SOLAR CELL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does solar cell mean? 

• SOLAR CELL (noun)
  The noun SOLAR CELL has 1 sense:

1. a cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy

  Familiarity information: SOLAR CELL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOLAR CELL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

photovoltaic cell; solar cell

Hypernyms ("solar cell" is a kind of...):

cell; electric cell (a device that delivers an electric current as the result of a chemical reaction)

Holonyms ("solar cell" is a part of...):

solar array; solar battery; solar panel (electrical device consisting of a large array of connected solar cells)

 Context examples 

The researchers demonstrated promising performance with the perovskite bandgaps ideal for layering on top of a silicon solar cell or with another perovskite layer – so-called tandem solar cells.

(Potassium gives perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost, University of Cambridge)

This makes them easier to extract for your solar cell, and it’s more efficient to produce light from these hotspots in an LED.

(‘Messy’ production of perovskite material increases solar cell efficiency, University of Cambridge)

The easier that electrons can move around in a solar cell material, the more efficient that material will be at converting photons, particles of light, into electricity.

(Potassium gives perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost, University of Cambridge)

If we can learn to control the disorder even more precisely, we could expect further LED or solar cell performance improvements – and even push well beyond silicon with tailored tandem solar cells comprising two different colour perovskite layers that together can harvest even more power from the sun than one layer alone, said Dr Sam Stranks, University Lecturer in Energy at the Cambridge Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and the Cavendish Laboratory.

(‘Messy’ production of perovskite material increases solar cell efficiency, University of Cambridge)

Another issue is that ions can move around in the solar cell when illuminated, which can cause a change in the bandgap – the colour of light the material absorbs.

(Potassium gives perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost, University of Cambridge)

The researchers discovered that their rough, multi-component alloyed preparations were actually improving the efficiency of the materials by creating lots of areas with different compositions that could trap the energised charge carriers, either from sunlight in a solar cell, or an electrical current in an LED.

(‘Messy’ production of perovskite material increases solar cell efficiency, University of Cambridge)