Solar Power Panels- What They Are and Where To Find Them

Yes, you are right. Solar power panels have a lot to do with the sun. In fact, these are devices that collect the photons (tiny packets of electromagnetic radiation energy) from the sunlight and convert them into electrical current. In other words, solar power panels are the objects that capture the sunlight so that it can be used for the various needs of humanity. And these are the objects that most people recognize when they are referring to solar power. Sunlight is a renewable energy resource that provides clean energy via the solar panels.

Solar power panels that consist of a multitude of photovoltaic cells all linked together are currently used in homes (and in offices and business establishments as well) as a vital part of the residential solar power plant; in telecommunication equipment and remote sensing as also for generating electricity in non-grid areas. However, the most outstanding utility of solar power panel in busy metropolitan areas probably includes electrification of the Google’s headquarters in California. This is a highly publicized incident that is sure to urge more people to go solar.

The history of solar power panel dates back to more than a century when Henri Becquerel discovered the ‘photovoltaic effect’ by allowing conversion of sunlight into electrical energy. But it wasn’t till 1893 when Charles Fritts invented the first solar panel or rather the first active solar cell by coating sheets of selenium with ultra thin layer of gold that things finally started to look up.

However after that for more than fifty years, nothing much was heard of solar cell or solar panel. But in 1941, Russel Ohl, an inventor from America who was working with the Bell Laboratories was responsible for patenting the first silicon solar cell and in 1954, the company started manufacturing the product for the world market. However, their first mainstream use included space satellites while later years saw the utility of tiny solar panels in cheap pocket calculators and expensive wrist watches. These were perhaps the first examples of solar powered daily use products.

Comprised of many individual solar cells that are composed of layers of phosphorous (negative charge), silicon and boron (positive charge), solar power panels absorb the photons from the sunlight and turn them into electricity. In fact, the energy produced from the photons striking the solar panel surface makes the electrons that are to be knocked out of their usual atomic orbit and this is enough to release them into the electric field that is generated by the solar cells. These free electrons are then pulled into a directional current. This in short is the essence of PV or the Photovoltaic Effect.

One of the principal benefits of solar power panels includes electrification of homes or workplaces that are situated in non-grid areas or where power utility grids are located at a distance. Since installation of power posts and drawing of grid lines are a fairly expensive affair, solar power panels can solve the problem economically. Of course, the initial installation process of solar power panels can be expensive but in the long run, the actual generation of electricity will prove cheaper since the raw material, i.e. the sunlight is obtained free of cost. With solar power, your running costs are much less and this means significant savings in electricity bills. Moreover, surplus electric power can be sold to others through the grid and this lets you share your extra power with your neighbors as well. Solar power panels can also dethatched quite easily and carried along – and this is another advantage. If you are constantly on the move, you may want to opt in for such mobility.

Cost factor apart, solar power is clean and renewable and it does not affect the atmosphere which is fairly significant in the light of global climate change that has already started upsetting the planet’s weather equilibrium. And that’s precisely why more and more people are opting for electrifying their homes with the help of solar power panels. These panels require very little or no maintenance whatsoever as they have no moving parts and are ruggedly built to withstand the vagaries of nature. As for supply of power, it is more or less uninterrupted.

The advantages of solar power are too much to be ignored and the best news is, the solar power system can be built in your house itself. But for that you need to know how to make it and where to make it, where to get the parts affordably, ways to find free batteries and also the safety precautions. That is why you need a manual that can tell you all about these issues.