how do solar panels work – Ruthenium Zone

Question: how do solar panels work
- Keywords:
  solar panel
Asked by coolscientist to Ed, Hayley, Jason, Nathan, Sophie on 20 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by williamarnold, weedpuffer12.
- Hayley Evers-King answered on 20 Mar 2013:
  
  There’s two types.
  
  One heats water – which is not too hard to understand – you know if you leave something out in the sun for long enough it will get warmer and water has a high heat capacity – it can store a lot of heat energy.
  
  Photovoltaic cells – those that use sunlight to make electricity, are quite different. They contain special materials with special properties – known as semiconductors. Light energy from the sun is absorbed by these semiconductors, knocking electrons lose, which causes a flow of electricity!

Question: how do solar panels work