How Does a Photovoltaic Panel Work?

It may seem like magic, but the ability to harness usable electricity from the sun is actually pretty easy to understand.

A solar cell consist of two plates, one positively charged, and the other negatively charged.  The negatively charged plate is composed of Silicon, and another element, commonly Phosphorus.  The positively charged plate is composed of Silicon and Boron, and it's the interaction between these to plates that produces energy. 

Photons, which arrive from the sun, knock an electron out of the negatively charged plate, which is soon pulled in by the positively charged plate.  As electrons are transferred from the negative to positive plates, electricity is generated and extracted from the system.

Solar cells are combined together to create a larger unit, a photovoltaic module which generally uses 36 cells and is what is commonly referred to as a solar panel.

Currently, only 15 to 25 percent of the solar energy that strikes a solar panel can be converted to usable energy.  This is mostly due to limitations on which wavelengths of light have the right characteristics to knock the free electron from the negative to positive plate. Improvements are constantly being made to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic panels.