Photovoltaic effect

The photovoltaic effect is closely related to the photoelectric effect.

Other phenomena where light affects the movement of electric charges include the photoconductive effect (also known as photoconductivity or photoresistivity), the photovoltaic effect, and the photoelectrochemical effect.

However, the most familiar form of the photovoltaic effect uses solid-state devices, mainly in photodiodes.

This mode exploits the photovoltaic effect, which is the basis for solar cells – a traditional solar cell is just a large area photodiode.

The first demonstration of the photovoltaic effect, by Edmond Becquerel in 1839, used an electrochemical cell.

He is credited with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect, the operating principle of the solar cell, in 1839.

In most photovoltaic applications the radiation is sunlight, and the devices are called solar cells.

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.

The photovoltaic effect can also occur when two photons are absorbed simultaneously in a process called two-photon photovoltaic effect.

The two-photon photovoltaic effect can be considered as the nonlinear equivalent of the conventional photovoltaic effect commonly used in p-n junction solar cells.

The photovoltaic effect is the creation of voltage and electric current in a material upon exposure to light.

The photovoltaic effect is the creation of voltage and electric current in a material upon exposure to light.

The photovoltaic effect is the creation of voltage and electric current in a material upon exposure to light.

It is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

It is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

In either case, light is absorbed, causing excitation of an electron or other charge carrier to a higher-energy state.

In either case, light is absorbed, causing excitation of an electron or other charge carrier to a higher-energy state.

In either case, an electric potential (or voltage) is produced by the separation of charges, and the light has to have a sufficient energy to overcome the potential barrier for excitation.

The physical essence of the difference is usually that photoelectric emission separates the charges by ballistic conduction and photovoltaic emission separates them by diffusion, but some "hot carrier" photovoltaic device concepts blur this distinction.

The first solar cell, consisting of a layer of selenium covered with a thin film of gold, was experimented by Charles Fritts in 1884, but it had a very poor efficiency.

The first solar cell, consisting of a layer of selenium covered with a thin film of gold, was experimented by Charles Fritts in 1884, but it had a very poor efficiency.

When sunlight or other sufficiently energetic light is incident upon the photodiode, the electrons present in the valence band absorb energy and, being excited, jump to the conduction band and become free.

These excited electrons diffuse, and some reach the rectifying junction (usually a diode p-n junction) where they are accelerated into the p-type semiconductor material by the built-in potential (Galvani potential).

These excited electrons diffuse, and some reach the rectifying junction (usually a diode p-n junction) where they are accelerated into the p-type semiconductor material by the built-in potential (Galvani potential).

This generates an electromotive force and an electrical current, and thus some of the light energy is converted into electric energy.

He explained his discovery in Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences, "the production of an electric current when two plates of platinum or gold immersed in an acid, neutral, or alkaline solution are exposed in an uneven way to solar radiation."

These thermal gradients in turn may generate a voltage through the Seebeck effect.

In most photovoltaic applications the radiation is sunlight, and the devices are called solar cells.

Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry.