Solar power engineering: analysis of the zone model of semiconductor conductivity from the quantum theory perspective

The article focuses on the challenges of improving the energy efficiency when using the solar energy for electrical power generation. The key point is that improvement of the energy efficiency in application of this method depends on enhancement of theoretical knowledge on physical phenomena and regularities in technical devices. The objective of this research is to clarify the cause-and-effect relations and to explain regularities of physical phenomena in devices that convert solar power into electric energy in terms of fundamental axioms of the quantum theory in molecular systems, which would open up the possibilities to enhance the energy efficiency of solar power engineering. The paper analyzes the notions that are common in the scientific and educational literature and are related to electric current, free and superfluous electrons in atoms, and the motion of charged particles under the action of electric current. The scientific novelty consists in conceptualization of scientific statements in the fields of physics, electrical engineering and chemistry. A new concept of the energy phenomena in multilayer structures of semiconductor-based devices for conversion of solar radiation into the electric current has been formed for the first time ever. A schematic diagram of electric power generation upon solar irradiation of these devices is presented. The electric current in a closed circuit is the total solar energy absorbed by the valence electrons of the device's semiconductors, which they emit in a concentrated manner within a closed electric circuit. The practical value of the new knowledge lies in improving the professional competences and enhancing the energy efficiency of technological devices used to convert solar energy into electric current.