solar cells argh :@ (1 Viewer)

[klufs2003]

Can someone please explain how solar cells work to me. All the textbooks go on for a page about all this confusing shit that happens and i can never seem to understand it. Something about the light hitting the solar cell giving electrons enough energy to jump the junction and buy a latte or sumthin :S
thanx

 

[Jase]

It's like. first you put together a P type and an N type.

P type has lotsa holes. N types has electrons.

When you first put them together (at the junction only) -> electrons from the N-type jump into the P type and fill up the holes. This makes the N-type positively charged and the P-type negatively charged at the junction. Now when you have two charges, an electric field is produced that goes from positive to negative right? Any electron that goes into this strong field will now be pushed towards the positive side (which is the N-type at the junction).

Now when you shine light at the solar cell, electrons from the junction region will be knocked out by something similar to the photoelectric effect, that is, they get some energy and they 'jump out' - straight into that electric field. The electric field pushes them into the N-type and causes the electrons on the other side of the N-type to 'squeeze' into the wire and to the battery.

It's better with a picture i guess.

 

[mitsui]

is there two types? photoeletric and photovaltic?
i get the photoeletric one

for photovaltic, i thought that both p-type & n-type are neutral and doesnt actually conduct eletricity until there is a change in one? =@

so an eletron left n-type leaving it positively charged, in effect, it also means a hole has moved from p-type? so a voltage is created across the junction and current flows in that order? XD