Generating Electricity: From the Sun

Before you're able to produce electricity through solar energy, there needs to be some form of solar cell or panel that will be used to absorb the sun's energy. Solar panels are constructed from a semi-conductive material with the most common material of choice being silicon. The semi-conductive material contains electrons which will naturally just stay there not doing anything.

When photons (contained within the suns rays) hit a solar cell, the electrons contained in the solar cell material absorb this solar energy, which transforms the electrons into conduction electrons. If the energy of these photons is great enough then the electrons are able to become free and carry an electric charge through a circuit to the destination.