Good Morning steemians
Today marks the day 2 of our topic "Introduction to Basic solar technology".Today we will be talking about one or two components of solar technologies.Sorry that i didnt make this post yesterday ,it was because there was no power supply at home and i couldnt charge my phone.And so i am trying to do my best while posting for me to be able to buy a laptop from this steemit platform.So lets get back to business.

The previous post was talking about some basic components like dc disconnect and deep cycle batteries and there disadvantages but today we will be talking about something new.Do you know what we are going to be talking about today...well we will be talking about solar cell(photovoltaic cell).

What is a Solar Cell

A solar cell is a device that converts light energy to electrical energy through photovoltaic effect.I know you readers will be thinking about the meaning of photovoltaic effect.Photovoltaic effect is the creation of voltage and electric current on exposure to light.it is a chemical and physical phenomenom.Without the solar cell,a solar technology is not complete.A solar cell is made up of semiconductors.

Types of photovoltaics cells

Photovoltaic cells are made up of two or more thin layers of silicon.They produce electricity and metal plates contact it as direct current.Solar cells are graded according to their efficiency and quality of semiconducting material.Like

mono-crystalline silicon pv cells

These are pv cells made using cells sliced from a cylindrical crystal of silicon.They are the most efficient.They convert about 15% of the sunlight from the sun.The manufacturing process of these pv cells are very complicated and so are slightly higher in cost than others.

polycrystalline silicon pv cells

These are silicon cells cut out from an ingot of melted and recrystallised silicon.The ingots are then cut into thin wafers which are then arranged into complete cells.They are cheaper to produce than monocrystallin pv cells with simpler manufacturing process.They are slightly less efficient than monocrystalline with an average efficiency of 12%

How are they connected

For photovoltaics cells connected in series,the tototal voltage across the cells is a sum of the individual voltage while the total current is the same all through
I1=I2 V=V1+V2

While for photovoltaics cells connected in parallel,the total voltage across is the same while the total current across is the sum of the individual currents in the cells
I=I1+I2 V1=V2

FUNCTIONS

Creation of electricity

The solar cells turn solar energy into electricity.The electricity are used to power different gadgets.

Keeps green environment

They help to keep us in a green environment.By creating electricity without causing green house gas effect like the petrol.

Reference
Mostly my work ,some citing from wikipedia and pveducation.

Image credits:
Image 1 from instructables
Image 2 from pixabay.com
Image 3 & 4 from pveducation.org

I will like to recieve some questions and comments from you readers.

Gif made by nitesh9