Photovoltaic

Photovoltaic(PV) is a solar power technology that uses solar cells or solar photovoltaic arrays to convert light from the sun directly into electricity.

Photovoltaic is a technology in which light is converted into electrical power. It is best known as a method for generating solar power by using solar cells packaged in photovoltaic modules, often electrically connected in multiples as solar photovoltaic arrays to convert energy from the sun into electricity. To explain the photovoltaic solar panel more simply, photons from sunlight knock electrons into a higher state of energy, creating electricity. Photovoltaics can refer to the field of study relating to this technology, and the term photovoltaic denotes the unbiased operating mode of a photodiode in which current through the device is entirely due to the transduced light energy. Virtually all photovoltaic devices are some type of photodiode.

Solar cells produce direct current electricity from light, which can be used to power equipment or to recharge a battery. The first practical application of photovoltaics was to power orbiting satellites and other spacecraft and pocket calculators, but today the majority of photovoltaic modules are used for grid connected power generation. In this case an inverter is required to convert the DC to AC.

Cells require protection from the environment and are packaged usually behind a glass sheet. When more power is required than a single cell can deliver, cells are electrically connected together to form photovoltaic modules, or solar panels. A single module is enough to power an emergency telephone, but for a house or a power plant the modules must be arranged in arrays.

In India many corporations and institutions are developing ways to increase the practicality of solar power. While private companies conduct much of the research and development on solar energy, colleges and universities and institutes also started working on solar-powered devices.

The most important issue with solar panels is its cost. Because of much increased demand, the price of silicon has risen and shortages occurred in 2005 and 2006. Newer alternatives to standard crystalline silicon modules including casting wafers instead of sawing , thin film, concentrator modules, 'Sliver' cells, and continuous printing processes. Due to economies of scale solar panels get less costly as people use and buy more as manufacturers increase production to meet demand, the cost and price is expected to drop in the years to come.