How does Solar Energy converted into Electricity step by step

 

Generation of Electricity from Solar Energy;

The generation of electricity from solar energy has been more useful nowadays and have a great need and would be a promising method in the future. Conventional energy sources like coal, biomass, fossil fuel and other polarized or gasified sources would not be well enough to produce more power for industrialization.

The solar energy can be converted to electrical and then chemical and mechanical energy for the industrial, commercial, and household usage through high-temperature endothermic processes.

Solar energy is the best renewable source of energy because of its vast advantages. It is a non-vanished renewable source and is more environmentally friendly than any other source of energy.

Generating electricity from sunlight is even easy also than generating from any other source like coal, fossils, water, and wind, etc. It is because the earth receives (1366W approximately) which is about 10,000 times the total production of human energy today every hour a day and in the whole year and is not stoppable and non-depleting. And also the energy available in space is unlimited.

Solar energy is the best source of electricity which is easily renewable and ecologically safe. It has the greatest long-term production potential and is predicted to be playing a great role in the geothermal energy sources in coming years.

The major reason of being beneficial of the solar energy among other energy sources is that it can be directly converted to electricity and then other energies or powers by using photovoltaic (PV) cells, panels, modules, and batteries with high converting form.

Moreover, solar energy can be freely reachable to common people and it is available in a larger quantity so that everyone can easily get access to it. It is also considered cheaper than other sources and it requires mainly fewer manpower expenses over conventional energy production technology.

The Main Components of Solar Energy Electricity Generation

1.       Photovoltaic Cells (PVCs)

2.       Solar panels

3.       Batteries

4.       Controller

5.       Inverter

The photovoltaic cells are also called solar cells are the main components and are the semiconductor devices which convert the energy they get from sunlight into electricity without involving any energy conversion process.

The photovoltaic effect makes the conversion take place and generates current and voltage at its different terminals when sunlight reaches them. The sunlight falling on the PV cells, the intensity of light, and also the angle at which the sunlight falls on the cells matter the most. The more sunlight with high intensity falls perpendicular to the front side of the cells the more power will be generated and hence we can also conclude that, if the area of the cells is the more there will be more light fallen on the cells and more power will be generated.

Secondly, batteries are the components connected next to the solar cells or PV cells. Batteries give a constant source of power supply when they are charged fully. Mainly, lead-acid batteries are used in converting solar energy. The number of batteries is connected to form a battery bank.

 Both the batteries and PV cells are either connected in series or parallel to achieve more voltage, current, and power.

The controllers regulate the inner and outer flow of the current of the battery. If more current is generated and the battery gets overcharged it can be damaged. And also, if the battery is discharged totally, it will also get destroyed, so the controller maintains the batteries to overcome these conditions.

The inverter is a converting device that converts the DC current or voltage to the AC current/voltage. Because the electricity generated from the sun is always a direct current (DC), but the electrical appliances work mostly on Alternate current (AC).

As the components discussed above are all expensive and must be of high quality for long-term usage. It is difficult and can be expensive initially to buy them all and fix them to run so it comes under the disadvantage of electricity from solar energy.

Secondly, it is weather dependent, when there is a bright sun you can get more electricity and if the weather is cloudy there will be less generation of electricity and maybe no generation. Which is the second disadvantage of it. Also, we can say in the winter months less energy will be stored.

Thirdly, to get more energy you have to use more solar panels or bigger ones, if you do so you must have to reserve more space where you can fix the panels, it means more or bigger panels use more space which might be difficult for you.

Solar energy can’t be stored at night so you have to store more in the day. For this, you have to use large battery banks which gets expensive.