Photovoltaic Module Installation, 1996
Photovoltaic modules being installed on the roof of the covered swimming pool used for the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Georgia. This 311-kWp, polycrystalline silicon system from Solarex Corporation and Solar Design Associates is connected to the utility grid. Photovoltaics (PV) is the name of a method of converting solar energy into direct current electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon commonly studied in physics, photochemistry and electrochemistry. A photovoltaic system employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells to supply usable solar power. The process is both physical and chemical in nature, as the first step involves the photoelectric effect from which a second electrochemical process take place involving crystallized atoms being ionized in a series, generating an electric current. Power generation from solar PV has long been seen as a clean sustainable energy technology which draws upon the planet's most plentiful and widely distributed renewable energy source - the sun. The direct conversion of sunlight to electricity occurs without any moving parts or environmental emissions during operation.
Size: 3600px × 3600px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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