Solar Panels

With increasing public awareness of the negative impact of human activities on the environment, more people are looking to live more eco-friendly. Along with recycling, biodegradable products, and awareness of the impact of carbon dioxide emissions, the use of solar panels is rapidly expanding.

Solar power has both long- and short-term benefits. During use, solar power is pollution free. Production-end wastes and emissions are entirely manageable, and recycling for used solar panels is being developed. Also important is the savings that solar power creates. While there is an intial installation cost, rebates are offered from the federal government that help offset the cost. And the solar power generated can save 75 to 100% of annual household energy costs. The energy is renewable and the solar panels used for solar power have approximately a 20-year life span.

Solar panels can be used for residential and commercial applications. Because solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, solar panels can be used almost anywhere. Understanding how solar panels work is important to understanding their benefits. They are most often placed on angled roof tops (changes can be made for flat roofs) but they can also be free-standing. It is important that they are in a place with optimum sunlight. It is not necessary to live in a place that is sunny every day to use solar panels. In fact, solar panels collect energy, and, depending on the type of collector, store the energy in different ways.

Solar energy has been used for thousands of years to heat homes. It has only relatively recently become an industry, increasing about 48% on average every two years. Solar panels are made of two pieces of silicon which are placed together beneath a piece of glass. Wires inside the two slices of silicon help to catch and convert neutrons. When the neutrons connect with the wires they create direct current electricity (DC). These wires connect to an electrical inverter which converts the energy into alternating currents (AC) which are used in homes.

Solar panels come in two forms, solar radiation collectors and photovoltaic modules. Solar panels used for radiation heat water. These types of collectors either redirect the energy via transfer circulation or they store the energy in batch systems. These systems have a tank which is either placed above the panels and uses the power of the panels to heat and circulate, or have a tank that uses minimal amounts of electricity and is free-standing. Photovoltaic modules redirect the collected energy to immediate sources or to batteries for storage.

It doesn't take a professional to install solar panels. The panels can be individually home-made for around 100 each or can be purchased in a kit. The kits come with panels, inverters, grid ties, and more. While kits do come with detailed instructions, it is also easy to find how-to guides.