Solar panel Solar panel Photovoltaic solar panels absorb sunlight as a source of energy to generate electricity. A photovoltaic (PV) module is a packaged, connected assembly of typically 6x10 photovoltaic solar cells. Photovoltaic modules constitute the photovoltaic array of a photovoltaic system that generates and supplies solar electricity in commercial and residential applications. Each module is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions (STC), and typically ranges from 100 to 365 Watts (W). The efficiency of a module determines the area of a module given the same rated output an 8% efficient 230 W module will have twice the
History of photovoltaic growth History of photovoltaic growth The history of photovoltaic growth includes previous forecast and annual deployment figures by country. Most PV deployment figures in this article are provided by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association in the "Global Outlook for Photovoltaics" report, the "Observatoire des énergies renouvelables" or EurObserv'ER's "Photovoltaic Barometer" report, and the IEA-PVPS (photovoltaic power systems) "Snapshot" and "Trends" report. In 2013, worldwide deployment of solar PV amounted to almost 40 GW (39,953 MW)—an increase of about 35 percent over the previous year. Cumulated capacity increased by 38 percent to more than 139 GW. This is sufficient to generate at