The ultimate source of much of the world's energy is the sun, which provides the earth with light, heat and radiation. While many technologies derive fuel from one form of solar energy or another, there are also technologies that directly transform the sun's energy into electricity.
The solar cell is a converter which relies upon chemical reactions to generate electricity. To package and frame solar cells, it forms a PV panel. Several solar panels are connected together to form a PV array. These modules generate DC electricity, which varies by the amount of sunlight falling onto the modules. In a typical solar installation connected to the electric utility grid, this DC output is converted into a regulated AC output by using inverter.