Solar power harvesting technology has long been a staple of renewable energy and off-grid electricity. It requires no moving parts, dammed rivers, or combustion of fossil fuels to generate power. Instead, solar energy utilizes specific interactions between solid-state photovoltaic cells and the photons in light to create a flow of electrons, which convert the sun's energy into usable electricity.
Types of solar energy harvesting
There are different types of energy solar harvesting techniques, such as solar water heating systems and concentrated solar plants that utilize molten salt to spin steam turbines. However, solar panels are the most common electricity-generating method used in residential, commercial, and industrial power technology.
Let's look at four critical solar panel parts used in traditional solar energy harvesting.
1. Photovoltaic cells: converting light energy into electrical energy
The photovoltaic cell of a solar panel, arguably the most critical component in solar energy harvesting technology, is where light from the sun gets converted into electricity. The photovoltaic cells consist of a multitude of large semiconductor wafers that, when combined, create a large surface area for solar energy to be absorbed. These semiconductors then get connected to a network of small wires that combine to form the output circuit part of the solar panel.
2. Solar panel connectors and conductors: safe, successful flow of energy
Connectors and conductors are vital solar panel parts for safely and efficiently collecting and transferring energy to the point of use. Solar panels are always located outside, which requires the implementation of robust connectors that won't short, disconnect, or age when in contact with moisture, UV light, wind, hail and other elements in nature.
Photovoltaic connectors that combine solar panels to the rest of the solar harvesting infrastructure are often IP67-rated or higher. That guarantees they won't waiver in performance when exposed to extreme weather conditions. These connectors are also capable of safely transferring high DC voltages, which can reach thousands of volts in large commercial PV systems.
3. Solar panel power inverters: the brains of solar energy systems
Given the nature of PV physics, photovoltaic solar energy harvesting systems inherently produce DC current. However, because AC current is more efficient, energy distribution systems around the world utilize it for transmission. Therefore, the DC current from the solar energy system must be converted into AC current to use the PV solar panels in tandem with electrical mains.
That's where inverters come in — without them, the power from the panels has nowhere to go. Inverters consist of various components such as resistors, capacitors, transistors, inductors, and transformers. A multitude of solar inverter technologies can handle many off-grid and grid-tied solar architectures, varying voltage configurations for both residential and commercial applications, and even inverters that can charge energy storage devices to collect and distribute energy efficiently.
4. Solar energy storage and batteries: living on or off the grid
In nearly all energy consumption applications, power use is intermittent. A manufacturing facility uses most of its energy powering up machinery at the start of the workday. A residential home uses the majority of its power during hours without sunlight. Solar energy, however, is much more consistent than these energy-consuming patterns.
At nighttime, solar energy harvesting is minimal, and in daylight, it's nearly constant. That means power gets harvested during periods of low energy demand, and these resources must be stored. There are two current methods for storing this excess energy — on-grid and off-grid. On-grid setups are tied to a local utility company's system. Off-grid energy storage is a stand-alone power system that can be achieved in various ways, such as using a battery network. Grid storage relies on putting the newly harvested electricity back into the grid infrastructure and effectively selling it to the energy provider, to utilize their vast power storage techniques.
Future innovation of solar panel components
Given its low carbon footprint, solar energy is an increasingly more efficient and widely adopted method of generating power. Due to its growing capacities, innovation around solar panel components will be vital in optimizing efficiencies and guaranteeing more widespread use across nearly all sectors.