How Solar Power Works

A thorough exploration of the central concepts that make solar power work.
Get on Patreon and help fund my 3D animation obsession! It wouldn't feel right to put sponsorship segments in the middle of high quality educational content, so let's try another way together:
/ animagraffs
Need 3D illustration and animation? Have suggestions for what to explain next? Animagraffs can help! Let's chat: animagraffs.com/contact/
License Animagraffs work for your own purposes
animagraffs.com/licensing/
See more explanations of how things work at: animagraffs.com/
I use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:
www.blender.org/
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:16 P-N Junction
3:13 Space Charge Region
5:28 Supporting Structures
5:43 Anti-Reflective Layer
6:30 Front Contact
6:42 Passivation
6:56 Rear Contact
7:14 Module

[@heyderaliyev8976]

I am a physics teacher at school, surfing youtube for educational content more than 10 years now /// a quick tip for you, most popular topics among electrical and electronics engineers (beginners enthusiasts) is still SMPS (switch mode power supply) Electronic components, circuit designs, Transistors (IGBT MOSFET BJT etc.) Power Inverters, Automotion PLCs etc. / soo you can gain far bigger viewer base mostly on these topics. ( I didn`t mention audio/sound system cuz you have already done a masterpiece video about audio)

[@ch1lly05]

Bruh

[@BranchEducation]

Great animation, and a really thorough explanation!! Keep up the amazing work!!

[@mdbiplobsb2434]

🇧🇩🇧🇩

[@berpikirlantasmencetuskary8032]

Hey sir I also amazed by your channel .... Dealing with microelectronics.

[@dickcock459]

I dont know which channel is better, Branch Education or Animagrafs!

[@pacresfrancis1565]

a wind turbine being explained with this level of quality would be lit!🔥🔥🔥

[@animagraffs]

I actually already have a windmill model on hand from other projects I’ve done. It’s on my short list to develop into a video!

[@pacresfrancis1565]

@@animagraffs I will be watching your career with great interest! keep up your great work

[@TestarossaF110]

@@pacresfrancis1565 you... palpatine'd D:

[@pacresfrancis1565]

@@TestarossaF110 :D

[@flizzy483]

This is lots of information being animated and explained perfectly, packaged in a high quality video. It's amazing.

[@DB-vm8rp]

Great content as always. As an engineer I love seeing how things work outside of my everyday field. I greatly appreciate the time and effort it takes to produce content like this for free. I hope you continue to make this content and inspire a whole new generation of engineers who can explore this kind of stuff with such ease.

[@michaelan9688]

He's back after many months! I know the compliments about the obviously brilliant animations will be many, so I wanted to say that the music is great as well... Did you make it yourself?

[@animagraffs]

I was tempted to write some background music for this vid! The end of the speaker video is my music :). But this particular track is from the KZbin repository they let creators access for free. Making these videos is super intense so I often wish I had extra bandwidth to write the soundtrack too. I hope to soon!

[@masternobody1896]

@@animagraffs thanks for the video really epic

[@masternobody1896]

@@animagraffs why cant humans make 1 billion solars so that we don't need oil for energy

[@sarvotham1563]

@@masternobody1896 Not enough resources..silicon being a semi conductor is expensive as well as scarce

[@dushdj8947]

Loving these videos, there are so many things that I would love to learn about in your videos, maybe how a CPU works or something along those lines?

[@usslayer4344]

i agree, i would love to see how a cpu works

[@sethsponhower]

You definitely do your animation graphics more the way I always hoped to see them done! Have been doing architectural design drawing for years, had 4 years of classes in school and always love doing the 3D concept point of view drawings and break-out drawings showing internal structure views in walls and how support systems function within the structure itself! Finally someone is doing this that thinks in 3 dimensions thru everything visualized! Very well planned out and executed!

[@waynejackson53]

These animations are phenomenal!!Way better and ahead of the times.I am into construction and i love the water treatment processing episode. So much clarity and information. This solar power one is also very brilliant. Keep up this great works O'neal!

[@floydvl9999]

Great video, you explain things at a really good pace, it's not too fast to have to go back over and over to understand.

[@noah1576]

I love these videos, keep up the good work 👍

[@chyldstudios]

I love the work put into this visualization. Well done!

[@SaneSociety1]

This is fabulous. Even the music is perfect.

[@newportaerospace]

Amazing!!! I love your work

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Love it. What with solar power being a huge factor in renewable energy, it's really feels relevant to anybody on this planet. I would love for every school to show this to their students ... and to fund you, of course!

[@zakariaskozma7630]

Amazing animation and high quality content. Thank you!

[@sahilgoyal8910]

Hey man, your work is amazing! I highly appreciate your work. I've seen your website and your eclectic mix of projects. Would request you to make more videos on the topics on your website. Cheers!

[@tyroberts2261]

Thank you, these animations are great.

[@starking1534]

Now this, this is content

[@toryjohansson6918]

Some of the highest quality content on the platform!

[@jagadeeshvikramc2516]

So Informative...💐🙏

[@AlbertoPirrotta]

Super detailed video !!!

