Video Transcript
What type of current do
photovoltaic cells generate?
Okay, the first thing we can
look into is just what photovoltaic cells are and what they do. A photovoltaic cell is a
special sort of structure where if we shine sunlight on it, if we put radiant
energy on the cell, then it’s capable of converting that radiant energy into
electrical energy. In other words, if a wire is
connected up to the cell, then electrical current will flow out from it. All this happens due to what’s
called the photovoltaic effect. It involves taking light
energy, radiant energy, and converting it to electrical energy, producing a
voltage.
Our question is asking, as this
process goes on, what kind of current is generated by the cell? To answer this question, it’s
important to know that photovoltaic cells don’t involve any magnets in
rotational motion. There are no electrical
currents running through rotating armatures as in a generator. And there’s no north and south
pole or up and down direction that is varied in the power generation
process. All that to say, there’s never
any reason for the current produced by a photovoltaic cell to change
direction. It always moves the same way
through the outgoing wire. The name for this kind of
current, current that always moves in the same direction, is direct current. And the fact that this is the
kind of current that photovoltaic cells generate is another advantage of these
cells. This is because direct current
is just the type of current that many electrical appliances require.
