When it comes to solar energy, uk production is not going to be high on many people's lists for the places that it would be most useful. After all there are far hotter countries around the world, and we are actually more known for dreary days. However by learning how solar panels work, hopefully you will understand why weather conditions really don't matter.
Solar Power Not Dependent On Good Weather
For a solar cell to create electricity, or for a solar collector to collect heat, all it requires is light. It doesn't actually need the weather to be hot at all.
We can go further than that though and say that actually, if it does get too hot then there is a performance drop off for the majority of solar cells. That's because they're made of a certain crystal, and when they get hot it causes vibration and this make electricity production more difficult.
How solar panels actually work will now be explained.
How Solar Panels Work
To a large degree, how a solar panel works comes down to what it is being used for. As you would expect, there is a big difference between the ones that create electricity and the ones that generate heat. What we'll be looking in to on this occasion is how the PV panels, which make electricity, work. Just to say again though, both are dependent on the light of the sun though, not its heat.
To fully understand how electricity is generated by PV panels you need to know a little something about electricity, and maybe learn something you didn't know about light. First, electricity is made up of moving electrons, that's what defines it. Second, light can be described as being made up of many many little particles of light known as photons.
Now, these two facts are made use of by the manufacturers of solar panels because they make them out of silicon. At least it is usually silicon, but it can really be just about any semiconductor. That's because photons hit electrons out of orbit in a semiconductor, that is, they make electrons move.
Of course for electricity to be created, those electrons have to flow. That is, they have to be channelled in one particular direction. This is achieved by having two halves of a solar cell, one which is positively charged (p-type) and another which is negatively charged (n-type).
The reason it's important to have these two halves is all about balance. Under normal conditions they are in balance. However when photons strike and make electrons move from one side to the other they are out of balance. To restore the balance, the electrons have to get back to the other side and the only way to do that is along a wire which will have been attached.
This wire is connected to the house, and collects the electricity in a battery. It's a DC battery because that is the form of electricity that comes out of solar cells, direct current. Then it's just necessary to use an inverter to turn this direct current in to alternating current (AC) which can then be used to power appliances in your house.
Solar Energy UK
So now you can hopefully see that it doesn't matter what the weather is like, solar cells are going to operate in all conditions. That's because as long as it is light outside, there will be plenty of electrons about. That is not to say that they don't work better when there is bright sunlight, as opposed to when it is diffused through cloud cover. However they will be working in all light conditions.
Solar Power Not Dependent On Good Weather
For a solar cell to create electricity, or for a solar collector to collect heat, all it requires is light. It doesn't actually need the weather to be hot at all.
We can go further than that though and say that actually, if it does get too hot then there is a performance drop off for the majority of solar cells. That's because they're made of a certain crystal, and when they get hot it causes vibration and this make electricity production more difficult.
How solar panels actually work will now be explained.
How Solar Panels Work
To a large degree, how a solar panel works comes down to what it is being used for. As you would expect, there is a big difference between the ones that create electricity and the ones that generate heat. What we'll be looking in to on this occasion is how the PV panels, which make electricity, work. Just to say again though, both are dependent on the light of the sun though, not its heat.
To fully understand how electricity is generated by PV panels you need to know a little something about electricity, and maybe learn something you didn't know about light. First, electricity is made up of moving electrons, that's what defines it. Second, light can be described as being made up of many many little particles of light known as photons.
Now, these two facts are made use of by the manufacturers of solar panels because they make them out of silicon. At least it is usually silicon, but it can really be just about any semiconductor. That's because photons hit electrons out of orbit in a semiconductor, that is, they make electrons move.
Of course for electricity to be created, those electrons have to flow. That is, they have to be channelled in one particular direction. This is achieved by having two halves of a solar cell, one which is positively charged (p-type) and another which is negatively charged (n-type).
The reason it's important to have these two halves is all about balance. Under normal conditions they are in balance. However when photons strike and make electrons move from one side to the other they are out of balance. To restore the balance, the electrons have to get back to the other side and the only way to do that is along a wire which will have been attached.
This wire is connected to the house, and collects the electricity in a battery. It's a DC battery because that is the form of electricity that comes out of solar cells, direct current. Then it's just necessary to use an inverter to turn this direct current in to alternating current (AC) which can then be used to power appliances in your house.
Solar Energy UK
So now you can hopefully see that it doesn't matter what the weather is like, solar cells are going to operate in all conditions. That's because as long as it is light outside, there will be plenty of electrons about. That is not to say that they don't work better when there is bright sunlight, as opposed to when it is diffused through cloud cover. However they will be working in all light conditions.
About the Author:
You could obtain a free quotation regarding solar panels from the website Blake Boore frequently writes at, Solar Energy UK.
