Question

how are the photovoltaic cells used for the solar panels similar to voltaic cells? How are they different

Answer 1

Solar Power can also be thought of as “Solar Electricity” and the key to solar power is the solar cell or photovoltaic (PV) cell. Solar power is one of the most viable and cleanest forms of renewable energy because we can use the suns energy within the sunlight to produce electricity by means of solar cells. The solar cell operates according to what is called the photovoltaic effect, where photo means light and voltaic means electricity. Solar cells are more technically called Photovoltaic Solar Cells, Photovoltaics or simply PV’s.

Photovoltaics are silicon semiconductor devices similar in many ways to electronic diodes and transistors. Photovoltaics produce electricity by converting the solar energy generated from the sun in the form of either visible light, ultra-violet (UV) radiation or infra-red (IR) radiation into a direct or DC current by using the photovoltaic action of the cell without the use of any moving parts.

It is a two-layered device made up of the P-type semiconductor and an N-type semiconductor having depletion region in between. Unlike other voltaic cells, these don't use any chemical reaction to generate electricity.