Summary: Thin film solar cells use much less semi-conductor material than crystalline solar cells. You might have heard about Thin Film Solar Cells. What indeed are they? Why are they called “thin film”? And what advantages do these have over conventional…
Polysilicon – from Sand to Solar Cells, it Starts Here
Summary: Polysilicon, a highly refined form of silicon, is the starting material for solar cells. For silicon-based solar cells, polysilicon is the starting material. What is polysilicon, and how is a silicon cell made from polysilicon? Polysilicon is formed from Quartzite,…
Solar Cell – The Basic Unit of a Solar Power Plant
Summary: A solar cell is the smallest unit of a solar power system. Many solar cells make a solar panel. A solar cell is the basic electricity generating unit of the solar photovoltaic system. You would have surely heard about Solar…
Solar Cell and Panel Efficiency
Summary: Conventional solar PV cell efficiency are in the range 10-22%, and module efficiency in the range 9-20%. If only we had super high efficient solar cells, the whole world would only be using solar to power everything. So what…
Silicon Wafer – The Chip that is Healthy and Gives You Power
Summary: Silicon cells are made from silicon wafers. Silicon wafers are in turn formed from polysilicon ingots. You surely would have heard about solar cells. But did you know that the crystalline solar cells come from silicon wafers? Yes, wafers.…
Single Junction Solar Cells – The Plain and Simple Solar Cell Technology
Summary: Single junction solar cells have just one p-n junction, as against multi-junction solar cells, which have more than one p-n junction Solar cells generate electricity owing to the presence of p-n junctions. What is a p-n junction, what are…
Peak Capacity of Solar Cells – The Best the Cell Can Give
Summary: Peak capacity of solar cells refers to the amount of power generated by the solar cells under the best possible solar radiation. You might have read about kWp or Wp, referred to as kil-watt peak or watt-peak. You might have…
Solar Panels – A Nice Package to Capture the Sun!
Summary: Solar panels that you see in rooftops and large solar farms are an assembly of many solar cells. What is a solar panel? Is it the same as a solar module? And what is the difference between a solar…