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    Examen Final de Práctica 2 - How Does Photovoltaics Work

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    daniela Broccardo
    This document is an exam with questions about photovoltaic energy and cells. It begins by explaining that photovoltaics directly converts light to electricity through the photoelectric effect where photons are absorbed and release electrons to create an electric current. It then discusses the history and development of photovoltaic technology from its discovery in 1839 to its increasing use and cost reductions since the 1950s. The document describes how a basic photovoltaic cell works using a semiconductor to create an electric field and generate a current. It also defines a photovoltaic module and array and explains how multiple cells and modules can be connected to produce different voltage and current outputs. Finally, it discusses how modern multi-junction cells can achieve higher

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    Examen Final de Práctica 2 - How Does Photovoltaics Work

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    daniela Broccardo
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    This document is an exam with questions about photovoltaic energy and cells. It begins by explaining that photovoltaics directly converts light to electricity through the photoelectric effect where photons are absorbed and release electrons to create an electric current. It then discusses the history and development of photovoltaic technology from its discovery in 1839 to its increasing use and cost reductions since the 1950s. The document describes how a basic photovoltaic cell works using a semiconductor to create an electric field and generate a current. It also defines a photovoltaic module and array and explains how multiple cells and modules can be connected to produce different voltage and current outputs. Finally, it discusses how modern multi-junction cells can achieve higher

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    Examen Final de Práctica 2- How does photovoltaics work

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    This document is an exam with questions about photovoltaic energy and cells. It begins by explaining that photovoltaics directly converts light to electricity through the photoelectric effect where photons are absorbed and release electrons to create an electric current. It then discusses the history and development of photovoltaic technology from its discovery in 1839 to its increasing use and cost reductions since the 1950s. The document describes how a basic photovoltaic cell works using a semiconductor to create an electric field and generate a current. It also defines a photovoltaic module and array and explains how multiple cells and modules can be connected to produce different voltage and current outputs. Finally, it discusses how modern multi-junction cells can achieve higher

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    26 views2 pages

    Examen Final de Práctica 2 - How Does Photovoltaics Work

    Uploaded by

    daniela Broccardo
    This document is an exam with questions about photovoltaic energy and cells. It begins by explaining that photovoltaics directly converts light to electricity through the photoelectric effect where photons are absorbed and release electrons to create an electric current. It then discusses the history and development of photovoltaic technology from its discovery in 1839 to its increasing use and cost reductions since the 1950s. The document describes how a basic photovoltaic cell works using a semiconductor to create an electric field and generate a current. It also defines a photovoltaic module and array and explains how multiple cells and modules can be connected to produce different voltage and current outputs. Finally, it discusses how modern multi-junction cells can achieve higher

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    of 2

    Inglés Técnico I

    Telecomunicaciones/Electricista

    EXAMEN FINAL DE PRÁCTICA

    Lee el texto y responde las preguntas en español

    1) ¿Qué es la energía solar fotovoltaica y cómo se produce?


    2) ¿En qué año fue notado el efecto fotoeléctrico y cuándo comenzó a expandirse su uso?
    3) ¿Cómo funciona una célula fotovoltaica básica?
    4) ¿A qué se denomina “módulo fotovoltaico”?
    5) ¿Qué usan los dispositivos fotovoltaicos actuales? ¿Qué significa esto?
    6) ¿Qué ventaja tiene el uso de “dispositivos fotovoltaicos múltiples”?
    7) REFERENCIAS: ¿A qué se refieren los elementos subrayados en el texto?

    How Does Photovoltaics Work?

    Photovoltaics is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Some materials
    exhibit a property known as the photoelectric effect that causes them to absorb photons of light
    and release electrons. When these free electrons are captured, an electric current results that can
    be used as electricity.

    The photoelectric effect was first noted by a French physicist, Edmund Bequerel, in 1839, who
    found that certain materials would produce small amounts of electric current when exposed to light.
    In 1905, Albert Einstein described the nature of light and the photoelectric effect on which
    photovoltaic technology is based, for which he later won a Nobel Prize in physics. The first
    photovoltaic module was built by Bell Laboratories in 1954. It was billed as a solar battery and was
    mostly just a curiosity as it was too
    expensive to gain widespread use. In
    the 1960s, the space industry began
    to make the first serious use of the
    technology to provide power aboard
    spacecraft. Through the space
    programs, the technology advanced,
    its reliability was established, and the
    cost began to decline. During the
    energy crisis in the 1970s,
    photovoltaic technology gained
    recognition as a source of power for
    non-space applications.

    The diagram above illustrates the operation of a basic photovoltaic cell, also
    called a solar cell. Solar cells are made of the same kinds of semiconductor
    materials, such as silicon, used in the microelectronics industry. For solar
    cells, a thin semiconductor wafer is specially treated to form an electric field,
    positive on one side and negative on the other. When light energy strikes the
    solar cell, electrons are knocked loose from the atoms in the semiconductor
    material. If electrical conductors are attached to the positive and negative
    Inglés Técnico I
    Telecomunicaciones/Electricista

    EXAMEN FINAL DE PRÁCTICA

    sides, forming an electrical circuit, the electrons can be captured in the form of an electric current --
    that is, electricity. This electricity can then be used to power a load, such as a light or a tool.

    A number of solar cells electrically connected to each other and mounted in a support structure or
    frame is called a photovoltaic module. Modules are designed to supply electricity at a certain
    voltage, such as a common 12 volts system. The current produced is directly dependent on how
    much light strikes the module.

    Multiple modules can be wired together to form an array. In general, the larger the area of a
    module or array, the more electricity that will be produced. Photovoltaic modules and arrays
    produce direct-current (dc) electricity. They can be connected in both series and parallel electrical
    arrangements to produce any required voltage and current combination.

    Today's most common PV devices use a single junction, or interface, to create an electric field
    within a semiconductor such as a PV cell. In a single-junction PV cell, only photons whose energy is
    equal to or greater than the band gap of the cell material can free an electron for an electric circuit.
    In other words, the photovoltaic response of single-junction cells is limited to the portion of the
    sun's spectrum whose energy is above the band gap of the absorbing material, and lower-energy
    photons are not used.

    One way to get around this limitation is to use two (or more) different cells, with more than one
    band gap and more than one junction, to generate a voltage. These are referred to as
    "multijunction" cells (also called "cascade" or "tandem" cells). Multijunction devices can achieve a
    higher total conversion efficiency because they can convert more of the energy spectrum of light to
    electricity.

    As shown below, a multijunction device is a stack of individual single-junction cells in descending


    order of band gap (Eg). The top cell captures the high-energy photons and
    passes the rest of the photons on to be absorbed by lower-band-gap cells.

    Much of today's research in multijunction cells focuses on gallium


    arsenide as one (or all) of the component cells. Such cells have
    reached efficiencies of around 35% under concentrated sunlight. Other
    materials studied for multijunction devices have been amorphous silicon
    and copper indium diselenide.

    As an example, the multijunction device below uses a top cell of gallium


    indium phosphide, "a tunnel junction," to aid the flow of electrons
    between the cells, and a bottom cell of gallium arsenide.

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