Solar panels are made of multiple solar cells that together contribute to generate enough electricity to power many of our home appliances.
This flash tutorial is a wonderful introduction to the understanding of how solar rays are transformed to electricity.
The animation starts with the model of the Bohr's atom; this is the early planetary vision of how atoms behave.
Atoms absorb energy or emit energy; thus the simple idea is to find the correct atom configuration so that this atom could absorb the energy from the Sun, and transform it to loose electron that can travel along conductors.
Click here for the flash animation to understand how the science of the silicon solar cells have become the modern marvel of our civilization.