicon in a process called positive or p type doping. In the region where these n and p doped silicon meet, some free phosphorus electrons move to the boron atoms, and create a stable, depletion region with no free electrons.
Next let’s look at the 6 main components of a solar panel. The middle layer of solar cells are coated in an antireflective titanium dioxide coating helps prevent this loss of photons. Silicon is a shiny material which can reflect 35 percent of the sunlight without the coating. On either side of the panel, we have an EVA or Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Film. On the top side, we have a tempered glass sheet that protects the photovoltaic cells from the weather and impact from hail or debris. We also have a backsheet which acts as a moisture barrier. It is made of various polymers, usually polyvinyl fluoride or PVF. There’s a junction box on the back of the panel where all the cells interconnect. This entire system is wrapped in a light-weight, interlocking aluminium frame and sealed off with silicone to prevent any water or dust particles from damaging the cells.
The electricity generated by solar panels is one directional or DC or direct current. It can work for charging batteries or running a single lightbulb. But if you want to power many household appliances or sell this back to the grid, this DC current has to be converted to AC or alternating current with a solar inverter. This particular panel didn’t come with an inverter, but it does have a charge controller which is a very important part of a solar panel system. It regulates the flow of current to your expensive batteries and protects them from overcharging and undercharging. This charge controller ensures that the voltage at the battery does not exceed the 14 to 15 volt range while charging. It also drops the voltage to the 13.8 volt "float" charge level when charging is complete. The controller will also prevent the discharging of the battery when the solar panel is not in the sun.
So that’s an overview of a solar panel. I have a video on the black or monocrystalline and blue or polycrystalline panels coming out soon. If you have any questions about this video, leave me a comment below. Thanks for watching!
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#solarpanel #howitsmade #howitworks #solarcells #silicon #beginner #introduction - Наука та технологія
That was funny...
"The Power of The Sun, in the Palm of my Hand" 😊😊 I've always loved that quote!
Never gave much thought about how solar panels are made. Thank you for the video, very informative. I also started watching your video's when you talked about turning containers into homes. I was considering buying a container to live in, then I saw that video you posted. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching!
Love your videos :)...They're educational, concise and smartly produced...I learn something new every time I watch them...Keep going please !
The video started, and I see a hammer, putty knife, and a solar panel... Instantly I thought, 'this isn't going to end well'. While it would have been easy to omit that part of the video, I'm actually glad that you included it. Solar panels are extremely fragile, and people need to see this before they try to experiment or improperly install them. I'm enjoying watching your vids, as I'm interested in alternative power/heating solutions, along with the commentary and testing you apply to different building materials and processes. Keep up the good work.
Clear, Precise and Enjoyable. Thank you.
Lessons learned.
Thank you for touching one of my favorite subjects!
Thanks Belinda once again a great overview of solar Panels
Your videos are great. Keep it up! Thanks for making them.
Nice run down from silicon to packaged solar power. Sharing with my kids. 👍
Thanks!
wow you always impress me with what you know and can do
I don't have a question but I have something to say. I first started watching your videos from when you posted about tin container houses & the truth surrounding them. Afterwards I subscribed & I must say I'm not disappointed with that decision. Your videos are becoming more like a movie with the way you're handling them & they're more interesting, captivating & fun to watch. I look forward to future ones on whatever you cover. Keep up the good work. 👍
Wow, thanks a lot for those kind words! They motivate me to work harder. I really appreciate your support!
@@BelindaCarr you're welcome
Just randomly found this channel today and I must say, you have some very cool content... Definitely subscribing
Thanks, Daniel!
Love this. Thank you
Pretty cool - 🦾 info Melinda
Very good explanation
Thanks
very nice Belinda .... go go go
I'm a new subscriber and I like your videos.
I enjoy your videos.
You obviously grasped what was actually meant by M=2c
If science was supported and funded just 1/4 as well as the military.
This world would be a better place.
I love your channel. I use solar panels in my work in the natural gas industry. I am not laughing at you when that thing shattered, I was laughing with you. Cracked me up. You go girl. Cool fact. If the underside of the panel is sky blue, wasps will not build a on it. I have gotten in a bad deal a few times so now I paint them.
Thank you belinda
Great video.
One note on using solar panels:
Some (most?) solar charge controllers don't work without the battery connected, and can allegedly even be damaged by connecting the solar panels before the battery.
Thanks for the video! I would love to see a pros & cons of solar panels - and how the tax rebates (if still offered) work. I often see online ads saying "If you live in Texas, you could get solar panels for free" and not sure how true that is.
Ahh yes, those sketchy PPA agreements. I'll try to cover that topic soon, thanks!
Thank you. More. Nuff said...
Of course you understand that this does not qualify as non destructive testing.
Well explained. I know many solar sales and installation people that have no clue as to what they are working with when it comes to panels.
My very first business card said "Goniometer Specialist". I worked in silicon wafer defraction equipment to measure doping. A QC process. A definite conversation starter, and typically not in a good way.
Cheers!
