Solar Panel Info
Learn About Solar Panels for a Better World
The components of solar power systems are called solar panels, these panels will take the light from the sun and turn it into usable energy such as electricity for your home. These panels can usually been seen on the roofs of houses who have solar power.
What Solar Cells Are
Solar cells are the main items laid side by side in a solar panel. These cells are interconnected and packaged into an assembly called photovoltaic modules, also known as solar panels. A solar cell, when exposed to sunlight, generates electricity through the photovoltaic effect. The origin of the solar cell can be traced back to 1839, when E. Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect. There were few practical applications of the discovery, until R. Ohl invented the solar cell in 1946.
A lot of technology will go into a solar cell. Silicon is also widely used in for making solar panels. Nevertheless, as technology increases more and more different materials are being found to even work better as a solar cell. Materials like gallium, arsenide, copper indium diseleide, as well as cadmium telluride to name a few. Silicon and thin film cells are both competing in this field for dominance of the market.
Wafer, bulk, and silicon cells are all the same thing and are capturing 93% of the current market and with thin-film cells having 7% of the market.
Solar cells have to efficiently function especially when space is a premium for systems. It will determine what the payback periods are like, this will be around 10 years or so for the better solar panels for sale. Silicon cells of polycrystalline and monocrystalline are efficient at about 8% to 18%, and amorphous cells from 4% to 8%.
The Solar Panels
As in any electric power handling device, solar cells have ratings in terms of voltage, current and power. Since an individual cell has a very low power rating, a number of cells must be interconnected to produce practical power output. This can be done in any of the following: increasing the voltage through series connections, or increasing the current through parallel connections, or both. The interconnected solar cells are assembled and package into photovoltaic modules or solar panels.
For very large solar panel systems, they will be arranged and interconnected into very big arrays.
If you interconnect 30 to 32 cells in a panel serious with 16 volts, it makes it a great way to charge batteries and you will not required a charge regulator. This sort of panned is great for small systems. For a larger system, you will need more panels and more voltage.
There are two types of classifications for panels, those are concentrating type, and non-concentrating types. A concentrated type works great in areas that get a lot of sunlight. The non-concentrating types are used to absorb reflected sunlight but it can also absorb direct sunlight.
Commercial solar panels are available for purchase that can be in 5 watts to about 230 watts. Most of the home solar systems out there will actually prefer a higher wattage solar panel. You can even find cheap solar panel manufactures online that have wattages of 40 to 230 watts. The prices will vary of course depending on the wattage and materials that it has. You can find a 72$ 60 watt solar panel, and a $666 224 watt unit for sale. The prices of the solar panels will be evaluated by dollar per watt.
Want to get some more info on REC Solar Panels? You can find great info and prices at EnergyBay.org. Energybay carries all models solar supplies for your solar needs. Come check us out.
