Copyright 2008 Michael Mc Grath POB 129 Hewitt,NJ 07421.

SOLAR POWER IN ACTION! An extreme close p of the silicon wafers in the PV panel. This is a mature echnology. Albert Einstien won the nobel prize for decribing the photo electric effect, at the beginning of the last century. Many say he was a plagiarizer. Others before him noted this effect. It tuk many years for a practical application to come out of his (thier) theoretical mathematics. HOO-RAY! Pure silicon is doped (chemically treated) with other elements to allow electrons to flow when light of a specific wave length hits it. it is a surface effect hence the wafers are thin.It is sed that 50% of the silicom material is wasted from sawing ingot logs into wafers, and the wafers are polished afterwards. The metal stripes collect the electrons (and block light!) and connecting wires in the back complete the circut. Panels that have high effeciency are multilayered. The silicon infrared layer is on the bottom. A layer snsitive to, say green light, is vacuum deposited on top. it is a very thin layer so it is not opaque to the infrared. this green layer consists of another compound that allows electrons flow. It has conductive traces on it to collect the electrons. On top of that layer is another compound that collects blue light. Same thing again with traces to collect those electrons and very thin to allow both green light and infrared to pass through. This is done in special high vacuum chambers. The wafers are treated and washed with ultra pure chemicals and solvents. NASA used these types of solar cells on spacecraft. tThe technology is available for Arth bound aplications but it aint cost effective.