How do Solar Panels Work?

Everyone knows about solar panels, whether this is because you utilize them yourself or you have simply seen them around or even just heard about them on the news or in other media. No matter your level of understanding, you know that somehow those panels convert sunlight into electricity, however, unless you have delved deeper into how solar panels work or are a specialist who works in the industry, you probably want a little more information on how these magical panels actually work and how they actually turn light from the sun into usable energy and electricity.

Solar panels actually come in two different varieties which work differently to utilize the energy from the sun in order to turn it into electricity. These two different types of solar panels are called Solar Photovoltaic Cells (PV) and Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems (CSP). While Solar Photovoltaic Cells are fairly common and easy to understand, there are different types of Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems, each with its own special way of generating and utilizing solar energy.

Solar Photovoltaic Cells

Solar Photovoltaic Cells, or PV, are the most common type of solar panels you will most likely have seen as they are typically the rows of mounted black panels you see connected in the occasional field or a few of them affixed atop a building. As Solar Photovoltaic Cells only produce a few watts (the unit of measurement for electricity) each, they are often connected to one another to form their own grid, giving them the ability to produce a much larger amount of wattage which is capable of powering whole cities at times with ease. A Solar Photovoltaic Cell works by utilizing direct sunlight, even on cloudy days, as the clouds reflect sunlight. When this sunlight his one of these Photovoltaic Cells, the sunlight is directly absorbed by the Photovoltaic Cells which then creates an electrical charge which is then moved to its own internal electrical field within the Photovoltaic Cell and sent on its way to a larger power grid to be utilized effectively in place of man-made energy.

Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems

The second type of solar panel is less commonly seen in general public areas, as it is usually used to power much larger areas, such as factories. This solar panel is called a Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power System, or CSP. Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems work a little bit differently than Solar Photovoltaic Cells do. These Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power System solar panels work on doing exactly what their namesake implies, concentrating solar power into a thermal system. Instead of creating a grid of Photovoltaic cell panels, Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems work by arranging a large number of mirrors to direct the sunlight to a specific receiver which then converts the heat generated by the sunlight into a form of electricity, depending on the type of system which is in place.

Linear Concentrator Systems

A Linear Concentrator System is one type of Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power System. A Linear Concentrator System works by arranging the slew of mirrors in straight rows that are arranged in parallel lines in order to direct the most sunlight possible into a linear receiver tube which is filled with a reactive liquid which becomes headed due to the concentrated energy from the sun. The heat generated from this liquid is usually used to power a generator or a turbine, therefore creating electricity efficiently and in large quantities. Steam may be exchanged as a source of heat which may reduce some of the costs of maintaining a system such as this one.

Power Tower System

The second design for a Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power System is the Power Tower System. This Power Tower System works by having a literal tower at the very center of it all, which is usually filled with a heat-reactant liquid, steam, or in a few experimental cases, sand-like particles or molten salts in an attempt to maximize the usage of the heat as efficiently as possible. Surrounding this tower is a 360-degree array of mirrors which will move and rotate in order to catch the sun and direct it at the tower, optimizing the light and energy of the sun as much as possible. Power Tower Systems are generally used in conventional turbine generators which produce large quantities of electricity.

Linear Concentrator System

The final type of Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power System is the Linear Concentrator System. The Linear Concentrator System is made up of parallel rows of mirrors that are placed in straight lines in order to direct the sunlight to a linear receiver tube filled with a heat-reactive fluid. The heat of the fluid causes a heat-based reaction which powers a turbine generator in order to generate electricity. Linear Concentrator Systems for Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems will usually incorporate a method of thermal storage by creating a collector field that is much larger than needed, therefore allowing the excess thermal energy to be stored for ties when not enough thermal energy is produced from sunlight, such as during a period of days where there is excessive cloud coverage.

Solar panels can come in a variety of sizes and types, but each type works towards the same end goal, which is utilizing the heat and energy provided by the sun in order to generate some form of electricity that is completely renewable and sustainable. Solar Photovoltaic Cells are the traditional solar panels you see that directly change the energy acquired from sunlight into energy and are connected in large parallel rows to produce large amounts of energy. However, a few of these Solar Photovoltaic Cells can be utilized on their own to generate some electricity for a small area. Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems are more common in large-scale facilities and power plants. Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Systems most often use mirrors to heat a reactive liquid which then, in turn, heats a generator or turbine that will then generates a large amount of electricity that can easily be stored in large quantities and properly distributed.