1. Solar electricity: background and general information

Photovoltaic conversion, commonly referred to by the acronym PV, is a physical operation that converts the flow of energy carried by electromagnetic radiation into electrical power. Electrical power is the product of an electrical potential (or voltage) measured in volts (V) and an electrical current measured in amperes (A). Radiation is a flow of energetic photons associated with an electromagnetic wave (wave-particle duality). Photovoltaic electricity refers more specifically to the conversion, by means of various photo-voltaic systems, of the energy transported by sunlight into electrical energy useful for all kinds of purposes. At the heart of these PV systems, photovoltaic generators are themselves made up of a combination of photovoltaic cells, elementary devices where the physical conversion takes place, transferring the energy of light photons to the electrical charges of a material,...