[@SJayanth]

Thank you, very much. It would be greatly helpful if you would make a video on Microwave transmission lines and waveguides, it's really hard to imagine those EM waves travelling by reflection in these. There're not any good animations about these on KZbin. These are very much needed for RF engineering.

[@lachaderp4021]

Underrated channel. Mark my words, this channel is on it's way to the top.

[@karlakozak9254]

I just discovered your channel today and I really enjoy your videos.

[@reliefernandezb18]

thank you....I love your work.

[@thickdickwad7736]

I love how unceremoniously the videos ends

[@YardDogMedia]

Awesom work!

[@wadalmamoon4834]

You're my man 💪 thanks for explaining

[@akshitdas2012]

Man... This is awesome!

[@PAULSWorld131]

I have 4 solar panels on my RV roof, in total 600 watt. I feel so much better now, to know what exact technology i'm driving around with. Great video!

[@larsenparker7756]

These are awesome videos watched just one and subbed before clicking on this! I think it would be cool if you did a vid on boat engines/motors

[@justgivemethetruth]

Nicely done.

[@OldMovieRob]

These videos are amazing. I learn a few things, and also learn there's a lot more I still need to learn...

[@bradleylastname5511]

Subbed. This should be the standard for content. Keep it up.

[@alexsharkie4677]

*The King Has Returned!*

[@jimmyjohn5970]

Thank you for this man. You’re amazing thank you.

[@abhijithcpreej]

Man, I love this guy

[@a.kthe_tal]

You really deserve millions subscribers...this is a lot of work

[@Milan_Rosko]

Beautiful

[@noobysheep_]

Mind blowing quality as usual ! For the next video could you talk about how PCs work please ?

[@sandevnimhan6660]

bro you dont know how much useful you are to students like me who hoping to be a engineer. keep up with these great work

[@demoneye688]

Agree bro 🥰

[@galanoth17]

This channel is a godsend for the curiousity driven visual learners

[@mannylela00]

The legend returns!

[@surabhilina3061]

Amazing man

[@petriepretorius4085]

really cool...your videos are educational...and awesome looking...

[@jacrigoni]

The legend is back

[@user-bp8yg3ko1r]

Brilliant video!

[@pseudounknow5559]

Incredible

[@humanbeing5529]

The legend..... is backk Also you just explained what ions are to me. So thanks imma remember that for my exams

[@Harshil.panchal]

Great !....Very Amazing !... Please upload more videos related to Engineerings.

[@lukeWiz44]

This was incredible! I’d love to see how a Diesel engine works.

[@sleepymurderEDL]

that's pretty cool

[@KenoBeatZ]

This channel is a wonder !!

[@lavina6724]

I'm so glad to be early on this masterpiece

[@blake6413]

YAY HE POSTED

[@dickdazzler8354]

Great video

[@yingle6027]

Heyy.. These videos are superb, can you please do one on the human digestive system?

[@lchris8937]

Great work. can you share how you did this animation?

[@szymonczapp345]

Thank you, that's cool

[@ninjabg431]

Cool video bro. You achieved my sub.

[@yash.jaiswal]

I watched all the videos and was craving for more, then i saw your website link

[@dylanporter5409]

You are incredible

[@xposdhd2043]

How an Air Conditioning System works next please!!! ❤️

[@TheRainayan]

I never seen such descriptive animation kudo to you, btw what software do you use to create such nice video. I am hopping to get response from you about software. Thank you in advance.

[@cephalonzero3504]

This is some really high quality stuff here. Just amazing. I really hope that you will do a deep video about how electricity really works. It sounds simple, whole my life i was thinking that its like water pipes. Energy flows from the plus to minus side of the battery... o i was so wrong, all my life was a lie. So lately i got shicked like 5 times a day and it really got me into electricity... i got shocked because of my jacket prolly as it stole my precious electrons from me and my kind water sink gave them back to me. However i cant get my mind over electricity. I stumbled on that Veritasium video where he provokes million questions. When he asks how fast will the light bulb go on if wires go to the moon and back. He made some serious claims like: electricity is not moving inside the cable but outside the cable. Some experts seem to agree with him, yet not in everything. I mean its a great video he did good by rizing questions but now world needs some good answers. While there are tons of videos about this they are no where near to quality of your videos. Thats why im asking here. You have so much detail and this is where many experts fail. They seem to leave out the obvious stuff and make things easier to understand but those little obvious things to them can leave other people clueless. Not clueless but it creates a situation where people know something but they dont really understand it. Those experts actually created more confusion in me than i got answers tbh. Like, this veriatasium video is actually right because wire in his video works like an antenna, so you could aswell cut the cables at the ends and light would still turn on instantly not after electricity travling to the moon and back. However its not true for sure. Not in normal conditions. I mean if id did this at home there is 100% that light wont turn on at all. I would need like very special setup to do this and it would be very dangerous i believe. But most interesting thing was that, when they explained that electricity goes to the moon and back in about 3 seconds. So light would turn on in 3 seconds in normal conditions. However he also added that electrons are not actually to the moon and back at this speed. Electrons move way slower than that. Why im writing so long letter here is that, there is actaully a lot going on when we talk about electricity. Yet, there are so many people like me in the world who actually compare it to water pipes with a pump. I mean it sounds all so simple while im not even sure if u could make one video to explain all this in high detail but if u could it would turn on many lamps in the world i believe. All the best for u!

