SoLar EnErgY TEcHnoLogY PrIMEr: a SuMMarY

Photovoltaics (“PV”) is the direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy using devices called a solar cells. Most modern solar cells use semiconductor materials, whereby silicon wafer based technologies dominate today’s market. Sunlight can be considered as a flux of particles called photons, whereas an electric current is a flux of electrons. In essence, solar cells convert the energy of a photon flux into electric energy, whereby each incoming photon with sufficient energy leads to an energetically excited electron that can deliver energy to an external load. To have a high PV efficiency, a solar cell must: (i) absorb the incoming solar photons in an optimal way; and (ii) efficiently separate the light-generated electrical charge carriers, so that negative charge builds up at one surface of the cell and positive charge at the opposite surface. charge carrier separation is usually realised using a socalled p-n junction. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a solar cell. SoLar EnErgY TEcHnoLogY PrIMEr: a SuMMarY