92 powerful lasers to crush a minuscule amount of fuel so hard and fast that it becomes hotter than the sun.
The lasers are fired into a gold capsule that holds a 2mm-wide spherical pellet.
The fuel is coated on the inside of this plastic pellet in a layer as thin as a human hair.
When the laser light enters the gold capsule, it makes the walls of the gold container emit x-rays, which heat the pellet and make it implode with extraordinary ferocity. The fuel, a mixture of hydrogen isotopes called tritium and deuterium, partially fuses under the intense conditions.
Photovoltaic cells are made of special materials called semiconductors such as silicon,
when light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is transferred to the semiconductor. The energy knocks electrons loose, allowing them to flow freely.