Will a hole in a solar panel affect power generation

How do solar photovoltaic cells work?

Solar photovoltaic cells are grouped in panels, and panels can be grouped into arrays of different sizes to power water pumps, power individual homes, or provide utility-scale electricity generation. Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (copyrighted)

Why are solar panels useful?

It is this effect that makes solar panels useful, as it is how the cells within the panel convert sunlight to electrical energy. The photovoltaic effect was first discovered in 1839 by Edmond Becquerel. When doing experiments involving wet cells, he noted that the voltage of the cell increased when its silver plates were exposed to the sunlight.

What is the photovoltaic effect?

The photovoltaic effect is a process that generates voltage or electric current in a photovoltaic cell when it is exposed to sunlight. It is this effect that makes solar panels useful, as it is how the cells within the panel convert sunlight to electrical energy. The photovoltaic effect was first discovered in 1839 by Edmond Becquerel.

What happens if a solar cell cracks?

When cracks appear in a solar cell, the parts separated from the cell might not be totally disconnected, but the series resistance across the crack varies as a function of the distance between the cell parts and the number of cycles for which module is deformed .