The sun is a source of renewable energy called solar energy. Solar cells are employed to transform this energy into electricity. Solar cell is also known as photovoltaic cell or PV for short. One solar cell generates only small amount of electricity, so solar cells are interconnected and packaged into panels. Solar panels for industrial purposes and solar panels for homes are available.
As a rule, solar cells are made of crystalline silicon. When exposed to sunlight, wafer-based crystalline silicon cells make electricity. An average of 13% of solar power is converted to electrical power. Currently, 18% is achieved, but 30% is a targeted value by researchers.
If you wish to install a solar-powered system for your house or your business, solar panels for homes are the main piece of equipment you need. In general, manufacturing methods and materials used vary for each kind of panels available in the market, so you need to know the parameters of your application to be able to choose the proper solar panel for your home.
One thing to remember is whether your system will be stand-alone or tied to the grid. In addition to that consider your geographical area and choose the right solar panel for your location. If you reside in a place where the sun always shines, buy the concentrating solar collectors. These kinds of panels are angled to collect direct sunbeams. Otherwise, buy the non-concentrating solar collectors, because they can absorb reflected sunbeams as well.
Solar panels that can be installed on your residence are available in various power output ratings, from 60 to 190 watts. If you require greater output than 190 watts, you will want to purchase more panels and set them up in an array.
Depending on the brandname, one solar panel costs around $1,000. Popular brands are Sharp, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, Kyocera, Evergreen adn Uni-Solar. These products come with a 20-year warranty. In you can, find brands that have low manufacturing impact on environment.
You need to think about the efficiency of different brands as systems with greater efficiency will pay for themselves in less time. Efficiency of between 16 and 18% is already good, so you can expect around 10-year payback period. This will be cut to 4 years when panels with 25% efficiency would be available in the future.
With brand new panels costing around $1,000 each, a system for your residence can cost you up to $20,000, if a contractor installs it for you. If you can do it yourself, the cost will be cut to less than half. Another way to save would be to buy broken panels and fix them yourself.
The market trend for solar panels slants towards cheaper panels. On top of that, both the federal and state governments offer incentives that help reduce the total cost of a solar energy system. Keeping these factors in mind, many homeowners are contemplating installing home solar energy systems.
$20,000 for a system that could power a typical house is still ouside of the price range for many people. The way out of this then is to get a system that only partially covers the energy requirements. Solar panels for homes have been installed for $5,000 and are enough to take one third 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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