Solar systems are the most commonly used devices. Solar systems are most commonly used to generate electricity through sunlight. Solar panel and solar cell are the most important parts of the solar system. Solar panel and solar cell look similar terms. The main difference between a solar panel and a solar cell is that a solar cell directly gets solar energy from the sunlight and converts it into electricity, while a solar panel collects the output electricity to all soar cells and sends it to the inverter or home. This article mainly explains the difference between the solar panel and solar cell. Before understanding the solar panel vs solar cell, first, you need to understand the working of the solar panel and solar cell.
What Is a Solar Cell?
A solar cell is also known as a Photovoltaic (PV) cell. The photovoltaic (PV) cell is an electronic part of the solar system that produces electricity when sunlight particles or photons fall on it.
Monocrystalline and polycrystalline are used for the construction of solar cells. Mostly these cells have multiple layers with two semiconductors installed in between.
Out of these two semiconductors, one is installed at the top while the other one is installed at the bottom. The top semiconductor has extra electrons, resulting in a negative charge. However, the bottom semiconductor has no electrons and is a positive electrode layer.
As the sunlight hits the top semiconductor, loose electrons are emitted to the bottom cathode layer. There is a barrier between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate because semiconductors allow electrons to go into the cells. Therefore, when the loose electrons are forced to reach the bottom semiconductor, an electric current is created.
The conductor then carries the resulting current to the electrical consumer. This process repeats again and again when the electron re-enters the cell. This is one of the simplest methods to generate electricity according to your requirements.
What Is a Solar Panel?
A photovoltaic (PV) module or solar panel is a solar cell assembly attached to a mounting frame. In simple words, the installation of multiple solar cells in a single framework is known as a solar panel. Since a single solar cell can only generate a limited amount of electricity while a solar panel consists of several solar cells connected in a series of parallel circuits to form a solar module or photovoltaic module.
The PV module places the solar cells and wiring in a protective box to protect them from the weather. These modules are then assembled into a solar panel.
Solar panels amplify, protect and direct the energy of individual solar cell modules. The number of modules in a solar panel varies according to the desired coverage area or load.
The number of cells in a panel depends on the type of brand and your selected panel size, but the maximum panels have 60 cells or 72 cells.
What Is a Solar System?
A system that takes energy from the sunlight and produces electricity is known as a solar system. It has multiple solar cells and solar panels. The solar panels and solar cells work together to produce electricity according to your requirements.
The solar cells are installed within the solar panel, and each part plays a particular role in a larger system called the solar system or photovoltaic system. All the parts of the solar system work efficiently to generate power.
In this system, all solar cells are arranged in such a way that they all absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. As the solar panel captures electricity by all solar cells, it delivers this captured electricity to the inverter, which transforms the DC to AC. This AC (alternating current) is sent to your home and office via a meter.
Difference Between Solar Cell and Solar Panel
As we discussed above, both solar cells and solar panels are important and closely connected components of the solar system. Solar cells play a big role in making up a solar panel, while different solar panels make a solar system.
An individual solar cell can transform the sunlight into electrical power on its own, but panels are important for combining the power outputs of multiple cells and sending this power to an inverter and building.
A quick overview:
- A solar cell is an electronic part of the solar system that produces electricity when sunlight particles fall on it. In contrast, a solar panel is a combination of multiple solar cells.
- As the solar cells produce electricity, the solar panel collects electricity from each cell and sends it to the inverter.
- A single solar cell can produce electricity on its own, but it generates very low electricity. This produced electricity is not enough to run any device. Therefore, a solar panel gathers electricity from different solar cells and sends it to the inverter, from where electricity is sent to a specific area or machinery.
Here’s everything you need to know about the difference between the solar cell and solar panel. Is there something missing that makes them different from each other? If you know something special, leave a reply in the comments section and share your thoughts.
FAQ Section
How many solar cells are in a solar panel?
Multiple solar cells are used for the construction of the solar panel. A solar panel is made of solar cells arranged in a framework that can contain 32, 36, 48, 60, 72, and 96 cells. The most commonly used solar panel has 32 cells that have the capability to produce 14.72V output (each cell generates up to 0.46V of electricity).
What is the difference between photovoltaic cell and solar cell?
The photo represents to visible light. The word Volta is derived from a volt, and it represents electricity. A photovoltaic (PV) cell uses visible light to generate electricity. The PV cell is a subcategory of the solar cell. It is based on a special mechanism: when sunlight falls on it, electron-hole pairs are created, which generate an open-circuit voltage.
The word solar is used to represent the sun. A “cell” is just a basic unit using this mechanism. A solar cell is a battery that extracts sunlight energy not only from visible light but also from the full frequency range of the sun. Simply put, a solar cell is a cell employed to generate electrical power from sunlight. It’s a special type of photovoltaic cell.
Solar cells convert solar radiation into usable energy. The leaves of the tree are solar cells. The black-painted copper tube contains a mirror-like solar cell attached to a container of liquid sodium.
