12V 500mA Solar Panel - Solar Cell 210X165mm

Solar Cell

A solar cell is an electronic device that captures sunlight and converts it directly into electricity. Just like the cells in a battery, the cells in a solar panel are designed to produce electricity; but where a battery's cells generate electricity from chemicals, a solar panel's cells generate power by capturing sunlight.

A solar cell is a sandwich of n-type silicon (blue) and p-type silicon (red). It generates electricity by using sunlight to cause electrons to jump between different silicon wafers:

• When sunlight shines on the cell, photons (light particles) bombard the top surface.
• The photons (yellow) transfer their energy through the cell.
• The photons deposit their energy on electrons (green) in the bottom, p-type layer.
• The electrons use this energy to jump across the barrier to the top, n-type layer and escape into the circuit. This one-way flow of electrons creates direct current and lights the lamp.