subject: Home Solar Power Systems And Their Benefits [print this page] Renewable energy has become a brilliant way to start replacing our traditional fossil fuel resources. Without having to rely on the oil reserves and its ever-increasing price hike, we can increase look to a virtually limitless resource of energy to power our home. For mass power supply, we look to wind turbine and solar panel farms and hydroelectric dams. However, switching to a renewable energy source via a provider can be expensive as it's not fully adopted by society yet. As such, our choices become a little different. We can either accept the higher prices and look forward to them lowering as more and more people need it or we can provide our own electricity. Home solar power systems are not out of reach for the general homeowner and in fact, they're easily purchasable from anywhere on the Internet and some electronics providers.
Practical Solar Panels
While the solar panel as a whole is useful for turning sunlight into usable electricity, it's the solar cells within the panel that do all the work. These solar cells are created out of a semi-conductor material like silicon. This material absorbs the sunlight, where the photons bounce around off the negative electrons. This increased activity forces the electrons to create a one-way flow that generates electricity. This electricity is then fed out of the solar cells through a direct current.
From here, mainly the size determines the productivity of the solar panel. Secondary to the size is the number of volts it produces, which is essential as it effects how well you can power appliances and charge batteries. You'd need at least 12 volts for an effective solar panel. The size of the solar panel is effectively limitless, as you can always attach other solar panel in series to achieve even more power.
Say you have a 100Ah (Amp Hours) deep cycle battery. To get watt hours, you need to multiply the amp hours by the volts. So 100Ah x 12v is 1200Wh (Watt Hours). Now let's say you have a 10w solar panel. Very cheap and for little more than powering a light or two. Put it into four hours of sunlight. Now, 10w x 4 hours x 0.85 to compensate for natural loss equals 34Wh. This means it would take about 35 days to fully charge.
In some countries, governments have initiatives that allow them to sponsor homeowners who are using solar power. With this and needing less fossil fuel electricity, the numbers may start to add up and you'll notice an improvement financially. This kind of self-sufficiency will really add up in the years to come as oil only gets more and more expensive.
While solar panels can be a considerably expensive investment, they are in no way impossible to achieve. Whether you want to make your own or buy a ready-made one, they're likely to pay themselves back ten times over during the course of their extensive lifetime (20 years plus). On top of this, you're actively helping to preserve the environment by reducing the need for fossil fuels.
