Thin Film Solar Panels - An Exciting Breakthrough in Solar Technology

The thin film solar panels are one of the newest breakthroughs in the booming solar industry.  Compared to their predecessor, they are much thinner and affordable and may well lead to a much wider use of solar energy in near future.

The working mechanism behind the thin film solar panels is the same as their "thick" counterparts.  Both use photovoltaic cells to collect sunlight and convert it into electric current through the interaction between the sunlight and the semiconductor material contained in the PV cells.    The  electricity thus generated can be put into use right away at your home or office.  You can also store it with batteries to back up the power at nights or on cloudy days.

What exactly has enabled the thin film PV cells to work with the same efficiency but at a much reduced cost?  The answer is in the semiconductor material.  The first generation of solar panels, which are the thick ones that we are all used to seeing, use crystalline silicon as the semiconductor material.  Each solar cell is produced on a different silicon wafer, one by one.  This is an extremely labor-intensive process, which makes the solar panels unaffordable by mass people.

The semiconductor material used in thin film PV cells, as a contrast, is much thinner and cheaper.  What's better, it can be mass produced with an automated system and thereby cuts down the labor work by 3 times. You can imagine that, with this reduced cost, more and more businesses will be encouraged to enter the manufacturing of solar panels.  If this happens, the prices of solar panels will become even more affordable.

And, there are more exciting applications.  With the solar cells being smaller, they are also more light-weighted and can be flexibly placed onto various smaller and light-weighted objects.  For instance, the solar roof shingles are produced by covering the traditional asphalt roof with a layer of thin file solar cells.  Now,  instead of holding your solar panel with the large and heavy steel arrays, your solar roof can look almost the same as that of your neighbors.

Portable solar panels are another product of the thin film technology.  They are being manufactured to power up just any type of electric appliances, from cell phones, GPS devices, MP3 players, to televisions and laptops.   How handy it will be if you can install a solar panel on your backpack or in your purse?  You can carry it wherever you go and charge your portable electric devices whenever needed.

If the thin film solar panels still sound to you like a complex technical innovation rather than an easily accessible daily product, don't worry.  Think about the digital watches.  They cost dearly a few decades ago, but can be  purchased today at a very friendly price.  This will be the future of our solar panels!

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Get Thin Film Solar Panels

Have you ever heard of thin film solar panels? If you are a solar energy system aficionado, you must have read about these great breakthroughs. If not, then this article will give you an idea of what they are and how amazing they can be.

Thin film solar panels, also called as "thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar panels" are a new innovation which has a potential in making solar energy system more affordable. They use the same photovoltaic process that conventional solar panels do. Their PV cells have semiconductors where the sunlight interacts. Once interaction is made, electric current is produced. This energy may be used real-time or may be stored in batteries for later utilization.

So, if they work just like the conventional solar systems, what's new about them?

Well, the difference is obvious: they are thin. The conventional solar panels use crystalline silicon as semiconductor materials. They produce electricity from the sunlight but they are labor-intensive to create. You see, every single cell has to be produced on a solo silicon wafer. This is what makes the panels very expensive. As you know, this is also the reason why they are not widely used. After all, not everyone has the buying capacity.

This is where thin film solar panels come into scene. They use semiconductors which are thinner than crystalline silicon. They can be mass-produced by the use of cheaper materials and automated systems. The process is almost three times less laborious than creating conventional crystalline silicon and this is what makes them a more affordable choice. For entrepreneurs who wish to get into the solar panel marketing business, the start-up capital would be lower. The more entrepreneurs venture into this business, the better for the consumers. Why? Because the lower the prices of solar panels would be!

You know what's another great thing about this thin film technology? It has made the solar cells a lot more compact and lightweight, so much so that they can sometimes be hardly recognizable. They have also become so flexible that you will not have to set up an elaborate structure just to hold your panels in place. These days, you can integrate the thin film into your wall or roof and people wouldn't even notice it's there. Thin film solar panels for metal roofing are already available in the market as well as thin film composition for roof shingles.

Presently, more portable solar energy systems are being produced to power up basic electronic devices used in daily life such as mobile phones, MP3 players, and GPS devices. Laptops and TVs can also now be run by thin film solar technology. These miniature solar panels are compact and lightweight that you can install them in your backpack or slip into your purse. Who would have thought solar power can be this handy? Although they may still cost a lot these days, it won't surely take long before they become affordable to every average Joe (and Jane) who wishes to experience the revolution.