Haha!! Just letting out some of that pent-up quarantine frustration. That title is very memorable! My husband's first business card said "VD Specialist" for Virtual Design. Lol!
I have a question for you... I'm working on a mono versus polycrystalline video and I was wondering if there were any resources you could recommend. Thank you!
@@BelindaCarr Hmm. My focus lately has been more on mobile applications like rvs and such, so what works for one... here is a blog post that helped me some. oh8stn.org/blog/2018/06/07/amorphous-poly-monocrystalline-solar-panels/. Then again, I have put 350 watt poly panels on rvs. I definitely like the prices of new panels $.70/watt vs used. Hope this help. Alex
Thank you for a clear, concise 'idiot's guide' for how PV panels are constructed; I kinda wished I had you as my teacher back in the day 🙂
Ah lu min um?... it's Aa Loo Min Ium.... 🧐 Thankyou... A good presentation, clear, concise and too the point. I wonder if you would produce a video on the various forms of power storage such as those to be found in electric powered vehicles and domestic photovoltaic hybrid orvstand alone systems?
Haha! I grew up in Dubai, so it took me a while to say "aluminum" when I moved to the States. I'll try to make a video on that topic soon. Thanks for the idea!
Belinda Carr... Sorry Belinda.. As they used to say "just havin' a lend of ya!" I speak to quite a few people around the world who's first language is not english but to be sure their english in many cases us far suprerior to so-called "native speakers" One chap I speak with has mastered at least four others english being the third or fourth in their repetoire and to be sure their english is damned sight better than mine. I know I wouldn't stand a chance trying to cut it using their homegrown.(Portuguese) anyway... I am currently entertaining the notion of investing in an electric powered vehicle and am wondering if it is as enviromentally responsible as it is proported to be considering some of the high end technology and industry that is required to manufacture the components that in turn make up such a vehicle's batteries.. how often those same batteries must be replaced or if even if it is more economical to simply replace the entire vehicle once the batteries lose their capacity to recharge, and or store power. I look forward to the day when we no longer rely upon fossil fuels, lubricants and other fossil based materials in our manufacturing but are we at this stage not simply replacing one highly poluting and dangerous industry with another? Are we doing so under the impression that we are taking a great step forward when in actual fact the best we're doing is moving diagonally from one perilous path to another? Shortform? Power storage seems like a natrual progression from power generation.
I think what a lot of the boffins disregard, and which architects shouldn't, is that even a dead panel can do 200-400 watts of work per square meter, at least if positioned to intercept heat from reaching a structure and with a bit of a gap for air flow. Efficiency or power density doesn't seem nearly as important in a hot climate, relative to just achieving a lot of useful shade.
A few other little quizzling details to point out is that glass is somewhat good at reflecting infrared energy, which typical PN junctions don't much utilize directly. Also, ordinary sand is often naturally doped with lattice substitutions, usually aluminium, calcium, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and a little of every other cation inevitably, hence the need to process it for consistency.
Thanks a lot for the extra info!! I'm working on a mono versus polycrystalline panel video. Could I pick you brain about the differences? Can you recommended any resources on the topic? Thanks!
@@BelindaCarr You probably know more than me on the subject by now. We geologists find electricity to be spooky. I do follow Will Prowse here on YT, and he has an interesting forum over at diysolarforumdotcom with pretty tight moderation.
Nice Video. At 7:53 you say each cell is 0.5 volts/ cell which "apparently" produces 24v in a panel? As I look at a 6 x 12 panel of cells, I see it either producing 36, 18, 12, 6 or 3v depending what parts are wired in series and parallel. Is it underrated or did does the panel actually produce something other than 24v?
This reminded me of a project planned about 20 years ago called 'desertec' where the idea was to use solar power to make more solar panels. Europe and Japan wanted to use Africa's climate for energy.
I hadn't heard of that before, thanks for sharing! I'm reading about it now...
Would you please do a comparison of solar w battery to gas or propane generators of the same output as power back up for a home including financial comparison. Also most panels do not last more than 9-12 years same with batteries, they will produce power but will degrade to less than 40% output, thank you. Your videos are great!
Why don't they cut the ingots vertically on the lengthwise so each thin wafer is a vertical long squared corner rectangle slice not a small round disc wafer?
Can you talk about pre fab / Mobil homes. Are they really cheaper and faster?
Working on it! I'm hoping to tour one soon so I can critique it.
Hello Belinda just subscribe to your site , anyway I would love to hear your view on geothermal air conditioning
Thanks
So funny, as a kid I loved doing just that in the name of science!
Me too! Batteries, water filters, calculators...
Rumour has it that her partner has several boobytraps around his shed full of tools . . . . . . . I would.
What's your education in?
Wear gloves, protect those hands... :)
Will do, the next time I shatter a solar panel :P
ok un
Don't Break Solar Panels
It is kinda sort of reverse engineering
So you still need the Power of Fossil Fuel to built a Sola Panel and to built a Sola Panel also produce CO2 What Stupid idea is this and Worst probably it will be more expensive to recycle this stuff. Come back to Square One.