A Beginner's Guide To Solar Panels

by CoCreatr

A Beginner's Guide To Solar Panels

With depletion in sources of fossil fuels, using solar panels to produce energy is an eco-friendly way to fulfill energy requirements. If you stay in areas where there is ample sunlight, installing solar panels can greatly reduce your energy bills.

What Are Solar Panels?

Solar panels are arrays of photovoltaic cells arranged in a grid-like manner on the panel that use solar energy to produce electricity. The photovoltaic cells absorb sunlight during the day and convert it into electricity, store it in batteries for use in everyday life. The amount of energy produced depends on the intensity of sunlight, the technology and the materials used in making the solar panels and how old the panels are.

Crystalline silicon is the material used for making one type of panel and the photovoltaic cells comprise gallium arsenide. The other type of amorphous silicon solar panels is sleeker, more hardy and efficient as compared to the crystalline silicon solar panels. The difference lies in the construction process, wherein the second type, deposition of amorphous silicon alloy in a continuous rolling process produces the panel.

Solar panels in space missions have very fine p-n junction diodes that absorb the maximum spectrum of solar energy available. The cells comprise of gallium arsenide and the construction involves a complex and expensive process called molecular beam epitaxy. However, with advances in nanotechnology, scientists are developing better, energy efficient and more compact solar cells for use in devices like laptops. Moreover, these panels are cheaper, so they will find wider application in consumer products.

Installing Solar Panels

The rooftop of your home or office is the best place to install the solar panels. Ideally, install it in a way that it gets direct sunlight all through the year so that it produces energy optimally. You can check the direction for proper placement using freely available web resources that chart the sun's movement, or take the help of an expert. Secondly, remove any shades and tree branches that obstruct direct sunlight from falling on the panel.

Install the solar panel using a solar panel mount that is of three types; pole mount, flush mount and roof-ground mount. Put the panel on an RV, on the pole, the roof or simply as a stand-alone unit.

For efficient functioning, it is important to maintain and clean the glass top and the supporting frame of the solar panels of dust and dirt that accumulates over time. You can do this yourself using warm water dishwashing soap and soft cloth or hire professionals to do the same. These simple steps can help maintain the panels for up to thirty years with minimal effort.

Thus, solar panels are a good investment for your property, resulting in clean energy and helping in conservation of energy for the planet.

Reynold Powers is an author of spheralsolar(www.spheralsolar.com), One of the best Solar Panels & Home Power Kits company. He has been writing on solar panels since long time.

Look no further for the best beginner's guide to solar panel systems.

In this video, I will show you in layman's terms how a solar panel system works and how to set one up in 2 different types of systems. This video is intended for beginners so obviously there is a lot more involved than I am explaining but this covers the basics to get started.

**To purchase the components used in this video, click here: https://kit.com/LDSreliance/beginner-solar**

If you found this video helpful and want to give back, donate here:
https://www.patreon.com/LDSreliance