A Brief Guide to Solar Power for Homes

Light, and more particularly sunlight is a readily available source of energy that can be used to make heat as well as to generate electricity, and this is the first thing that we need to learn about solar energy. Secondly, it is a very clean way to produce electricity, and, unlike other sources of energy, does not cause any pollution in the atmosphere and is available in two main forms.

Solar Thermal Conversion Or Photo-Voltaic

You can either use solar energy as solar thermal conversion in which sunlight creates heat and then electricity, while the second type of solar energy that you need to be aware of with regard to learning about solar energy is using photo-voltaic conversion in which sheets that are made from special materials are used to generate considerable amount of electricity directly from the sun.

The major advantages to using solar energy are that it is very cheap as compared to oil based and other systems of energy production and it is also easily transported from one place to another, which means that even when a person is out backpacking in remote places or lives far from a power grid, by using solar panels he or she can generate electricity to power up electronic equipment.

What’s more, as you learn more about solar energy, you will also realize that this is a form of energy that does not pollute the atmosphere, and if man switched over completely too using solar power, he would not need to worry about things such as global warming and greenhouse emissions.

It is thus important for us to learn as much as we can about solar energy if we want to do something serious to control the threat posed to our environment by other forms of energy. It would be ideal if solar power could be used in combination with other renewable forms of energy so that timely and remedial action could be taken against the more harmful methods being employed to generate electricity and thus keep the earth safe and clean, and to also be able to provide mankind with cheap and clean energy from the sun.

The only stumbling block with regard to learning about solar energy is that many times you will be confronted with facts that are really not facts. However, by turning to using photo-voltaic cells to produce electricity, we are moving in the right direction and the good news is that man is constantly striving to make more efficient solar cells so that in the future we can put all that we have learnt about solar energy to good use and save the planet from global warming and other threats.

A Brief Guide to Solar Energy Power for Homes

Solar Energy for Homes
Solar energy was used in ancient times for heating houses. It was after the discovery of the photoelectric effect and the invention of steam engine powered by solar energy that people started thinking about using solar power for running simple domestic machines, besides using it for heating purposes. The need for using solar power for homes was seriously considered in the 20th century when it was realized that fossil fuels (coal, gas, and oil) were not inexhaustible and that electricity will be harder to generate inexpensively in future. Using solar power for homes also offers little serious impact on the environment.

Uses of Solar Power for Homes

Solar energy can be used at homes for serving various purposes. They are primarily used for running small, low-power appliances like radios, lightings, gadgets, small water pumps, and even children’s toys. Solar power can also be stored in batteries and used for lighting the house during an episode of power failure. And of course, solar power is increasingly being used for heating homes during winter.

How Home Solar Power Systems Work?

To use solar power for homes, photovoltaic (PV) panels are attached to the roof of a house such that their expanded surfaces face south for houses located in the northern hemisphere. For those in the southern hemisphere, the panels should face north to gather maximum solar energy. The average power production of a solar cell is about 11 to 22 watt per square foot. The solar energy, when received by the panels, generates electric current in them. This current is stored in a large battery bank that is connected to the PV array through a charger controller. The DC current stored in the battery is converted to AC current (used in homes) by a DC-AC inverter for running home various appliances.

Odds against Using Solar Power for Homes

The major disadvantage that hampers the use of solar power for homes is their high cost of purchase and installation. Depending on the size of the home and the particular solar power system, it costs an average of $20,000 to $40,000 for installing a solar power system at home. The high costs of setting up solar panels at home are due to the requirement of using pure silicon in their manufacture. Recently, however, solar-grade silicon has been derived from metallurgical silicon. This innovation is expected to reduce the costs of installing solar power systems at home to about one-third of the current costs. Besides high costs, solar panels are not very useful in areas of little sunshine and also on cloudy days as well as after sunset.