GC: n
CT: Light shining on the solar cell produces both a current and a voltage to generate electric power. This process requires firstly, a material in which the absorption of light raises an electron to a higher energy state, and secondly, the movement of this higher energy electron from the solar cell into an external circuit. The electron then dissipates its energy in the external circuit and returns to the solar cell. A variety of materials and processes can potentially satisfy the requirements for photovoltaic energy conversion, but in practice nearly all photovoltaic energy conversion uses semiconductor materials in the form of a p-n junction.
S: PVEDUCATION – http://pveducation.org/pvcdrom/solar-cell-operation/solar-cell-structure (last access: 13 January 2015).
N: 1. solar (adj.): mid-15c., “pertaining to the sun,” from Latin solaris “of the sun,” from sol “sun”. Old English had sunlic “solar.” Astrological sense from 1620s. Meaning “operated by means of the sun” is from 1740; solar power is attested from 1915, solar cell from 1955, solar panel from 1964. Solar system is attested from c.1704; solar wind is from 1958. Solar plexus (1771) “complex of nerves in the pit of the stomach,” apparently so called from its central position in the body.
cell (n): early 12c., “small monastery, subordinate monastery” (from Medieval Latin in this sense), later “small room for a monk or a nun in a monastic establishment; a hermit’s dwelling” (c.1300), from Latin cella “small room, store room, hut,” related to Latin celare “to hide, conceal.”The Latin word represents PIE root kel- “to cover, conceal”. Electric battery sense is from 1828, based on original form.
2. A solar cell is an electronic device which directly converts sunlight into electricity.
3. Solar cells are of various types: Photovoltaic, thermionic, and thermoelectric.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=solar&searchmode=none (last access: 13 January 2015). 2. PVEDUCATION – http://pveducation.org/pvcdrom/solar-cell-operation/solar-cell-structure (last access: 13 January 2015). 3. TERMIUMPLUS.
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