Submitted by Kristina Newton on the 2020 winter session program in Luxembourg sponsored by the Department of Materials Science, the Department of Physics and the Department of History…
This week, we took our last exam for materials science and had a final paper due for our history class. On our final day of class, we had a lecture on solar cells by a guest lecturer. We had just learned about the property of electrical conductivity in our materials science class. Solar cells were an application of the combined use of p and n type cells, or the movement of either electrons or holes within a material. Solar cells are the material of solar panels with the goal of producing the greatest sun to energy efficiency. We learned that there are different levels of carbon emission related to the different types of solar panels with silicon based solar panels having the greatest amount of emissions and with thin film panels having the least amount of emission. But compared to the use of fossil fuels and natural gases, the use of solar panels greatly decreased the amount of carbon released. After the lecture, we toured the solar cell labs at the University of Luxembourg, looking at each step in the solar cell creation project. We first went to the laser room where they tested the solar panels using a beam of light. We next went to the testing room where the efficiency of the solar cells was determined using different machines. Next, we went to the chemistry room where the scientists there created solar cells using different chemicals. Finally, we went to the solar cell room where scientists used large machines to create solar cells. A large machine was heated to high temperatures and filled with different metal pellets. The materials were combined inside the machine and after a few days, a solar cell would be created. The tour was very interesting. I always had a basic knowledge of solar cells, but I was surprised that it involved the use of materials science knowledge and the movement of electrons and holes within a material. Thus, we ended our last day of class learning about a topic we all could now deeply understand due to our knowledge from materials science.