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solar energy

From 1839 until now – a look at the history of solar panels

Solar panels are one of the most popular and affordable goods that homeowners can use to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Solar panels do not rely on the use of fossil fuels. Instead, they rely on Sun and copious amounts of solar radiation that reaches the Earth from the Sun.

While most people feel solar panels as a fairly recent development, which have a surprisingly long history in the world of science. Beginning with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect in 1839 to the creation of the first modern solar cells used in the 1950s and beyond. Photovoltaics is the science behind the solar panels. The photovoltaic effect was first discovered in 1839 by scientist Alexandre Edmond Becquerel. Is a physical method of using semiconductors for converting solar radiation into electricity.

Today the most common semiconductor used to create solar cells that make up the solar panels are the Silicon. The first process used to create Silicon was the Czochralski method. The method takes a Polish scientist Jan Czochralski, who used the first method to create single crystals of metal. The same method was used to create single crystal silicon. Silicon semiconductor is that, as already mentioned, enables you to create an electric current of solar radiation. Today, solar cells, monocrystalline and polycrystalline are most used two types of cells.

A cell is a small disc-shaped, square or "wafer" that consists of a semiconductor such as Silicon material. Solar cells are joined together to make a solar panel--hence the appearance of the grid solar panels. Some cells were created before the 1950s, but the first modern Silicon photovoltaics (another word for solar) cells that were actually used were developed in the 1950s.

Bell Labs produced cells that were used for various space missions, and in 1954 was also the first company to announce the invention of modern silicon cell. Their invention was presented to a National Academy of science meeting after the announcement. Well-known publication, the New York Times reported that the invention would become the wave of the future by harnessing "limitless energy of the Sun".

Bell Labs Silicon photovoltaic cell was about 6 percent efficient. In 1957 a photovoltaic cell 8 percent efficient. In 1960 a solar cell 14 percent efficient topped that, and so on is gone. Today, the maximum efficiency is achieved by about 42 percent. This number may seem low but is only representative of the energy conversion rate of a single solar cell. As already mentioned, many solar cells are combined to create a solar panel. Then the panels are grouped to create array systems that can feed an entire homes and commercial buildings.

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Solar panels-renewable electricity or heating for your home

The Sun is not only the source of light, but also a source of energy. Plants use this energy of the Sun by a process known as photosynthesis. This energy is then stored in terms of biomass. Something similar to this is the technique used in the case of solar panels. This is a newly developed apparatus for producing solar energy from sunlight. There are mainly two ways that solar panels can help you in your home or Office-photovoltaic and water heating systems. The article further elaborates on these two.

Photo voltaic Panel module or

A photovoltaic module or Panel is composed of a number of inter-connected photovoltaic cells, also commonly called solar cells. These solar cells are placed on the Panel in the form of a wafer. These wafers are manufactured by a thin film of a very commonly used semiconductor, Silicon. Silicon has a special property of being extremely sensitive to sunlight. Then captures the energy carried by photons and then converts it into electricity. This energy is then stored in solar cells for future use. Diodes are also included in this type of solar panel to avoid overheating of the photovoltaic cells.

Solar panels have a higher initial cost, but require little maintenance except that need to be well protected by strong mechanical shocks as they are extremely fragile and delicate.

SOLAR THERMAL COLLECTORS

As the name suggests, these types of solar panels are used to collect heat from the Sun. This heat can then be used to heat water to produce water solar hated or can be used to boil water into steam which is in turn used to move the turbines and generate electricity. There are many types, but most commonly used are solar thermal collectors, flat-screen TVs as water heating systems.

This type consists of a flat sheet black well protected and isolated an element absorbent. In this paper are black absorber tubes which are hollow to carry water. When the Sun's rays hit the black sheet Panel and the pipes absorb heat and water flowing via simple convection. This solar-heated water then can be used for many purposes in homes or offices. Solar heating systems are widely used in many colder regions of the world.

Although thermal collectors are efficient in providing high temperature results may vary in the days of diffuse light that is cloudy.

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To buy solar panels: what you should know

A solar cell is any device that converts energy into light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic process. The term literally means photovoltaic electricity. This created the first solar cell was made by selenium, but was very inefficient. The silicon solar cell was invented by Bell Labs in the 1950s, half originally designed for their industry. semiconductor . This process was the basis for all solar cell technologies.

