how does solar enegy work?

Solar photovoltaic cells (solar PV)

Solar photovoltaic cells are how we generate electricity directly from sunlight. The light shines on solar panels, which, via a lot of physics, turn the sunlight into a direct current.

Solar panels

This is the way solar PV and solar thermal collect solar energy. The panels themselves differ, but they are the same in principle, and they share many of the same properties.

The energy collected by solar panels is proportional to their surface area, so the bigger the better.

In terms of appearance, they tend to be quite flat, though thermal panels are generally thicker than solar photovoltaic panels.

This is because there is less of a mechanical aspect to photovoltaic panels, as everything is electronic.