How Solar Panels Work

Being in IT we often monitor the power usage of our networks. The numbers are truly astounding. From inefficient server racks to employees not turning off their monitors at night a great deal of power goes to waste. We are constantly looking into greener technologies to reduce our environmental footprint. However, that is only half the battle. On the supply side of things, technologies such as solar and wind power are being deployed, replacing oil, gas, nuclear, and coal at a lightening pace. Today we hear from Barbara Young, who focuses on helping people to save energy using solar power.

Here’s an easy way to learn how solar panels work

What is solar power?

Solar energy is radiant energy which is produced by the sun. Every day the sun radiates, or sends out, an enormous quantity of energy. The sun radiates more energy in a single second than people have used since the beginning of time!

The energy of the Sun originates from within the sun itself. Like other stars, the sun is known as a big ball of gases––mostly hydrogen and helium atoms.

The hydrogen atoms in the sun’s core combine to create helium and generate energy in a process called nuclear fusion.

During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure and temperature cause hydrogen atoms to come apart and their nuclei (the central cores of the atoms) to fuse or combine. Four hydrogen nuclei fuse to become one helium atom. However the helium atom contains less mass than the four hydrogen atoms that fused. Some matter is lost during nuclear fusion. The lost matter is emitted into space as radiant energy.

It takes countless years for the energy in the sun’s core to make its way to the solar surface, after which slightly over eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles to earth. The solar energy travels to the earth at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, the velocity of sunshine.

Only a small portion of the energy radiated from the sun into space strikes the earth, one part in two billion. Yet this amount of energy is enormous. Each day enough energy strikes the united states to provide the nation’s energy needs for one and a half years!

Where does all this energy go?

About 15 percent of the sun’s energy that hits the earth is reflected back to space. Another 30 percent is used to evaporate water, which, lifted in to the atmosphere, produces rainfall. Solar energy is absorbed by plants, the land, and the oceans. The rest could be employed to supply our energy needs.

Who invented solar power ?

People have harnessed solar technology for centuries. As early as the 7th century B.C., people used simple magnifying glasses to concentrate the light of the sun into beams so hot they'd cause wood to catch fire. More than 100 years ago in France, a scientist used heat from a solar collector to create steam to drive a steam engine. At first of this century, scientists and engineers began researching ways to use solar power in earnest. One important development was obviously a remarkably efficient solar boiler invented by Charles Greeley Abbott, a united states astrophysicist, in 1936.

The solar water heater gained popularity at this time in Florida, California, and the Southwest. The industry started in the early 1920s and was in full swing right before The second world war. This growth lasted before mid-1950s when low-cost natural gas took over as primary fuel for heating American homes.

The public and world governments remained largely indifferent to the possibilities of solar technology until the oil shortages of the1970s. Today, people use solar power to heat buildings and water and to generate electricity.

How we use solar energy today ?

Solar power is used in a number of different ways, of course. There are two standard forms of solar power:

* Solar thermal energy collects the sun's warmth through 1 of 2 means: in water or in an anti-freeze (glycol) mixture.

* Solar photovoltaic energy converts the sun's radiation to usable electricity.

Let us discuss the five most practical and popular solutions solar energy can be used:

1. Small portable solar photovoltaic systems. We see these used everywhere, from calculators to solar garden products. Portable units can be used for everything from RV appliances while single panel systems can be used traffic signs and remote monitoring stations.

2. Solar pool heating. Running water in direct circulation systems through a solar collector is an extremely practical way to heat water for your pool or spa.

3. Thermal glycol energy to heat water. In this method (indirect circulation), glycol is heated by the sun's rays and the heat is then transferred to water in a hot water tank. This method of collecting the sun's energy is a lot more practical now than ever before. In areas as far north as Edmonton, Alberta, solar thermal to heat water is economically sound. It can pay for itself in 36 months or less.

4. Integrating solar photovoltaic energy into your home or office power. In lots of parts of the world, solar photovoltaics is an economically feasible approach to supplement the power of your property. In Japan, photovoltaics are competitive with other kinds of power. In the USA, new incentive programs make this form of solar power ever more viable in many states. An increasingly popular and practical way of integrating solar energy into the power of your home or business is through the use of building integrated solar photovoltaics.

5. Large independent photovoltaic systems. If you have enough sun power at your site, you may be able to go off grid. It's also possible to integrate or hybridize your solar power system with wind power or other types of renewable energy to stay 'off the grid.'

How do Photovoltaic panels work ?

Silicon is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to create photovoltaic panels. These panels collect photons from the sun, converting them into DC electric power. The energy created then flows into an inverter. The inverter transforms the energy into basic voltage and AC electricity.

Solar cells are prepared with particular materials called semiconductors like silicon, which is presently the most generally used. When light hits the Photovoltaic cell, a specific share of it is absorbed inside the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is given to the semiconductor.

The power unfastens the electrons, permitting them to run freely. Solar power cells also have more than one electric fields that act to compel electrons unfastened by light absorption to flow in a specific direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by introducing metal links on the top and bottom of the -Photovoltaic cell, the current can be drawn to use it externally.

Do you know the pros and cons of solar power ?

Solar Pro Arguments

- Heating our homes with oil or natural gas or using electricity from power plants running with fossil fuels is a reason behind climate change and climate disruption. Solar power, on the contrary, is clean and environmentally-friendly.

- Solar hot-water heaters require little maintenance, and their initial investment can be recovered in just a relatively short time.

- Solar hot-water heaters can work in nearly every climate, even just in very cold ones. Simply choose the best system for your climate: drainback, thermosyphon, batch-ICS, etc.

- Maintenance costs of solar powered systems are minimal and the warranties large.

- Financial incentives (USA, Canada, European states…) can reduce the price of the first investment in solar technologies. The U.S. government, as an example, offers tax credits for solar systems certified by by the SRCC (Solar Rating and Certification Corporation), which amount to 30 percent of the investment (2009-2016 period).

Solar Cons Arguments

- The first investment in Solar Hot water heaters or in Photovoltaic Electric Systems is higher than that required by conventional electric and gas heaters systems.

- The payback period of solar PV-electric systems is high, as well as those of solar space heating or solar cooling (only the solar domestic hot water heating payback is short or relatively short).

- Solar water heating do not support a direct in conjunction with radiators (including baseboard ones).

- Some air-con (solar space heating and the solar cooling systems) are costly, and rather untested technologies: solar ac isn't, till now, a really economical option.

- The efficiency of solar powered systems is rather dependent on sunlight resources. It's in colder climates, where heating or electricity needs are higher, that the efficiency is smaller.

Who am i ? - Barbara Young writes on solar RV battery charger in her personal hobby website 12voltsolarpanels.net. Her work is focused entirely on helping people save energy using solar energy to eliminate CO2 emissions and energy dependency.