Question

A solar cell:
a) First converts solar energy into heat energy and then to electricity.
b) First converts solar energy into light energy and then to electricity.
c) Converts solar energy into electricity.
d) First converts solar energy into magnetic energy and then to electricity.

Answer 1

Hint: We know that historically solar cells have been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth orbiting satellites, consumer systems, e.g. handheld calculators or wrist watches, remote radio-telephones and water pumping applications. It consists of silicon, germanium PN junction with a glass window on the top surface layer of P-Type, the P-Type material is made very thin and wide so that the incident light photon may easily reach the PN junction.

Complete step by step answer
We know that a solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon. Simply put, a solar panel works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many, smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.)
We can say that silicon crystals are laminated into n-type and p-type layers, stacked on top of each other. Light striking the crystals induces the “photovoltaic effect,” which generates electricity. The electricity produced is called direct current (DC) and can be used immediately or stored in a battery. Solar cells produce electricity through multiple layers within the solar cells. Individual solar cells produce limited amounts of energy. Solar panels contain multiple solar cells connected in series of parallel circuits which create a solar module.

Hence the correct answer is option C.

Note: We should know that of all panel types, monocrystalline typically have the highest efficiencies and power capacity. Monocrystalline solar panels can reach efficiencies higher than 20 percent, while polycrystalline solar panels usually have efficiencies between 15 to 17 percent. Metals such as cadmium, gallium, germanium, indium, selenium, and tellurium are important mineral materials used in current photovoltaic cell technology. New research shows, albeit unintentional, that generating electricity with solar panels can also be a very bad idea. In some cases, producing electricity by solar panels releases more greenhouse gases than producing electricity by gas or even coal.