In the 1950s, the solar panels were extremely inefficient-less than 2% efficiency rate. Modern systems are currently using photovoltaic thin film processes and technologies to effectively clear the output more than 20% efficiency. Due to the high cost of solar panels in 1960 most Sun products were reserved for the use of satellite technologies, Government, and space exploration. However, solar technology today can be found everywhere in both commercial and residential applications. The following is a list of descriptive based on solar cell technologies.

Polysilicon cells are cut by mudslides from molten Silicon boule and then cooled. Polycrystalline silicon cells are then developed into crystals that grow in different directions. These types of Silicon are slightly less efficient than monocrystalline. They are also considerably less expensive.

Monocrystalline silicon provides maximum efficiency of all kinds available but also the most expensive, therefore, is not necessarily the best choice for all houses. These types of Silicon are among the oldest, most common and most steadfast of technologies. They are visible on rooftops or along roadsides carrying power to isolated areas. Each unit is designed with a single crystal of silicon and tends to be more efficient and more costly than the modern unit of cheaper polysilicon. Ensnaring energy surfaces are silk screened cover of silicon wafer and solar cells are produced from there. Solar panels for homes using cells in monocrystalline silicon provide the highest efficiency available in the market today.

Unclassified Silicon is used to save on materials, but it is a very low quality and unclean and also produces a less-efficient solar panel. This process is widely used in Canada and sold to the United States and European markets.

Ribbon Silicon is created through a process that cost much less manufacturing techniques of traditional. Silicon in this process is made of tiny wafer, which helps to avoid the more expensive process of sawing the silicon to create cells. The growing edge defined film fed method starts with two seed crystals, forming a thin layer of Silicon-Silicon Ribbon. And though much less expensive to produce, the efficiency of the cell is almost always reduced.

Thin film solar panels or amorphous solar panels are not set in any standard precise and sometimes have problems with stability or structure. They are manufactured by spraying Silicon in a liquid on a glass substrate. The movie is far less expensive to produce but it is also less efficient as it degrades a lot when first exposed to light.

Solar technology of cadmium tellurium is another process resulting in less efficient panels that do not use silicon. It is created using a combination of zinc, cadmium and tellurium. Unfortunately the cadmium used is extremely toxic and causes cancer, that elevates concern in circles but is toxic when inhaled powder or cadmium is digested.

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How to build solar panels

The basic components of photovoltaic solar modules are not building a simple process; in fact, making effective solar cells from scratch it is practically impossible without the use of high-tech tools. You can put together easily enough solar panels once you have cells, but the production of solar cells themselves is a very complex process. (By the way, the word "photovoltaic" is a fancy word for the process by which sunlight is converted directly into electricity).

A cell is born

The same is the photovoltaic cell that converts sunlight into electricity. It has many other uses as well; can be used in surveillance equipment that allow law enforcement to "see" through walls by detecting infrared radiation, as well as other types of electromagnetic radiation. It can also be used to measure the intensity of the light and thus help photographers calibrate their cameras and to measure some chemical reactions in laboratory conditions.

The first step in creating a solar panel is to get semiconductora. Usually, this is pure silicon, which is produced by Quartz. The Silicon is melted and combined with traces of boron or phosphorus, then allowed to cool in a block. This block is then cut into thin wafers and the surfaces are carefully engraved and clean.

The next step is to put these wafers in what is known as a diffusion furnace. This exposes the wafer to very high temperatures, which cause the formation of a semiconductortype n. The "N" in this case stands for "Negative"; This heat treatment creates an abundance of negative electrons, that is what helps produce current when direct sunlight hits the surface.

But wait-we are not finished yet! The surface of the wafer must be painted with an anti-reflective coating. After all, we want our photovoltaic cell to absorb sunlight, bouncing back into space! Once this happens, the electrical contacts are imprinted on top.

What is missing? Ah, Yes ... the type p or positively charged surface. This is created on the bottom or on the back of the photovoltaic cell, using a form of aluminum.

Put together

Once the cell has been tested, is connected with other cells to make photovoltaic solar panels. Now you can appreciate why these little devils are so expensive to produce. The good news is that new technologies – particularly nanotech, or the use of microscopic machines built at the molecular level-dramatically is lowering the cost of this process.

Wayne Hemrick writes about- solar panels.