HOW IT'S MADE: Solar Panels
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- HOW IT'S MADE: Solar Panels
Solar panels are something that climate-conscious cities and towns have made almost abundant and popular! The energy from the sun is bountiful, and it makes sense that we have to develop methods to harness this large amount of energy. The Earth actually receives approximately twenty-five times more power from the Sun than we use in the world every day!
Solar energy’s contribution to the use of energy by us has grown significantly in the last couple of decades. However, how are solar panels made?
Welcome back to our channel “How It’s Made” and don’t forget to drop a like and subscribe to our channel for interesting topics like these! Let’s find out how solar panels are made!
The Science Behind Solar Panels
The whole basis of making solar panels is by using a super-abundant material we see on earth! Can you guess what it is? It is sand! Sand is abundant in silicon and it has to be purified to about 99.999% purity. There is a very complex purification process to do this.
If you were to look into the structure of the silicon molecule, you would see that the atoms are bound together where the electrons in the structure can’t move. Only if enough energy strikes the silicon, the electrons can move. This is how a semiconductor material works. However, when the sun strikes, the movement of the particles is random, and there is no current through the load.
So you need a driving force to ensure the unidirectional flow of electrons. Boron is often infused into pure silicon to create ‘holes’ for the particles to move towards. This makes sure some electrons would migrate into this positively charged region and fill the holes available there. Because of electron migration, the boundary of the negative side becomes mildly positively charged, whereas the positive side becomes mildly negatively charged.
Fundamental physics tells us that an electric field will form between these charges and this produces the necessary driving force to move the electrons in a particular direction.
In a practical solar cell, the top layer is very thin and abundant with electrons, whereas the bottom layer is a lot thicker. Solar cells are constructed in this particular way as it results in the generation of more current. The top thin layer also makes it easy for sunlight to penetrate through easily.
How are solar panels made?
A solar panel has several layers. One of them is a layer of cells, connected in series through copper strips and it is what you often see immediately when looking at a solar panel. Another layer is a layer of EVA sheeting on each side of the cells to protect them from dirt, humidity, vibrations, and shocks to protect these light-sensitive sheets.
Step #1: Obtaining pure silicon and making the wafers.
The procedure to purify silicon from sand involves mixing carbon with it and applying high temperatures of up to 2000°C. You would obtain a gaseous silicon compound which is then mixed with hydrogen to get highly purified polycrystalline silicon. Scientists then change the shape of these silicon ingots and turn them into silicon wafers which are exactly like how it sounds: very thin slices of silicon. The silicon wafer is the brain and heart of a photovoltaic cell.
There are two main types of solar panels existing which are thin-film and crystalline silicon panels. Crystalline silicon solar modules are very common and they look like black or blue rectangular grids having smaller square-shaped cells and they tend to be interconnected together.
There are further two types of crystalline silicon designs like monocrystalline and polycrystalline designs. Monocrystalline cells can produce higher electrical conductivity but are costlier.
Polycrystalline models have more impurities but are cheaper. You can recognize a monocrystalline solar cell as the crystal framework produces uniform blue color without any grain marks thus giving the highest efficiency levels and best purity.
There are also thin-film modules that adhere to the metal foil, plastic, or glass substrates. However, they can be fragile and sometimes flexible. This can be installed on automobiles and other devices.
Step #2: Producing the Ingots
The pure silicon rocks obtained are melted at very high temperatures to get the ingots in cylindrical shapes. The thorough melting process makes sure that all atoms are perfectly aligned in the required structure and orientation. The boron is added to give the silicon positive electrical polarity. After cooling down the ingot, the grinding and polishing processes are done. The ingots will then have flat sides.
Step #3: Constructing the Wafers
The wafers are derived by slicing the silicon ingot into extremely thin disks. This process requires the use of a wire saw for extreme precision cutting. A wafer is as thin as a piece of paper, and you should remember we’d be cutting metal to that width.
#howitsmade #solarpanel #howitsdone
Good script but the visual rarely matched up with what was being talked about.
This is NOT - How it´s Made
"Naturally occurring quartz crystals of extremely high purity, necessary for the crucibles and other equipment used for growing silicon wagers in the semiconductor industry, are expensive and rare."
Are there mfg in the USA not companies putting parts together but actually making them that you know of ? I’m in the industry of thin film but I’m trying to collect data
This panel can put out close to 100 watts ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
the grapichical does not show what you are talking about... cofusing
Very informative.
