San Diego’s temperate Mediterranean climate is ideal for generating solar power through photovoltaic technology. On average, San Diego enjoys 265 sunny days annually.
In a photovoltaic solar module, photons from sunlight change electrons into a higher state of energy, thus creating electricity.
Photovoltaic solar cells produce direct current (DC) electricity from light, which can then be be used to recharge batteries, or to power equipment. Today the photovoltaics are are mainly used for grid connected power generation. Since our electrical grid operates on alternating current (AC), an inverter is required to convert the DC to AC.
Typically photovoltaic cells are protected behind a layer of glass, and when many cells are connected together a photovoltaic module, or panel is formed.
Thin-film solar photovoltaics use non-silicon semiconductor materials such as copper, indium, gallium and selenium to convert sunlight into electricity. Since expensive silicon is not used, the cells are cheaper to manufacture. An additional perk is that the non-silicon materials can also be printed on light and flexible materials, which can create new applications for solar photovoltaics. At present, thin film solar cells are less efficient than their silicon based counterparts, but in time this gap will likely narrow.