of solar radiation include Marmul, Fahud, Sohar and Qairoon Haiti.

Furthermore, the studies have

shown that, Oman coastal areas have less solar insolation compared to the desert areas where
the solar insolation is relatively higher. (Kaleem, 2017).

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 THEORY

Working Mechanism of Solar Energy Production:

The working mechanism of solar energy is based on the conversion of the solar radiations emitted
from the sun into electricity. This is achieved through the utilization of Solar Panel(s).When solar
radiations or sun rays shines onto the surface of a solar panel, the photovoltaic cells of the solar
panel absorbs the energy from the sunlight. The absorbed energy generates electrical charges
that move in response to an internal electrical field within the phovoltaic (PV) cell, and thus
resulting into the flow of electricity. (EERE, 2023)

Solar panel is made up of many, smaller units known as photovoltaic cells. These cells play the
fundamental role in the generation of solar energy. Each Photo Voltaic (PV) cell is composed of
two slices of semiconducting material, usually silicon, which when exposed to sunlight or sun’s
rays, they absorb sunlight’s energy and transfer it to the negatively charged particles that are
referred to as electrons. The electrons flow through the material as electrical current, which is
then extracted through conductive contacts-grid like lines on solar PV cells. (Dhar & Harvey, 2022)

Figure 2: Working Mechanism of typical solar cell

In order for a photovoltaic cell to generate electric field, the semiconductor (silicon) is doped with
other material in order to obtain opposite poles for opposite charges to develop. Silicon itself has
a total of 14 electrons that are arranged in different three shells/layers. The outer shell has a total
of 4 electrons, hence always a silicon atom will find a way to fill-up its last shell, and thus in order
to achieve this, a silicon atom will share electrons with nearby four atoms. According to American
Society, phosphorous is usually seeded into the top layer of the semiconductor (silicon) to add
extra electrons with negative charge. This is because, phosphorus has 5 electrons in its outer
shell, and hence, when combined with silicon, one electron will remain free. The bottom layer is
doped with boron to obtain less electrons (positive charge). This is because, boron has 3 electrons

Course Work Rev: 04 _ ver 02 Date: April/May 2023 Page 8 of 19