Solar panels are one of the key elements in the direct conversion of solar energy into electricity. The manufacture of solar panels is enjoying a very productive time at present due to the fact that there is now a greater demand since the changes in legislation for self-consumption energy came into effect.
The fabrication of solar panels
Different chemical elements are placed on a sheet of semiconductor material that has an effect of producing excess electrons.
This kind of sheet has a negative charge known as ‘N’. On another sheet of semiconductor material the same process is repeated, albeit with other chemicals, which creates a lack of electrons. Therefore, it is understood that this sheet has a positive charge and is referred to as ‘P’.
At this point, the union between P and N is made whereby the excess of electrons of N passes to the other sheet occupying the free spaces that there are in P. Through this process the immediate area of connection is positively charged in N and negatively charged in P. This causes an electric field to be created whose barrier of power prevents the process of the transfer of energy from one sheet to the other to continue. When the whole set is exposed to solar radiation the photons of light transmit their energy to the electrons of the semiconductor materials.
These can break the power barrier between P and N and exit the semiconductor through an external circuit which causes the electric current to occur. The manufacturing process of solar panels is not particularly complex and given that it has improved a lot in terms of technological advances, prices of the panels have been reduced over time and improvements have been made to their characteristics making them much more efficient compared to those we have been familiar with up to now.
