Mystery of Solar Cells - How Do Solar Cells Actually Work?

Solar cells are a fascinating thing to watch. They capture photons from the sun and create electricity for you. But do you know how these solar cells actually work? Reading this article will give you the answer about solar cells and how hey are constructed in order to produce electricity. Most solar cells are made from the element silicon. Now this element has the number 14 in the periodic table which means that it has 14 protons and 14 electrons. The electrons of this element are arranged in different shells. They are called K, L, M shells and so on.., with K as the shell that is the closest to the nucleus. The silicon atom has 2 electrons in the K shell, 8 electrons in the L shell and 4 electrons in the M shell. The 4 electrons in the M shell are valence electrons and they are the easiest ones to move. With this basic understand on how the electrons in the silicon atom are positioned we can move on. We want one of these electrons in the M shell to become knocked out of its orbit ...  more