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The photovoltaic effect

Cynthia M. Rollins. The photovoltaic effect. What is the photovoltaic effect? Some history How the photovoltaic effect works? Anatomy of a solar cell. Topics. Photovoltaic’s is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. What is the photovoltaic effect.

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The photovoltaic effect

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  1. Cynthia M. Rollins The photovoltaic effect

  2. What is the photovoltaic effect? Some history How the photovoltaic effect works? Anatomy of a solar cell Topics

  3. Photovoltaic’s is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. What is the photovoltaic effect

  4. In 1839, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel observed the photoelectric effect via an electrode in a conductive solution exposed to light. • In 1887, Heinrich Hertz observed the photoelectric effect and the production and reception of electromagnetic (EM) waves. • In 1902, Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard observed the variation in electron energy with light frequency • Albert Einstein's mathematical description in 1905 of how the photoelectric effect was caused by absorption of quanta of light. History

  5. How the photovoltaic effect Works • Sunlight is composed of photons • (the amount of energy in a photon being proportional to the frequency of its light). • When photons strike a solar cell, the vast majority are either reflected or absorbed • (some really high-energy photons will blow right through, but they're of no concern here).

  6. When a photon is absorbed, its energy is transferred to the semiconductor • electron escapes from its normal position associated with that atom. • The electron causes a hole to form. • Each photon with enough energy will normally free exactly one electron, and one hole. • Note that both electrons and holes are mobile, and as such can be current carriers. How the photovoltaic effect Works

  7. How the photovoltaic effect Works

  8. Anatomy of a solar cell

  9. What is the photovoltaic effect • Brief history • How photovoltaiceffectWork • Quantum level • How to calculate the energy of a photon • Basic anatomy of a solar cell Topics covered

  10. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/solarcells.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_use_in_the_United_States http://www.solarbotics.net/starting/200202_solar_cells/200202_solar_cell_physics.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-cell3.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic_effect#History

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