| Photovoltaics |
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| Electricity from solar energy |
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Photovoltaics or PV is the direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy.
Since 1958 PV is the energy of most spacecraft with solar cells in use. Meanwhile, it will also cover the earth to generate electricity, and applies to roof surfaces in parking machines, pocket calculators, to soundproof walls, or in open areas. The name is composed of the components photos - the Greek word for light - and Volta - after Alessandro Volta, a pioneer of electrical engineering - together. Photovoltaics is considered part of the wider solar technology, which may include other technical uses of solar energy include.
The light and warmth as down to earth incident amount of solar energy is roughly equivalent to the 15,000-times the total primary energy consumption of humanity in 2006. This radiation energy can in principle be collected and partially converted into electricity, without by-products such as exhaust fumes arise. When converting the photoelectric effect exploited.
The energy conversion takes place with the help of solar cells, connected to so-called solar modules. The electricity produced can either be used on site, stored in batteries or fed into electricity grids. When feeding the energy into the public grid, the DC voltage produced by solar cells is converted from an inverter into alternating current. Sometimes the sole energy supply is realized by solar modules as an `island system´. To improve this energy continuously to provide the energy has to be stored in batteries.
The strongly fluctuating radiation offer makes the use of photovoltaics. The radiation energy varies predictable daily and seasonal, as well as daily, depending on the weather. For example, a solar array installed in Germany in July, compared with December to five times higher yield. Useful is the photovoltaic energy conversion as a building block in a mix of various energy conversion processes. The Electricity Feed Law and in particular the Renewable Energies Act have led to a boom in the construction of photovoltaic installations in Germany.
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