subject: How Much Power Does Solar Power Energy Generate? [print this page] There is no specific answer to the question: 'How much power does solar power generate?'. A large system will absorb a lot of energy and deliver about 50% of it to the storage bank or an appliance; a small one will do the same thing to a lesser degree. A tiny fraction of the world's power is derived from solar power at the present time.
There are differences depending on the kind of solar unit being used. A solar collector gathers thermal energy, or heat, from the sun, while solar photovoltaic (PV) cells gather the heat and convert it to electricity. The first system, being more direct, is more efficient if what you want is heat and is good for residential water heaters, greenhouse heating, and heating a swimming pool. Electricity can be generated if solar heat is used to heat water to the boiling point and then power is generated by steam.
Solar PV cells absorb the sunlight's energy, which is turned into electricity. Older solar cells made of glass were not as efficient as the newer ones made of crystalline silicon or solar film. In the year 2000, it was estimated that a whole house system would pay for itself in 8 to 11 years. Today there are technological advances that reduce the time to periods of 3 years or less.
The most efficient solar panels are on satellites in orbit around the earth; there is no resistance to the sun rays from the atmosphere. The technology includes launching the satellite and building antennas back on earth to receive the energy. The most efficient panels on land 'track' the sun, turning to face it as the day progresses.
To find out how much solar power you would need to power your whole house, look at your utility bill. The energy use for the month will be listed; divide the number of kilowatt hours by the number of days in the month to get the daily usage. Generally an off-grid home will consume about 1300 kilowatts of energy per hour and cost about $20,000. The most effective and affordable systems are connected to the grid, and by a system called net metering use the grid for storage, sending excess energy to the grid and drawing the utility's electricity as needed.
To be effective, a solar panel or system connected to batteries must generate more power than the storage units require to be fully charged. The surplus charge will be available for use elsewhere. Solar generated power is much easier to control than wind power, which is often either too little to charge the batteries or too much, overcharging and damaging the battery block. A solar system will simply short-circuit if there is too much charge flowing from it.
The discussion of how much power solar power generates is broad and can seem complex to those who are not familiar with electricity. However, it is one of the simplest and most direct of the sources of renewable energy to harness and use. I have personally managed to build my own home DIY renewable energy system by following an online system which you can find out more about at my website link below.
