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=How Do Solar Panels Work?=

 Whether on a solar-powered calculator or an international space station, solar panels generate electricity using the same principles of electronics as [|chemical] batteries or standard electrical outlets. With solar panels, it's all about the free flow of electrons through a circuit. To understand how solar panels generate electrical power, it might help to take a quick trip back to high school [|chemistry] class. The basic element of solar panels is the same element that helped create the [|computer] [|revolution] -- pure [|silicon]. When silicon is stripped of all impurities, it makes a ideal neutral platform for the transmission of electrons. Silicon also has some atomic-level properties which make it even more attractive for the creation of solar panels. Silicon atoms have room for eight electrons in their outer bands, but only carry four in their natural state. This means there is room for four more electrons. If one silicon atom contacts another silicon atom, each receives the other atom's four electrons. This creates a strong [|bond], but there is no positive or negative charge because the eight electrons satisfy the atoms' needs. Silicon atoms can combine for years to result in a large piece of pure silicon. This material is used to form the plates of solar panels.

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