What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

A photovoltaic cell generates electricity through the photoelectric effect. When light strikes the semiconductor material in the cell, it arrives as discrete packets of energy called photons. However, the question specifically asks what *absorbs* this energy within the cell. The energy from the incoming photons is absorbed by the electrons in the semiconductor's atomic structure. This added energy excites the electrons, bumping them into the conduction band where they are free to move, thereby creating an electric current. Photons are the light particles delivering the energy, not the particles inside the cell absorbing it. Protons remain tightly bound in the nucleus, and 'holes' are simply the temporary voids left behind by the newly freed electrons.