Solar cell

A conventional crystalline silicon solar cell (as of 2005). Electrical contacts made from busbars (the larger silver-colored strips) and fingers (the smaller ones) are printed on the silicon wafer.
Component type	Active
Working principle‍	Photovoltaic effect
Inventor	Edmond Becquerel
Invention year	1839
First produced	1950s
Electronic symbol

A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by using the photovoltaic effect.^[1] It is a type of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics (such as current, voltage, or resistance) vary when it is exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices are often the electrical building blocks of photovoltaic modules, known colloquially as "solar panels". Almost all commercial PV cells consist of crystalline silicon, with a market share of 95%. Cadmium telluride thin-film solar cells account for the remainder.^[2] The common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts.^[3]

Photovoltaic cells may operate under sunlight or artificial light. In addition to producing solar power, they can be used as a photodetector (for example infrared detectors), to detect light or other electromagnetic radiation near the visible light range, as well as to measure light intensity.

The operation of a PV cell requires three basic attributes:

• The absorption of light, generating excitons (bound electron-hole pairs), unbound electron-hole pairs (via excitons), or plasmons.
• The separation of charge carriers of opposite types.
• The separate extraction of those carriers to an external circuit.

There are multiple input factors that affect the output power of solar cells, such as temperature, material properties, weather conditions, solar irradiance and more.^[4]

A similar type of "photoelectrolytic cell" (photoelectrochemical cell), can refer to devices

• using light to excite electrons that can further be transported by a semiconductor which delivers the energy (like that explored by Edmond Becquerel and implemented in modern dye-sensitized solar cells)
• using light to split water directly into hydrogen and oxygen which can further be used in power generation

In contrast to outputting power directly, a solar thermal collector absorbs sunlight, to produce either

• direct heat as a "solar thermal module" or "solar hot water panel"
• indirect heat to be used to spin turbines in electrical power generation.

Arrays of solar cells are used to make solar modules that generate a usable amount of direct current (DC) from sunlight. Strings of solar modules create a solar array to generate solar power using solar energy, many times using an inverter to convert the solar power to alternating current (AC).