How Do Solar Panels Work?
>A Solar Panel in this case is a Photovoltaic (PV) panel and they are sprouting up on top of homes, businesses, hotels and resorts, government facilities, and on ranches and farms. The energy from the sun is free energy and can be converted into electrical energy using Solar PV Panels. That’s basically all you need to know to look into this growing and green energy source.
Consider this… the production of Photovoltaic panels has been doubling every 2 years increasing an average of 48% each year since 2002. This makes Solar Panel Energy the world’s fastest growing energy technology in the world.
It likely isn’t a matter of if your home or business will use solar power but rather when you’ll start using solar!
The members of our solar design team are experts in this technology and we see first hand the growth that’s going on here in Florida, the Caribbean Islands, Belize and just about anywhere where the sun shines and there is a need for inexpensive electrical power.
How Does a Solar Panel Work?
Behind all this growth is the simple solar photovoltaic cell. Recent advances in technology and increases in manufacturing scale and sophistication has brought the cost of the solar PV cell down steadily since the first cells were manufactured. These advances along with government incentives from a growing number of countries has made this solar technology available to more and more home owners and business owners alike.
A solar panel contains an array of solar photovoltaic cells containing a material that converts solar radiation, sunshine, into DC, direct current, electricity.
It accomplishes this by using photodiodes that convert photons of light into electrons of electricity. Shine a light on a photodiode and you get electricity coming out the other end. This electricity can be used to power equipment directly or to recharge a series of batteries. Most of us use AC, alternating current, electricity so a simple inverter is required to convert the DC to AC.
A solar panel made up of photovoltaic cells needs to be protected from the environment and is usually packaged tightly behind a tough sheet of glass.
These solar panels are then grouped together in arrays to provide the electrical energy your home or business requires.
A certified solar contractor is required to calculate the most efficient number of panels required for your specific needs. Dale Zager, owner of Zager Global, Inc., is a Certified Solar Contractor CVC 56804 and is involved in these designs on a daily basis.
There is also an emerging market for off-grid locations for solar-power-charged storage battery based solutions.
These often provide the only electricity available on farms and ranches. The first commercial installation of this kind was in 1966 on Ogami Island in Japan when the Ogami Lighthouse switched from a gas torch to fully self-sufficient electrical power. Since then thousands of other small installations have saved the day for all sorts of applications.
