How is sunlight converted into electricity?

Question

As I understand, light is made up of photons, and electricity is made up of electrons.

Answer 1

"electricity is made up of electrons." is a common misconception. Electricity should never be considered to be any kind of "stuff".



Electricity is a branch of study in Phyiscs, not "stuff". Saying "this device consumes a lot of electricity" would be like saying "I am drinking a lot of hydrodynamics". Instead, we should say "this device consumes a lot of electrical energy" and "I am drinking a lot of water".



The "stuff" of electricity is either charges or energy carried by the charges (electrical energy).



Also those charges aren't necessarily electrons, they just are electrons for most common circuits built by our hands and factories. In the human brain, electrons aren't the carriers of electrical energy, positive sodium ions are instead.



Remember: a good teacher can teach an entire class in electricity without ever using the word electron.



Also, batteries do not supply electrons and appliances do not consume electrons. The utility company is a big "scam" because they never give you any net particles, they just take back the particles they gave you and recycle them...(not exactly reality) and well not really a scam because they still do something useful. The utility company and the battery are, rather than supplying electrons, they are re-energizing the electrons.



As for light being converted into electrical energy, it is again, just re-energizing the electrons in devices called photovoltaic cells.

Answer 2

Converting Sunlight into Electricity. Light striking a silicon semiconductor causes electrons to flow, creating electricity. Solar power generating systems take advantage of this property to convert sunlight directly into electrical energy.

Solar panels,Which goes through a power inverter to become alternating current (AC) — electricity that we can use in the home or office, like that supplied by a utility power company.



There are two types of solar power generating systems: grid-connected systems, which are connected to the commercial power infrastructure; and stand-alone systems, which feed electricity to a facility for immediate use, or to a battery for storage.



Grid-connected systems are used for homes, public facilities such as schools and hospitals, and commercial facilities such as offices and shopping centers. Electricity generated during the daytime can be used right away, and in some cases surplus electricity can be sold to the utility power company. If the system doesn’t generate enough electricity, or generates none at all electricity is purchased from the utility power company. Power production levels and surplus selling can be checked in real time on a monitor, an effective way to gauge daily energy consumption.



Stand-alone systems are used in a variety of applications, including emergency power supply and remote power where traditional infrastructure is unavailable.



https://www.electrikals.com/

Answer 3

Solar power is the cleanest, most reliable form of renewable energy and it can be used in several forms. Solar-powered photovoltaic (PV) panels convert the sun's rays into electricity by converting electrons in silicon cells using the photons of light from the sun.

Answer 4

Photovoltaics (PVs) are arrays of cells containing a solar photovoltaic material that converts solar radiation into direct current electricity. Materials presently used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon,