The Hack My Solar Podcast

How do Solar Panels work? Solar, or Photovoltaic, Panels work by converting light energy from the sun, or photons, into electricity through the "Photovotaic effect."  Interestingly, a French physicist built the first ever photovoltaic cell at 19 years old, in 1839.  The first practical photovoltaic cell was demonstrated by Bell Laboratories in 1954 and early on they were primarily used in space. A Solar Panel is a collection of solar cells that are made up of semiconductors.  Semiconductors absorb the photons--through a process I wont describe in detail--and cause electrons to be excited and break free to be converted into usable DC electricity.  Solar cells are arrangements of silicon "sandwiches" where one layer is activated with boron and the other activated with phosphorus.  This helps the charge to be created and directs the free electrons to the wiring that leads to your charge controller.   The key to remember here is that its the light energy that is converted to usable electricity, so when siting a