Basic Electronics and Advanced Electrical Installations Workshop

PV is emerging as a major power resource, steadily becoming more affordable and proving to be more reliable than utilities. Photovoltaic power promises a brighter, cleaner future for our children

The photovoltaic effect is the basic principal process by which a PV cell converts sunlight into electricity. When light shines on a PV cell, it may be reflected, absorbed, or pass right through. The absorbed light generates      electricity; this is the topic one in this module.The solar energy conversion into electricity takes place in a semiconductor device that is called a solar cell( This is discussed in the Topic two of this module).A solar cell is a unit that delivers only a certain amount of electrical power. In order to use solar electricity for practical devices, which require a particular voltage or current for their operation, a number of solar cells have to be connected together to form a solar panel, also called a PV module. For large-scale generation of solar electricity, the solar panels are connected together into a solar array.  The heart of a photovoltaic system is the solar module.  Many photovoltaic cells are wired together by the manufacturer to produce a solar module.  When installed at a site, solar modules are wired together in series to form strings.  Strings of modules are connected in parallel to form an array. The produced Electrical energy is used to run different Loads including Domestic electrical appliances to perform different tasks (this is the third topic of this Module).