Electricity Directly from Sunlight 

A light bulb conveniently converts electrical energy into light energy. It follows that light energy can be converted to electrical energy. One only needs a suitable technology for doing so. Photovoltaic cells (solar cells), developed over the past few decades, are the technology for doing so. The following video describes how a solar cell works.

Gradual improvements in both the efficiency of solar cells and their manufacture has brought costs down so that power from solar cells is now cost-competitive with that from other sources. Hence solar panels on roof tops and in huge arrays are becoming an increasingly common site as seen here:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/large-solar-panel-array.html

However, note from the table provided in the previous section, “Where does electricity come from?”, that less than 2 percent of electricity produced in the US currently comes from photovoltaic panels. Engage students in discussion of environmental advantages of producing electricity in this way and opportunities for increasing this percentage many-fold in the years ahead. In short, bring students to consider the countless employment opportunities in this field ranging from research toward increasing the efficiency of solar cells (currently just 20 percent), through technology of improving their manufacture, to hammer and nail jobs of installation. (See:

https://re-volv.org/get-involved/education/lookingsolar/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwr-_tBRCMARIsAN413WRM9lBSzTb1hCc0lGqo2T08wGYDRQrMfFrTmJbp9F3orymk16eBF-EaAhivEALw_wcB