Name: Vinay Enrolment no: 01014808220

INTRODUCTION
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. The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for
electricity generation and as photosensors.

A photovoltaic system employs solar modules, each comprising a number of solar cells,
which generate electrical power. PV installations may be ground-mounted,
rooftopmounted, wall-mounted or floating. The mount may be fixed or use a solar tracker
to follow the sun across the sky.

Photovoltaic technology helps to mitigate climate change because it emits much less
carbon dioxide than fossil fuels. Solar PV has specific advantages as an energy source:
once installed, its operation generates no pollution and no greenhouse gas emissions, it
shows scalability in respect of power needs and silicon has large availability in the Earth's
crust, although other materials required in PV system manufacture such as silver may
constrain further growth in the technology. Other major constraints identified are
competition for land use. The use of PV as a main source requires energy storage systems
or global distribution by high-voltage direct
current power lines causing additional costs, and also has a number of other specific
disadvantages such as variable power generation which have to be balanced. Production
and installation does cause some pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, though only a
fraction of the emissions caused by fossil fuels.

Photovoltaic systems have long been used in specialized applications as stand-alone

installations and grid-connected PV systems have been in use since the 1990s.
Photovoltaic modules were first mass-produced in 2000, when the German government
funded a one hundred thousand roof program. Decreasing costs has allowed PV to grow
as an energy source. This has been partially driven by massive Chinese government
investment in developing solar production capacity since 2000, and achieving economies
of scale. Improvements in manufacturing technology and efficiency have also led to
decreasing costs. Net metering and financial incentives, such as preferential feed-in tariffs
for solar-generated electricity, have supported solar PV installations in many countries.
Panel prices dropped by a factor of 4 between 2004 and 2011. Module prices dropped by
about 90% over the 2010s.

In 2019, worldwide installed PV capacity increased to more than 635 gigawatts (GW)
covering approximately two percent of global electricity demand. After hydro and wind
powers, PV is the third renewable energy source in terms of global capacity. In 2019 the
International Energy Agency expected a growth by 700–880 GW from 2019 to 2024. In
some instances, PV has offered the cheapest source of electrical power in regions with a
high solar potential, with a bid for pricing as low as 0.01567 US$/kWh in Qatar in 2020.
In 2020 the International Energy Agency stated in its World Energy Outlook that or
projects with low cost financing that tap high quality resources, solar PV is now the
cheapest source of electricity in history.

PROCESS
The photovoltaic effect occurs in solar cells. These solar cells are composed of two
different types of semiconductors - a p-type and an n-type - that are joined together to
create a p-n junction. To read the background on what these semiconductors are and what
the junction is. By joining these two types of semiconductors, an electric field is formed
in the region of the junction as electrons move to the positive p-side and holes move to
the negative n-side. This field causes negatively charged particles to move in one
direction and positively charged particles in the other direction.

Light is composed of photons, which are simply small bundles of electromagnetic

radiation or energy. These photons can be absorbed by a photovoltaic cell - the type of
cell that composes solar panels. When light of a suitable wavelength is incident on these
cells, energy from the photon is transferred to an atom of the semiconducting material in
the p-n junction. Specifically, the energy is transferred to the electrons in the material.
This causes the electrons to jump to a higher energy state known as the conduction band.
This leaves behind a "hole" in the valence band that the electron jumped up from. This
movement of the electron as a result of added energy creates two charge carriers, an
electron-hole pair.

When unexcited, electrons hold the semiconducting material together by forming bonds
with surrounding atoms, and thus they cannot move. However in their excited state in the
conduction band, these electrons are free to move through the material. Because of the
electric field that exists as a result of the p-n junction, electrons and holes move in the
opposite direction as expected. Instead of being attracted to the p-side, the freed electron
tends to move to the n-side. This motion of the electron creates an electric current in the
cell. Once the electron moves, there's a "hole" that is left. This hole can also move, but in
the opposite direction to the p-side. It is this process which creates a current in the cell. A
diagram of this process can be seen in Figure.

ADVANTAGES OF PHOTOVOLTAIC:-
(1) Pollution and energy in production
PV installations could ideally operate for 100 years or even more with little maintenance
or intervention after their initial set-up, so after the initial capital cost of building any
solar power plant, operating costs are extremely low compared to existing power
technologies. It is pollution free as it does not require any burning of fuel to generate
energy.
(2) Solar cell research investment
Compared to fossil and nuclear energy sources, very little research money has been
invested in the development of solar cells, so there is considerable room for improvement.
Nevertheless, experimental high efficiency solar cells already have efficiencies of over
40% in case of concentrating photovoltaic cells and efficiencies are rapidly rising while
mass-production costs are rapidly falling.
(3) Housing subsidies

In some states of the United States, much of the investment in a home-mounted system
may be lost if the homeowner moves and the buyer puts less value on the system than the
seller.

DISADVANTAGES OF PHOTOVOLATIC:-
(1) Impact on electricity network
For behind-the-meter rooftop photovoltaic systems, the energy flow becomes two-way.
When there is more local generation than consumption, electricity is exported to the grid,
allowing for net metering. However, electricity networks traditionally are not designed to
deal with two-way energy transfer, which may introduce technical issues. An over-
voltage issue may come out as the electricity flows from these PV households back to the
network.
(2) Implications for electricity bill management and energy investment
There is no silver bullet in electricity or energy demand and bill management, because
customers (sites) have different specific situations, e.g. different comfort/convenience
needs, different electricity tariffs, or different usage patterns.

APPLICATIONS:-
Photovoltaic systems
A photovoltaic system, or solar PV system is a power system designed to supply usable
solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several
components, including solar panels to absorb and directly convert sunlight into
electricity, a solar inverter to change the electric current from DC to AC, as well as
mounting, cabling and other electrical accessories.

Photo sensors
Photosensors are sensors of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photo detector
has a p–n junction that converts light photons into current. The absorbed photons make
electron–hole pairs in the depletion region. Photodiodes and photo transistors are a
few examples of photo detectors. Solar cells convert some of the light energy absorbed
into electrical energy.