Question

Explain why several semiconductor materials might be put together to obtain more efficient solar cells.

Answer 1

When light reaches a solar panel or photovoltaic (PV) cell, it can either be reflected, absorbed or pass right through it. At the heart of a solar cell is a semiconductor layer, which is unequivocally the most important part of the cell.

This material combines the properties of metals and insulators to yield a substance uniquely skilled at converting sunlight to electricity. When the semiconductor absorbs light, photons transfer their energy to electrons which flow through the material as an electrical current towards metal contacts above and below the semiconductor layer, from where it can travel to the power grid.

The efficiency of a PV cell is defined as the amount of electrical power divided by the energy from sunlight in. Now, if we want a good Solar cell we want want more electric power to be converted from sunlight. Semiconductors has this property of conversion. When we put several semiconductors together we will be having different materials with different properties which make the electric power more and more.

This is one of the main reasons why we put several semiconductors together to make efficient solar cell.