Solar Panel Construction

Because solar cells are semiconductor devices, they share many of the same processing and manufacturing techniques as other semiconductor devices such as computer and memory chips. However, the stringent requirements for cleanliness and quality control of semiconductor fabrication are a little more relaxed for solar cells.
Making solar panels is still a delicate process, and it is for this reason that major solar advances did not come into play until the last quarter of the century, when advances in semiconductors and photovoltaic design allowed increasingly efficient and affordable solar cells to be developed.

The creation of solar panels involves cutting silicon into tiny disks less than a centimeter thick. These thin, wafer-like disks are then carefully polished and treated to repair any damage from the slicing process.
After polishing, dopants (materials added to alter an electrical charge in a semiconductor or photovoltaic solar cell) and metal conductors are spread across each disk.
After the metal contacts are made, the solar cells are interconnected in series (and/or parallel) by flat wires or metal ribbons, and assembled into modules. Solar panels have a sheet of tempered glass on the front, and a polymer encapsulation on the back.