Production of solar cells is now a well-known and thoroughly tested process. The basic component of a crystalline solar cell is silicon. Silicon is the eighth most common element in the Universe according to mass and the second most common element on Earth (after oxygen in the earth’s crust). The Earth’s crust is composed of 25.7% silicon according to mass. Silicon has many applications in various industries. For example, silicon is the main raw material in silicon semi-conductors and microchips in the computer industry.
The processed silicon is cut into ultra thin wafers with a thickness of only 200mm (0.2 mm). These slices are ionised and printed with conductor paths.
The solar cell is then completed and finished, and will produce direct current (DC cur-rent), which is then converted via an inverter into the alternating current, we know from the electrical grid.