Had a couple of questions though
1. Mixed with Carbon? What's the source of carbon?
2. What's the source of the energy that brings the mixture to 2000°c?
3. Ingots. What's the source of boron, and what's the process of having it to the required quality in order to mix it with silicon/phosphorus?
4. Tampered glass. What's required to come up with the ethylene vinyl acetate?
5. Framing and sealant: what materials are used for framing and what's the process of producing them?
6. After how long does it take for a complete solar panel sold to the market, start having dead cells? Or what factors would contribute to the cells producing low power?
7. How many times will I have to replace the energy storage units (batteries) within the 25yrs? On average how much would that cost? How do we dispose the panels (and batteries) after the 25yrs?
We could be hyping solar panels and ignoring the fact that the process of producing them could be contributing more to the global warming than the benefit that come with it. Not an expert opinion, just a thought, I stand to be guided
Over the course of 25 years, a 14lb, 100w solar panel will produce approximately ~9000kwh during its 25 year warranty. Additionally, most solar panels continue to work beyond that lifetime, as most solar panels are rated for 0.5% loss of efficiency per year.
In comparison, petroleum liquids produce approximately 12.86kwh/ gallon. Coal produces 0.9kwh/ pound.
Combine this with the fact that silicon is one of the most abundant elements on the planet, and that the energy required to heat and purify the silicon can come from solar panels, AND the fact that the wafers can be recycled, whereas fossil fuels cannot, it makes sense that solar is much better for the environment.
Answer your question 1: coal
They always seem to leave that part out. I wonder why?
This video mentions the source of carbon at about 2:20in
ua-cam.com/video/5Sgmp1aUjnA/v-deo.html
Use biogas from sewers like the good ol days
@@justryingmybest Solar panels don't produce energy at night, and you'd be lucky to get 25 years out of a panel...
to fast. the narrator is in some sort of hurry and there are no graphics to represent what that person is saying. it feels like he is just reading an article of internet
Very good video!
Rn solar panels could destroy the environment because companies keep convincing their customers to upgrade to more efficient panels. Leading to an increased waste of panels.
Not really a how it's made, just a guy rambling in a monotone voice with stock footage...
What is a making cost of 1plate
Where is the silver in this process?
Love your videos
An interesting process but thumbs down for not syncing the story with what is presented on the screen.
So impressive
The video is not aligned with the actual content
Technically we use all of the suns energy because we depend on the sun to keep the earth warm.
when they say the are mixing carbon with the sand do they mean coal?
Yes
We receive in *one day* 25 times more energy than we consume in *one year* *
Very good video! Commenting for the algorithm. Keep up the good work!
Spoiled by the irritating speedtalking. It,s just not nessesary!
Why the unnecessary and distracting background music? It's awful, if spoils the video. Have confidence in your content, you spoil it with inappropriate music. I'm off.
Bro.. Even you don't understand how its made ??
High quality content and very informative. If you get a better mic you could might get million subscribers.
Made with silicon mixed with carbon. Interesting that it wasn't mentioned that source of carbon is coal.
Okay and? Some coal is used in production and it results in less coal being burnt in the long term, crazy huh
@@maramma4780 You assume the solar cells provide more energy output than what went into producing them.
@@TheDustyShed they do, in a relatively short amount of time.
@@TheDustyShed and their costs too in an amount of time, most panels have a 20 year warranty now too
They can't be made without oil and gas products.
Now lets talk about its power storage?
Is Coal Used To Make Solar Panels?
Yes, coal is used in the production of solar panels, and it is used as a raw material to produce the chemicals used in the manufacturing process.
The main chemical used during this process is polyvinyl chloride (PVCs) which is very hazardous and poisonous.
The use of such materials will increase pollution levels worldwide, leading to global warming. It will also release toxic materials if it is burnt or not disposed of correctly.
The raw material for the solar panels is coal, which has an average life of 11 years. This means that 11 tons of coal must be burned to make a solar panel - that’s about 3000 pounds! The production process uses high temperatures and pressures.
Look into things, these videos leave out the bad stuff, only tell you the good.
I wish they would be open and honest. When the makers of these videos hide stuff, it makes it harder for me to trust their agenda.
Do it over with a professional communications specialist. Voice quality is poor and with terrible pitch and modulation with a distracting monotone.
Horrible video using stock content