Question

A solar cell is made up of ______.
(A) Silicon
(B) Teflon
(C) Magnesium
(D) Titanium

Answer 1

The element or compound that is used in the manufacture of solar cells contains a metalloid element. It is made up of thin layers of that material which can convert light into electricity.

Complete step by step solution:
We will see some basic information about solar cells in order to find which element is used in its manufacture.
- We know that solar cells convert the energy of light into electric energy. So, solar cells are also known as photovoltaic cells.
- So, we need a material that can somehow react with the light to produce such changes that generate the flow of electric charge.
- Magnesium and Titanium are metals. Metals are not able to generate electricity from light because of their electronic structure.
- Teflon is a polymer and it does not have any ability to produce electricity.
- Silicon is a metalloid and this element is placed under carbon in the periodic table. So, the electronic configuration of silicon is $1{s^2}2{s^2}2{p^6}3{s^2}3{p^2}$. So, this element can form electron holes when light is imparted on it.
- However, the silicon used here is doped. Doped silicon means some other element is added deliberately to improve the efficiency of the material to produce electricity. For doping, elements like Boron, phosphorus are used.
- Solar cells can have a single junction or multi junction structure.

Thus, we can conclude that solar cell is made up of (A).

Note: There are other materials also available which can do the same like silicon. Cadmium telluride (CdTe), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and other mixtures of metalloid elements are found to be eligible to convert light into electric energy. However, silicon is the best option as we take cost and efficiency into consideration.