What is solar power plant?

What is solar power plant?

A solar power plant is based on the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using large areas of photovoltaic cells, known as PV or solar cells, to directly convert sunlight into usable electricity. These cells are usually made from silicon alloys and are the technology most people have become familiar with.

The panels themselves come in various forms:
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- Crystalline solar panels - As the name suggests these types of panels are made from crystalline silicon. They can be either monocrystalline or poly- or multi-crystalline. As a rule of thumb mono crystalline versions are more efficient (about 18-22%) but more expensive than their alternatives (tend to be 15-18% efficient) but advancements are closing the gap between them over time.


- Thin-Film solar panels - These types of panels consist of a series of films that absorb light in different parts of the EM spectrum. They tend to be made from amorphous silicon (aSi), cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium sulfide (CdS),  and copper indium (gallium) diselenide. This type of panel is ideal for applications as flexible films over existing surfaces or for integration within building materials like roofing tiles.

These types of plant generate electricity that is then, usually, directly fed into the national grid.


These kinds of power plant tend to have the following basic components:-

- Solar panels that convert sunlight into useful electricity. They tend to generate DC current with voltages up to 1500 v;

- These plants need inverter to transform the DC into AC

- They usually have some form of a monitoring system to control and manage the plant and;

- They are directly connected to an external power grid of some kind.


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