What is solar cells?
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Answer:
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is a semiconductor device consisting of a large-area p-n junction diode, which in the presence of sunlight is capable of generating usable electrical energy. This conversion is called the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect was discovered in 1839 by French experimental physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. He observed that certain materials would produce a small current when exposed to light. Light is comprised of packets of energy called photons. When light hits the p-n junction of a semi-conductor the absorbed photon energy releases a electron from the n-type region and moves it to the p-type filling a hole and creating a current. The field of research related to solar cells is known as photovoltaics.
A solar cell is a blackish blue silicon rectangle a few inches square. It function is to convert radiant energy, electromagnetic radiation, or light (as some may call it) into electric current. A number of these devices linked in a series or connected parallel to one another is called a solar panel. Solar panels range in electric output by the type and quantity of solar cells it contains.
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