Okay so.. if light deflect the light of the sun and black absorbs it, then aren't solar panels just absorbing more light, sun and heat into our atmosphere? Wouldn't this lead to an increase in global warming? Shouldn't solar panals be white? No rude answers please.
If the panels are deployed at outer surface of atmosphere then white will reflect the sun light to outer space. If the panels are deployed at earth surface, inside the atmosphere, most of the reflected light will be bounced back to earth by the atmosphere. For the solar panels we are talking about, they need to be dark color to absorb light and turn into electricity.
There are two basic types of solar panels. ) Thermal absorbers 2) Photovoltaics Thermal absorbers are black in order to convert sunlight to thermal (heat) energy. The whole idea is to capture all of the light with a dark surface, convert it to thermal energy and transfer the energy into your home for water heating or space heating. If you make the surface white or reflective, then the surface will absorb only a small fraction of the available light, hence the efficiency will be very low. In other words, the panel will not produce any heat. Photovoltaic panels produce electricity instead of heat energy. Photovoltaic panels are made from thin slices (“waffers”) of silicon with special coatings on the front and back surface. One of these coatings on the front is an antireflection coating to capture the light and channel it toward the silicon. Underneath the antireflection coating the silicon waffer is coated with other chemicals that convert the sunlight to electricity. The combination of these coatings gives the panel a dark color, usually blue or black. Here's the bottom line. If you want thermal heat or electricity from solar panels, the panels have to capture the light. When that light is captured, the surface appears dark because no light (or very little) light is reflected back to our eyes. It is not possible for a surface to be an efficient absorber, capturing all available light, and at the same time appear white or bright color or reflective to our eyes.
