Abstract:
It is a form of renewable energy resource that is some measure competitive with fossil fuels. Hydro power is the force of energy of moving water. It provides about 96% of the renewable energy in the united state. Hydro electric power plants do not use any resources to create electricity or they do not pollute the air.
The sun is a hydrodynamic spherical body of extremely hot ionized gases(plasma), generating energy by the process of the thermonuclear fusion. The temperature of interior of sun is estimated at 8*10^6 k to 40*10^6 k,, where energy is released by fusion of hydrogen and helium.
Solar energy is available in abundance and considered as the easiest and cleanest means of tapping the renewable energy. For direct conversion of solar radiation into usable form, the routes are: solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and solar architecture. However the main problem associated with tapping solar energy is the requirement to install large solar collectors requires a very big space. To avoid this problem we can install a solar tree in spite of a no of solar panels which require a very small space.
A solar cell (photovoltaic cell or photoelectric cell) is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. The energy of light is transmitted by photons-small packets or quantum of light. Electrical energy is stored in electromagnetic fields, which in turn can make a current of electrons flow.
Assemblies of solar cells are used to make solar modules which are used to capture energy from sunlight. When multiple modules are assembled together (such as prior to installation on a pole- mounted tracker system), the resulting integrated group of modules all oriented in one plane is referred as a solar panel. The electrical energy generated from solar modules, is an example of solar energy. Photovoltaic is the field of technology and research related to the practical application of photovoltaic cells in producing electricity from light, though it is often used specifically to refer to the generation of electricity from sunlight. Cells are described as photovoltaic cells when the light source is not necessarily sunlight. These are used for detecting light or other electromagnetic radiation near the visible range, for example infrared detectors, or measurement of light intensity.
How solar Cell Works
Solar cells, which largely are made from crystalline silicon work on the principle of Photoelectric Effect that this semiconductor exhibits. Silicon in its purest form- Intrinsic Silicon- is doped with a dopant impurity to yield Extrinsic Silicon of desired characteristic.
Extrinsic Silicon
type Silicon). When p and n type silicon combine they result in formation of potential barrier.
Working of Solar cells can thus be based on two crystalline structure
Silicon has some special chemical properties, especially in its crystalline form. An atom of silicon has 14 electrons, arranged in three different shells. The first two shells- which hold two and eight electrons respectively- are completely full. The outer shell, however, is only half full with just four electrons (Valence electrons). A silicon atom will always look for ways to fill up its last shell, and to do this, it will share electrons with four nearby atoms. It's like each atom holds hands with its neighbours, except that in this case, each atom has four hands joined to four neighbours. That's what forms the crystalline structure. The only problem is that pure crystalline silicon is a poor conductor of electricity because none of its electrons are free to move about, unlike the electrons in more optimum conductors like copper.Download :