When scientists refer to solar power, they are referring to the way sunlight is used to generate electricity. Most commonly, solar panels are the main way of obtaining sunlight and processing the conversion. Compacted with a number of solar cells, many solar panels are made from crystalline silicon sheets. The type of silicon used on the solar panels have a semiconducting quality, thus when a certain amount of sunlight hits the silicon, an equal number of electrons are produced.The steps which are carried out by the solar panels are referred to as the photoelectric effect. To create a substantial amount of electricity, multiple solar panels are often grouped together. The farm of solar panels is often referred to as a photovoltaic array.When the sun isn’t available, other forms of renewable energy are used in its place; such as hydro power (using water) or wind power (using the wind).
