The term “photovoltaic solar energy” could seem a bit redundant to those who understand the technology – and totally mysterious to those who do not.
It’s not all that difficult, even so.
Pictures, Photographs, Photon Torpedoes and Photovoltaics
The common denominator of that subtitle is “photo.” This word, which has come to refer to pictures taken with a camera or comparable device, is basically an old Greek term which means “light.” When combined with an additional Greek word, grafikos – which means “image” or “inscription” – we get the word photograph, which signifies “image from light.”
A photon is simply a light particle. All due respect to Star Trek fans, it’s hard to know how such an insubstantial particle could be turned into a weapon by itself – and the writers are vague on just how a “photon torpedo” actually is supposed to work.
Volts of course are units of electrical energy.
As a result, photovoltaic technology is the science of creating electrical power directly from light particles.
Of course, the original source of those light particles, or photons, is the sun.
It’s Not All Photovoltaic Energy
Some might argue that all power is ultimately solar energy – even coal and oil. This notion has some truth to it, but when it comes to photovoltaics, there is a neat distinction.
You could recall that plants feed themselves by way of a method recognized as photosynthesis, in which they use photons (light particles) directly in order to synthesize (change, produce) power from simple sugars. This power creates the plant tissues that you and I (or a cow or chicken) eats when we ingest these foods, enzymes in our digestive tract convert the plant’s power into a form that permits our bodies to function.
By the way, this solar energy stored by plants is also released when wood or grasses or other plants are burned. This brings us to fossil fuels.
Coal and oil are produced up of ancient plant matter – the remains of vegetation that was alive hundreds of millions of years ago. When these plants died, the stored solar energy was locked inside. At some point, this dead, rotting vegetable matter was buried and topic to preternatural geologic pressures, and this at some point produced coal and oil, which releases this “ancient sunlight” when burned.
Not very efficient, is it?
Direct Sunlight
Photovoltaics use sunlight directly as it hits the surface of the earth. Using specially developed cells, photovoltaic technology converts photons into electrons – thus producing actual voltage, or electrical energy.
At the moment, this is not terribly expense-successful yet another type of solar power utilizes mirrors and magnifiers to concentrate sunlight, focusing it on water towers in order to generate steam. In essence, these kinds of solar generation plants are similar to coal, oil and gas-fired facilities. The only distinction is that sunlight is utilised as a fuel instead of fossil fuels. Ultimately even so, as photovoltaic technologies matures over the subsequent decade, it will turn out to be a substantial component of the world’s clean energy grid.