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These cells have the capability to convert sunlight into electrical energy.
This is quite different from a common battery that converts chemical energy into electrical energy.
While such batteries have the capacity to store energy (in the form of chemicals), solar panels have to depend on an external storage to do so.
Solar cells are made up of particular types of semiconductor doped with impurities -- these became very sensitive to light.
This is the medium that causes electrons to move toward one end of the material, creating a potential difference -- also known as voltage.
Scientists found out this phenomenon by accident.
Very soon, mankind began to recognize the potential of their discovery and begin searching for better materials to make efficient photovoltaic cells.
The first solar cells are pieces of single-junction semiconductors made of silicon.
Producing these solar cells require huge amounts of energy, thus they were very expensive.
Later, scientists were able to produce different forms of photovoltaic materials with success.
Some of these were Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), Copper Indium Gallium Selenide, Amorphous Silicon And Micromorphous Silicon.
Engineers also discovered that these new materials could be deposited on thin pieces of glass or ceramic.
This reduced the mass of solar cells.
While better materials coupled with improved production techniques do not promise higher energy conversion, they drove down the cost of production.
This certainly helped introduce solar panels into consumers' homes.
The efficiency of photovoltaic cells (as we currently know) comes close to 20%.
Studies show that further research may someday bring this figure to as high as 60%.
However there are also theories that proved this to be impossible...
no one really knows.
Yet what we're sure is we can improve photovoltaic cell efficiency by harnessing more of the solar spectrum by tapping into the ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.
Applications of a solar panel battery Solar panel batteries are commonly installed in homes, office buildings and even on streets.
Their size varies according to the application involved.
Recently manufacturers have also designed another type of solar panel (known as Solar Shingles) meant to fit aesthetically into various architectural designs.
These look like the roof tiles we commonly see, but they are coated with a layer of photovoltaic material.
While all solar panels look pretty much the same - dark, reflective-surfaced panels - their application varies widely.
Small solar panels can be used at your backyard or garden to power small electronics like your garden sprinkler, automatic gate opener or pond filters and aerators.
Larger systems can also be installed at your home to replace all or part of your household energy needs.
Solar cells are also seen on many types of small gadgets and electronics like calculators, music players, mobile phones and LED torch.
On the opposite end of the scale, large groups of solar panels can be used to produce massive amounts of energy to supply an entire city's energy consumption.
Many large projects were designed and discussed.
But the need for huge investment and seemingly long payback periods discouraged many organizations from adopting solar power generators on any scale.
Fortunately there are corporations like Google who are willing to trail-blaze the way for others to follow.
In both large and small solar power systems, ways to store excess solar energy are necessary.
Surplus solar power that's generated during the day will be kept in a storage to be dispensed during the night.
The most common way to store electricity is to use rechargeable batteries.
This is almost always the case, even for an off-grid solar power system.
All it needs is a larger set of batteries.
For grid energy storage -- which are huge systems -- possibilities include pumped-water storage, compressed air, thermal storage, frictionless flywheel, super-conducting magnetic storage and compressed hydrogen.
These solutions are however still in their infancy.
Thus they are not widely applied.
Many corporations are hopeful that technology may advance to the point where implementation costs falls significantly -- to the point where an average family can easily afford grid-tied solar panels.
By then, more and more homes will make use of solar power to supplement their energy needs.
Many more homes will go off-grid.
Large corporations and governments can also install numerous solar electric power plants to sell cheap renewable energy to consumers living in areas without abundant sunlight.
By then, most parts of our country (and even the world) may be ready to usher in the new solar panel battery era.
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