Solar Panels for your Home

Sun is the main power source for earth in our planetary system.The Sun produces temperatures that reach millions of Celsius Degrees. Those conditions favor nuclear reactions, which produce enormous amounts of energy, or what we use to call solar power. This energy is unlimited and it is renewed in a natural way. Sun sends its energy in every direction; the amount of energy that reaches Earth can be used in 3 different ways.

1. Passive Solar Systems

They are the systems that use the Sun as a Natural heat source and are predesigned for buildings so they can have heat in the winter and be cooler in the summer. This heat system is based on the Greenhouse effect. The cooling system is based  on making sun proof areas to protect the building during summer.

2. Active Solar Systems

They are nothing more than the common solar water heaters. They are  made of a black surface that absorbs the heat from the sun. Behind that surface thick steel or copper pipes are aligned so that they use temperature and heat up a special fluid inside them. After that the fluid heats up our water so we can take a hot shower in our own home.

3. Photovoltaic Systems

The third System is the photovoltaic one. It uses solar power for your home and converts it directly to electricity (DC current). By connecting a lot of solar panels for your home together you can have a renewable power source that never ends, it is economic and most importantly it is environmental friendly.

How does solar panels for your home work?

Photovoltaic energy is well known and it has been used for  many years now. Since the 50’s it was used to produce electricity from the only source that will not wear off in the near future (like oil, gas etc..) With a chemical reaction that takes place inside a photovoltaic cell when the sun light hits directly to it, energy is produced and transported through cable tape wires to another cell and another and so on…It works like batteries in a row (+. –). Every cell is a small power source (approximately 1,5V depending on the size and the structure) when they are connected to each other they create a bigger power source, which is the solar panel. Solar panels for your home vary from small panels to larger ones. Small ones can be used to charge small appliances like mobile phones and mp3 players and bigger ones can be attached to an inverter to directly power up televisions or even refrigerators. You can also store this power to batteries so you can use it whenever you wish, even when you have no sunlight.

Why should I consider installing solar panels at home?

Photovoltaic energy is the most reliable, most environmental friendly and easiest to produce power source, which you can have even on the roof of your own house. Instead of producing power through gasoline generators in your “lake cottage” you can easily and with low cost to go “green” and install a photovoltaic system. You can find them ready-to-install in almost every hardware store.

What is a Solar panel?

Solar Panel is an array of photovoltaic cells connected to each other. Those cells are made from silicon and are divided in two major technologies: Polycrystalline and Monocrystalline. Other types of cells are produced from other materials like CdTe but they are not as popular as the silicon ones.

What type of electricity does a solar panel produce?

Solar panels for your home can produce DC current and that is why we see them on small pocket calculators and even on satellites and that is why till recent years this energy was practically useless for our home. But over the years new technologies were created to convert this DC current into AC and make the energy useful for us. This new technology is called Inverter.

Solar panels for home installation

Solar panels for your home can be installed from your rooftop to your back yard. It is pretty easy to install them yourself. The only thing you have to be cautious about is the orientation of the panels (which way should the panels face.), In order to benefit the most from the sunlight, and of course to make a solid base  so that panels will be steady during bad weather conditions and will not be drifted by the wind.

Benefits of Solar panels at home

  • Clean energy without environmental pollution
  • Unlimited energy from the sun
  • Production all year round
  • Option to upgrade your system at any time
  • Easy to setup on your own
  • Noise free operation
  • Long life expectance, can reach 25 to 30 years
  • Almost zero maintenance costs and trouble
  • Can be installed on existing roof tops, no need for further construction
  • Highest efficiency than other Clean energy sources

Even though buying solar panels for your home can be expensive, your money will be 100% refunded, as you will use the power of the panels to run your home appliances and you will not use the electricity from the power company. You can even use hybrid energy systems or take advantage of new technology of solar panels for your home so they can produce electricity and heat water at the same time.

Solar panel efficiency

60 years ago the efficiency of solar panels was at a very low level starting from 1% to 2%. The revolution in this sector came around 1960 when the efficiency was increased to 6%. Even though so many years have passed nowadays efficiency reaches 13% to 20% and every percent we gain is considered a major breakthrough in the photovoltaic technology. So when you are on the market choosing for a type of solar panel for your home be sure to check their efficiency!!