What Are Photovoltaic Cells?

Photovoltaic Products Can Harness Solar Energy!

Photovoltaic cells: sure, that term doesn't roll off the tongue easily and it doesn't carry the buzz cachet of "green energy," but photovoltaic products are one of the keys to sustainable energy. Photovoltaic may sound fancy, but it's simply another way of saying "converting sunlight into energy." In other words, photovoltaic cells capture solar rays and transform them into usable electricity, and photovoltaic products are any products that harness this type of technology.

How Do Photovoltaic Cells Work?

You've probably seen photovoltaic cells or photovoltaic products sometime in the recent past. In fact, photovoltaic cell usage has doubled every year since 2002 -- it's not just photovoltaic cells in solar-powered calculators anymore. The photovoltaic process can be simplified into the following steps:

• Photovoltaic cells are combined into modules designed to capture a specific amount of sunlight.
• The photovoltaic cells gather the sunlight and cause sunlight photons to knock electrons into a higher state of energy.
• This produces direct-current electricity, which can power any number of photovoltaic products.

Photovoltaic Products & Applications

You can't see it with the naked eye, but some of the most groundbreaking photovoltaic products have been around for years. Satellites floating around the earth have massive photovoltaic cells in solar arrays that keep their electrical components constantly powered. In everyday life, photovoltaic products come in all shapes and sizes: calculators, flashlights, and other types of off-the-grid power. In fact, photovoltaic cells are often installed on roofs as people try to move towards renewable energy rather than gas or electrical.

Even the motor industry is involved. Toyota has begun development of integrating photovoltaic cells into its popular Prius hybrid car. While the car will still run on a combination of gasoline and batteries, the photovoltaic cells will power the air-conditioning system, making an entire vehicle component a photovoltaic product.

Photovoltaic cells are becoming a bigger part of mainstream life, and photovoltaic products are integrating into our daily world. Got a do-it-yourself project that could use renewable energy? Check out SVE's solar products catalog for a wide range of photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic products or contact SVE today with any questions.