12V 500mA Solar Panel - Solar Cell 210X165mm

A high-quality solar panel for your projects. It operates at maximum performance under sunlight. It produces low current under artificial light. For example, it can light a 5mm LED with a phone flash.

Operating Voltage: 12V

Operating Current: 500mA

Dimensions: 210 x 165 x 3.2mm

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:

Solar Cell Working Principle

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.