Way To Go Green dot org

Posts Tagged ‘solar cells’

Image via Wikipedia

In the market place today there are three basic types of solar cells. Solar cells are more commonly referred to as photovoltaic modules. The three basic modules are single crystal silicon, polycrystalline silicon and thin film.

Single crystal silicon was first created by accident in Bell laboratories in 1954. An experiment using semiconductors had a silicone doped with impurities which showed a sensitivity to light that was greater than ever seen before with other materials.  Read more... (423 words, 3 images, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

There are currently three different types of solar cells in production in today’s market place. There are the monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous.  There are differences between the three and knowing the difference will help the consumers make a better choice on which type is best for them.

First there is the monocrystalline cell, which is made from a single large crystal, usually cut from one large man made ingot. This is difficult to handle and if broken then the whole cell has to be replaced. Since it is one piece there is no resistance thus being the most efficient. It is even efficient in low light conditions.  This cell has a major draw back of being the most expensive to manufacture.  Read more... (384 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Researchers at the University of South Florida have built some of the tiniest solar cells ever made from organic material and they can be applied like paint on to surfaces.

They have pulled 11 volts of electricity from a small array of the cells, which are each just a quarter of the size of a grain of white rice.

They could be sprayed on any surface that is exposed to sunlight, like a uniform, a car, or a house.  Read more... (148 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)