Solar Panels and Solar Power Kits

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Solar Panels and Solar Power Kits

Ahh, summer is here, the time of year for barbeques, fireworks, and weekend camping trips. While everyone notices the heat during the summer, what you may not think enough about is the source of all that heat, the sun, or more specifically solar power. That increased heat during the summer is because of higher concentrations of sunlight reaching the earth’s surface during that period. That increased radiation means that solar panels have more energy to draw from during the summer than the winter.

On one level, that’s a no brainer, the days are longer during the summer than the winter, so there are more hours of sunlight to work with. But there’s more to it than that. Sunlight actually has a shorter path to travel in order to reach the earth’s surface during the summer. This means that each hour of summer sun has more energy in it than an hour of winter sun! That makes summer the perfect time to install a solar array for your home.

Solar panels work off of photovoltaic principles inherent in most semiconductors. In photovoltaic energy transfer, sunlight strikes the surface of a crystallized semiconductor. The one used in commercially sold panels is silicon. When the light strikes the crystal, it causes the crystal to emit an electric current. The crystals are backed by wiring to channel the current, and a series of panels can be set up as an array to further boost the amount of current they produce.

There are several varieties of panels available on the market. The most common is a third generation silicon crystal panel. These panels are efficient enough to pay for their purchase price in 5-7 years of power production. This means you are essentially getting three to eight years of free power in the engineered lifetime of a solar panel. A newly emerging technology is the thin film solar array. This new technology allows solar panels to be made utilizing much less material than is needed for traditional methods. While they are less efficient currently than the more established crystal arrays, they also don’t need to produce nearly as much power to meet their production costs.

Regardless of what type of panel you decide to go with, odds are you will want to hook your solar array into the existing power grid. This is because grid-tie systems will enable you to still receive power should your panels malfunction. Even more importantly however, recent legislation has mandated that in many areas, the power company must buy excess power that you generate. That means that you could potentially be receiving a check from the power company, rather than writing one.

While everyone has heard about the availability of solar power for their home, many people are not aware that you can utilize solar power for motor homes and recreational vehicles. Solar power is actually more efficiently utilized by RVs because the appliances in an RV run on direct current, which is the same type of current produced by a solar panel. The power generated by a panel suffers a slight hit when it must be converted to the alternating current used in your homes.

A typical RV can actually hold enough panels on the roof to ensure that it never needs to be hooked up to a generator or plugged in to charge. This can significantly broaden the choices you can make as an RV owner as to where you want to set up camp. You can comfortably stay for days, even weeks in a spot with no outside power sources. Imagine the freedom that can bring!

Solar panel manufacturing technology
In crystalline silicon solar cells, the orderly arrangement of atoms results in the efficient conversion of sunlight to electricity. A typical crystalline silicon solar panel consists of a transparent glass surface, an ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant, a Tedlar rear layer and an aluminum outer frame.

Because it uses less semiconductor material thin-film deposition is easier and less expensive than crystalline silicon-ingot growth techniques because it uses less semiconductor material. The three principal thin-film technologies are amorphous silicon (a-Si), cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). These processes produce high-efficiency modules that can be built directly into roofing shingles for aesthetic architectural considerations.

Effective string-ribbon manufacturing combines conventional crystalline silicon and emerging thin film technology. The high-temperature, molten process contributes to a double yield over conventional solar panel construction per pound of silicon for high material efficiency.

Photovoltaic (PV) systems
In addition to solar panels, a photovoltaic (PV) system requires a mounting structure to tilt panels toward the sun, an inverter to convert panel-generated direct current (DC) into appliance-friendly alternating current (AC), battery storage to compensate for unfavorable weather conditions, and a charge controller to regulate battery operation.

Grid-tie systems are interconnected to the utility network. Wired with a synchronizing inverter, grid-tie systems feed surplus electricity back into the local utility. The utility acts as an infinite storage system, eliminating the need for batteries. Grid-tie systems are aligned with many government-sponsored incentives.

Off-grid systems are stand-alone systems designed for RV, cabin, remote, backup and portable power applications. Because they do not rely on the electrical grid, off-grid systems require batteries to offset lesser power production due to prolonged periods of inclement weather.

Hybrid off-grid systems use a gasoline, propane or diesel generator to compensate for solar power production that is insufficient for energy demands. Then add solar panels as the budget allows, reducing generator run time.

Even with the significant initial cost of solar power systems, the renewable nature of PV technology, low system maintenance, and numerous tax incentives make solar panel systems an attractive investment for powering homes and businesses.

Solar Power Infomation

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California is making the effort needed to guarantee a cleaner energy future. The California Solar Initiative calls for more solar panels to create 3000 megawatts of new solar-produced electricity by 2017. The initiative makes the cost of solar panels and other solar power system components more affordable for consumers.

The California Solar Initiative is part of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Million Solar Roofs program. For the next decade, leading up to 2017, incentives will be provided for existing homes and businesses to use solar power, as well as encouragement for new homes and businesses to incorporate solar panels. Special incentives for low-income housing will also be provided.