ScienceDaily (Aug. 3, 2010) - Call it the anti-sunscreen. That's more or less the description of what many solar energy researchers would like to find -- light-catching substances that could be added to photovoltaic materials in order to convert more of the sun's energy into carbon-free electricity.See Also:
Matter & Energy
Research reported in the journalApplied Physics Letters, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), describes how solar power could potentially be harvested by using oxide materials that contain the element selenium. A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, embedded selenium in zinc oxide, a relatively inexpensive material that could be promising for solar power conversion if it could make more efficient use of the sun's energy. The team found that even a relatively small amount of selenium, just 9 percent of the mostly zinc-oxide base, dramatically boosted the material's efficiency in absorbing light.
"Researchers are exploring ways to make solar cells both less expensive and more efficient; this result potentially addresses both of those needs," says author Marie Mayer, a fourth-year University of California, Berkeley doctoral student based out of LBNL's Solar Materials Energy Research Group, which is working on novel materials for sustainable clean-energy sources.
Mayer says that photoelectrochemical water splitting, using energy from the sun to cleave water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, could potentially be the most exciting future application for her work. Harnessing this reaction is key to the eventual production of zero-emission hydrogen powered vehicles, which hypothetically will run only on water and sunlight. Like most researchers, Mayer isn't predicting hydrogen cars on the roads in any meaningful numbers soon. Still, the great thing about solar power, she says, is that "if you can dream it, someone is trying to research it."
a. can convert light into electricity.
Selenium
Solar energy created electricity from sunlight. There are no resources used from the planet (apart from the materials used to make the panels).
Solar energy, all space equipment uses solar panels
Chloroplasts and solar panels both trap solar power from the Sun and converts it to energy so function the main organism or device. In a calculator, solar power trapped is being converted to electrical energy so that it does not require batteries to operate. In chloroplasts, solar power is being used to make food for the plant.
Solar panels are panels comprising large numbers of photovoltaic cells which convert light energy - in the form of incident sunlight - into electricity.
Charles Fritts created the first solar cells made from selenium wafers in 1883.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica the first genuine solar cell was built around 1883 by Charles Fritts, who used junctions formed by coating selenium (a semiconductor) with an extremely thin layer of gold.
The answer is solar panels. Solar panels are the main products used to generate solar power. These panels are comprised of solar cells, which use the photovoltaic effect to turn sunlight into electricity. Silicon is the most common type of cell used in solar panels. An electric field is created when sunlight strikes the solar cells, which produces an electrical current.
form_title= Residential Solar Panels form_header= Go green with solar panels in your home! What is your budget for the solar panels?*= _ [50] How much energy is used in your home?*= _ [50] Will you qualify for a rebate when you install solar panels?*= () Yes () No () Not Sur
by solar panels
5kva solar inveter use how many panels
Solar panels are used to power homes and business's. Solar panels are bundles of wired photovoltaic cells contained in a single block to produce electricity by absorbing the sun's photons.
Solar Cells are used to power Solar Panels.
no but solar panels are in solar calculators
They are used everywhere.
Solar energy is recovered by using solar panels. The solar cells on the solar panels use the energy from the sun to produce the electricity used for everyday life.
According to SolarPanelCenter.net there are 4 types of solar panels, namely, Monocrystalline Silicon Panels, Polycrystalline Silicon Panels, String Ribbon Silicon Panels, and Amorphous Silicon Panels.