Our sun is a source of renewable energy called solar energy. To turn solar energy straight into electricity, a solar cell is employed. Solar cell is also called photovoltaic cell or PV for short. Only a small amount of elecrticity is generated by one solar cell, so solar cells are interconnected and packaged into panels. Presently one can buy both solar panels for commercial purposes and solar panels for homes.
Solar cells are usually manufactured of crystalline silicon. When open to sun beams, wafer-based crystalline silicon cells produce electricity. An average of 13% of solar power is converted to electrical energy. Nowadays, 18% is achieved, but 30% is a targeted value by researchers.
If you are intending to install a solar-powered system for your residence or business, solar panels for homes are the major hardware you need. Generally speaking, methods of manufacture and materials used vary for each type of panels available in the market, so you should understand the parameters of your application to be able to select the required home solar panel.
One thing to keep in mind is whether your system will be stand-alone or connected to the grid. Besides consider your geographical location and select the correct solar panel for your location. If you live in a place where the sun always shines, choose the concentrating solar collectors. These types of panels are angled to collect direct sunrays. Otherwise, choose the non-concentrating solar collectors, because they are able to absorb reflected sunrays as well.
Solar panels that can be installed on your house are available in different power output ratings, from 60 to 190 watts. If you need greater output than 190 watts, you need to purchase more panels and set up an array of panels.
Depending on the brandname, a solar panel costs approximately $1,000. Mitsubishi, Sharp, Evergreen, Kyocera, Sanyo and Uni-Solar are popular brands. These products come with a 20-year warranty. Preferably, select brands that have low manufacturing impact on environment.
You have to keep in mind the efficiency of individual brands because systems with higher efficiency will pay for themselves in less period of time. Efficiency of 16 to 18% is already good, so you sould expect around 10-year payback period. This will be reduced to 4 years when panels with 25% efficiency would be available in the future.
With new panels priced at about $1,000 a piece, the entire system for your house can cost you $20,000, provided that a contractor installs it for you. If you are able to do it yourself, the cost will be reduced to less than 50%. Another way to save would be to get broken panels and repair them yourself.
The market trend for solar panels slants towards less expensive panels. Besides, the federal and state governments offer incentives that would reduce the total cost of a solar panel system. Keeping these factors in mind, many homeowners are considering installing solar energy system for their homes.
$20,000 for the cost of a system that could power a standard-size house is still beyond affordability for the majority of people. The way out of this then is to install a solar energy system that only partially covers the energy requirements. Solar panels for homes can be installed for $5,000 and are enough to take 1/3 of the energy requirements. The number of residences powered by solar panels for homes is expected to grow in the future, thus contributing to a greener planet.
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