Learning About How Solar Work
As I have approached many people. About how to teach kids how solar power works. I discover more than adults also need some answers. One of the main questions. I get about everything from home solar panels to solar garden lights and water pumps is “how long can Huawei Solar PV Panels run my lights, pump, home, etc.”
There are a variety of answers depending on your situation. For instance what type of battery storage are you using if any? For the solar garden lights, you have a battery in the light. That recharges during the sun hours of the day and discharges at night to power the light. After several cloudy days, the lights do dim. However, if there was more energy storage or another battery, the light would last longer.
When it comes to other things like a solar home system. Solar-powered water pumps. And portable solar battery chargers there are some variables. However, energy storage in batteries is still important to how your solar-powered panels serve you.
Everything comes in steps. For years we just knew that electricity would be there when we plugged into the wall socket. The wire was run to a house or business and we never. Thought of how energy was produced unless you worked for the power company. With new and improved energies we are entering an era. Where we are not only moving to the energy. That is more environmentally friendly. But we are also becoming our power stations. Many more questions are being asked from the general public about providing their energy than ever before. This is also a great opportunity for us all to become more aware and independent when it comes to our energy use. Everyone has a chance to participate in this.
What makes a solar panel work? Photovoltaic Solar panels are made up of material that is called semi-conductors. When light strikes the panel part of the light is absorbed into the semiconductor and the energy knocks the electrons loose allowing them to flow freely. The electric field forces the electrons that are flowing freely to move in a certain direction. The metal contacts that are placed at the top of the cell allow us to draw off that current for use in our homes and businesses.
Now if we stop here you should be thinking that when the sun is not out we would not be able to use solar energy. That is where the batteries or power storage come in.
On really sunny days you will get a lot of energy. Sometimes more than you currently need, so a storage container or a battery or batteries must be used. The simplest storage for energy is the power grid. What you don’t need someone else does. you sell your excess electricity back to the power company. Then when you need power you get it from them.
Battery storage is another more expensive way to store solar power. What kind and how many batteries you will need will depend on your situation. These are the very basics of solar power and you can count on this information to change as solar panels are rapidly becoming more efficient. Just a few years ago they only used the red rays of the sun. More recently panels are now using other colors (think rainbow).
Recently, many hobbyists want to build their solar panels at home. Catching on this trend, retailers have also been selling tools and materials so these hobbyists can get what they want. Before long components such as solar cells, tabbing wires and solar panel frames are readily available in the market.
There are also solar guidebooks. That teaches beginners and advanced hobbyists alike. How to make their own home solar power generators. With these materials. They can refer to proven blueprints that will eventually lead. Them to build their own complete set of solar panels.
Build Your Own Solar Panels
To choose a good guidebook. You have to make sure. Better products will also include videos. With the help of schematics, drawings, and step-by-step instructions, you can soon be enjoying solar electricity in the comfort of your home.
It takes very little to build a PV panel. However, each PV panel is not cheap either. There are claims that you can make your solar panels (that can power up your entire house) for a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, such claims are not credible. With this budget, you can only build a small solar panel that can run a battery charger or your desktop.
Realistically, each PV panel you build will cost a little more than $100. Compared to aluminum frames, wooden frames do not last as long. Therefore even though it is possible to make a PV panel under $100, it is not advisable to do so. Having said this, it is a good idea to build cheap PV panels for the sake of education. Mistakes will not be as costly in such cases.
Aluminum angles are readily available in hardware stores. And if you do not want to cut them yourself, you can order extruded aluminum brackets make specially for building PV panels.
When you choose your solar cells, make sure you check their type and quality. You will not go wrong if you insist on a model that gives you the most electricity for the least amount of money.
Solar panels and other devices that convert the energy of the sun to electrical power are becoming more common in our everyday life. One of the reasons is that each year, the cost of producing solar energy declines just a little bit more.
On the other hand, each year, the cost of producing the same amounts of power from petroleum-based energy sources is continuing to rise. At some point soon, depending on where you live, the intersection of the optimum price points for these two energy sources is going to cross. And when this happens, you can expect to see an explosion of solar power products hitting the marketplace.
Solar panels, in some form or another, have been around for decades. These devices collect heat and energy from the sun and then convert that energy into electricity.
Today, unless you live in a climate that has a significant amount of sun year-round, and you also have enough room on your roof to locate solar panels, you cannot support all of the energy needs of a home with solar energy alone. Because of this, what many homeowners are doing is transitioning gradually to solar power.
For example, some are installing solar panels on their roofs which, while not powerful enough to heat the home, are strong enough to provide warm water for the household. Others are tiptoeing towards using solar power in even smaller ways such as by powering garden lights or birdbaths.
One thing that is restricting the speed at which the use of solar units is becoming integrated into homes is the availability of licensed installers. In larger cities, you can usually find solar power installation experts to work on your home. However, you will probably have a more difficult time in smaller towns. Unfortunately, until solar power becomes a viable alternative to the kinds of energy that most people need, don’t expect that to change much.
In the meanwhile, some homeowners are taking advantage of the availability of DIY solar panel kits in the market which will provide you with the tools and parts so you can assemble your solar panel. Once assembled, you can then route the power wherever you choose.
Solar Power is surely the answer to man’s power needs for the future. It is quite rightly termed as fuel for the new era. The endless energy it provides can surely be the solution to the power crises we might face in the years to come. The Advantages of Solar Power are immense which has forced us to find techniques and design equipment to trap and utilize its abundant energy in our day-to-day activities.
One of the most talked-about among the Advantages of Solar Power is its inexhaustible supply. We all know that our conventional sources of energy would be exhausted one day, but no matter how much we use Solar Energy it will still be in abundance for millions of years to come.
Among others, the Advantage of Solar Power is that it does not create any pollution. You can generate energy by keeping the emission levels to as low as zero. The cost of maintaining the solar panels for the generation of electricity is far less as compared to Power lines. Solar energy can be used to run appliances at homes where small solar panels are installed separately for each house, or huge solar panels built at a separate place for generation and storage of electricity which is then distributed to a large area. Solar energy can also be a great energy source for our satellites in space.
These have a really bad effect on the health of people. Solar panels can reduce this effect to a great extent as there is absolutely no emission of gases.
The Advantages of Solar Power have increased many folds in recent times because of its gradual transition from a costly source of energy to a relatively economic one. Solar power has a few disadvantages too like high initial installation cost, relatively large area requirement for system installation, and the inability of equipment to trap energy on a cloudy day and at night. The advantages though easily overshadow the negatives. With the passage of time and technology up–gradation, we will be able to reduce the disadvantages to a great extent.
