Photovoltaics: Turning Sunlight Into Electricity
These roof shingles being installed in Golden, Colorado, are coated with PV cells made of amorphous silicon. When installation is complete, the PV shingles look much like ordinary roofing shingles, but they generate electricity.
We have prepared a 60-second animated video showing the function of a solar cell as part of a photovoltaic panel or module. Please note, early in the video, you’ll hear the statement, ‘Every minute, enough of this [sunlight] energy reaches the Earth to meet the world’s energy demand for a whole year.’ This statement is misleading if specific assumptions are not included. A more accurate general statement is that ‘every hour enough of this energy…’.
