Can electron tubes generate solar power

How do solar panels generate electricity?

Solar panels generate electricity by converting photons (packets of light energy) into an electric current. Strano’s nanotube antenna boosts the number of photons that can be captured and transforms the light into energy that can be funneled into a solar cell.

How does a titanium tube work in a solar cell?

A titanium tube is used as the substrate to collect electrons from the solar cell compartment and convert the unabsorbed photons to thermal energy. The outer surface of the tube is assembled with an organic solar cell to harvest incident light and convert partial of the energy into electricity.

How does a solar tube work?

The inner tube is pumped with water to collect generated heat and meanwhile cool down the device. Such a solar tube simultaneously converts the sunlight into electricity and heat, and is anticipated to highly boost the utilization rate of incident light. 2. Results and discussion

How much energy can a solar cell turn into electricity?

Given the distribution of photons in sunlight—each with its distinctive wavelength and energy—even an ideal solar cell could turn only 34% of the total energy into electricity. One way to deal with that efficiency limit is to stack up layers of different semiconductors, each absorbing different colors of sunlight.

How does a solar cell create a flow of electrons?

In order to create the flow of electrons within the solar cell, the electrons must be excited out of their stable ‘ground’ state up into the higher energy level needed for them to move from the p-type to the n-type side. This amount of energy is equivalent to the difference in electronegativity between the two layers (this is called the band gap).

How is sunlight converted into electricity?

The conversion of sunlight into electricity has been dominated by photovoltaic and solar thermal power generation. Photovoltaic cells are deployed widely, mostly as flat panels, whereas solar thermal electricity generation relying on optical concentrators and mechanical heat engines is only seen in large-scale power plants.