[@imranrashid7916]

Hello, I love your videos! Can you please show us how does a computer work? Specifically, how does the circuitboard work? Thanks!

[@pywifishingandoutdoors]

Jeez, only if my chemistry class used real life objects kids cared about and broke it down to fundamental how to. I hated reading through text books and taking quizzes and tests. This explanation and animation is amazing! Great work Jacob!

[@animagraffs]

I feel the same way. There's certainly good reason to understand formulas and written concepts that power these inventions. And heck, fancy graphics software didn't exist before. That said, I'd have cared a whole lot more about things if they seemed more real and tangible. So now I try to do just that -- show complex forces as real and "3D" as I can so it's not boring or too mysterious or hard to grasp. It's like math and physics were just difficult homework puzzles growing up, where now I see how it actually relates to me in the real world. And it's a lot more exciting to me this way, and lots of others, I suspect.

[@surabhilina3061]

@@animagraffs hello

[@mirizedkapadia4699]

Subscribed!

[@tranlonguuu]

Lol, I just subscribed this channel and received the noti for this video @@

[@greatdavis4230]

You did a nice job subscribing

[@notice5710]

Ever planning on branching out from technology and doing “ how things work ” for example in biology and so on? I know it’s kinda broad and you still have like 99.999999% of topics to break down for all the technologies of the world.

[@animagraffs]

Back before KZbin I was doing webpage type stuff and did a project on the Human Eye (animagraffs.com/human-eye/). I want to bring all that research into KZbin videos now. But I gotta say, anatomy is just endlessly complex. It's really difficult subject matter, but I welcome the challenge too :)

[@notice5710]

@@animagraffs just checked it out and woah, that’s actually pretty awesome, keep doing awesome my guy

[@megatronusv2215]

This is a great overview of PV solar panels but it's worth mentioning that this a simplification (regarding the animation only). It might be obvious to some, but others may take the visualizations too literally. But, great stuff otherwise. Love your work!

[@animagraffs]

Feel free to expound if you want to. There will always be limits to visual metaphors, and dealing with atoms pretty much forces simplification. But no, solar cells don’t fill up with electrons like water tanks!

[@lavina6724]

still can't believe all these are made by one person o.o

[@galanoth17]

I wonder how long it takes him to make these masterful animations

[@AbhishekMishra-nx6ro]

Love your animation 🇮🇳

[@TheNewton]

Like the hexaganol display of elements outer shell

[@jarisstarling6696]

Do you think you coul do a video on how computer code works? Thank you or your videos

[@askhd.8623]

Please upload more frequently. 🥺🥺

[@Eastern1]

Don't have words to appreciate😊 I'm a subscribe

[@connororeally9119]

can you do a boiler, air condition , chiller etc

[@kayo1588]

holy shit, make a community college right now and i will assure you that it will be popular

[@joelrivardguitar]

If there is an empty space where an electron was and that space is positive is that a positron?

[@user-zi9yo3dt5s]

How do you not have more subs?

[@MrGrombie]

Silicone needs to be careful it doesn't get caught doping by the authorities.... They will be mad wanted then. lol

[@GururajBN]

You have explained how sunlight is converted into electricity. Can you please also explain how the electricity generated is rectified for either charging the battery, or stepped up for loading on the distribution grid?

[@orbiebibbee977]

Great

[@gudzoneguitar3172]

You lost me at P atoms or whatever however the how does an engine work vid helped alot as a meachanic student i value your work

[@JaySmith91]

Excellent video as always. I'm not sure if this comment will still be relevant, but my only feedback on the video would be to consider doing away with subtitles (like "Passivation Layer") in the script itself. It might make sense to organize the script or the video with subtitles, but it's unnatural in the audio. Instead, continue the flow of dialogue; such as "Below that, you have the passivation layer, which..." "Below the passivation layer is an aluminum..."

[@keith1291]

So is this similar to an LED working in reverse?

[@rishusingh6303]

Value able

[@skybolt3439]

One animation on zener diode please

[@master.afzaal]

👍

[@girirajrdx7277]

So if i ever want to create something like this…this level of animation work… What should i learn from scratch?

[@shivkumarhiremath6574]

Sir give me a best idea for science exhibition please

[@thlee3]

solar energy is actually pretty insane

[@Teck_1015]

Is there any reason we can't use carbon? 🤔 It also has 4 valence electrons.

[@dont.ripfuller6587]

I had a friend once that was all about that adding small amounts of impurities to his silicon... 🥴

[@MortyMortyMorty]

This is a very dumb question, but: If we have to put back the same amount of electrons that we pump out then how does it make power?

[@Adhithya2003]

Heat may be.

[@greatdavis4230]

I really love these channel, keep it up, but I hope one day I would be chatting with this KZbinr cos I have a lot to learn from you please I really need to chat or talk to you

[@shivkumarhiremath6574]

Sir give me a idea for science exhibition