When sunlight hits the solar cell, it will generate electric charge, and the photovoltaic effect will appear. The amount of charge depends on multiple factors: battery material (silicon, thin-film, etc.), battery area (larger battery area means more individual batteries can be converted into more voltage or current), and the quality of the light source. The most efficient and attractive light source is the sun that is easily available and cost-free.
Crystalline silicon is a relatively active non-metal element. It can form compounds with 64 of the 96 stable elements. The main purpose of silicon depends on its semiconductivity. Silicon material is currently the most important semiconductor material. Crystalline silicon is a gray-black solid with metallic luster, has high hardness, is brittle, and is chemically inactive at room temperature.
Thin-film solar power panels. Solar panels are devices that directly or indirectly convert solar radiation energy into electrical energy through the photoelectric effect or photochemical effect by absorbing sunlight(voltage regulators for solar panels). The main material of most solar panels is "silicon", but the production cost is very high. So large that it has not been widely and universally used. Compared with ordinary batteries and rechargeable batteries, solar batteries are more energy-saving and environmentally friendly green products.
Crystalline silicon solar cell components: Monocrystalline silicon comes from high-purity single crystals, cut from a wafer with a diameter of 150mm and a thickness of 200mm. The most widely used solar cell is mainly due to the stability of crystalline silicon, while polycrystalline silicon is more popular and has a larger production volume.
For example, the silicon is cut into strips and then cut into wafers(outdoor thin film solar panels). The manufacturing process of polycrystalline silicon solar cells is similar to that of monocrystalline silicon solar cells. The battery is similar, but the photoelectric conversion efficiency of polycrystalline silicon solar cells has to be reduced a lot, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is about 15%.
Thin-film solar modules: Waste silicon wafers are used. Considering its efficiency level, silicon wafers are not necessarily low-cost. The process is greatly simplified, the silicon material consumption is low, and the power consumption is lower. Its main advantage is that it can generate electricity in low light conditions.
However, the main problem of amorphous silicon solar cells is that the photoelectric conversion efficiency is low. The international advanced level is about 10%, and it is not stable enough. As time goes by, its conversion efficiency decreases.