You’ve probably seen solar panels on rooftops all around your neighborhood, but do you know how they actually work to generate electricity? In this article, we’ll take a look at photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, or solar cells, which are electronic devices that generate electricity when exposed to photons, or particles of light—this conversion is called the photovoltaic effect. In this article, we’ll explain how PV cells work. Specifically, we’ll examine the science of silicon solar cells, the solar cells making up the vast majority of solar panels.

Many people are under the misconception that they can’t install solar panels on their roof for a variety of reasons, whether because of the material, their location, shade, or the dimensions of their roof. There are many factors that make a roof more or less suitable for solar, but while some roof qualities make a rooftop solar system installation difficult, others have a minimal impact on solar energy production.

In this article, we’ll review the two main roof factors that impact the performance of solar panels: direction and angle.