What is Solar PV?
Solar photovoltaic (PV) is energy from the sun that is converted into electrical energy. Solar energy is the cleanest, most abundant renewable energy source in the world.
What is Solar Energy Used For?
Solar technologies can harness this energy for a variety of uses. This includes: generating electricity, providing light or a comfortable interior environment, and heating water for domestic, commercial, or industrial use.
How Much Has the Industry Grown?
Solar system installations have grown exponentially over the past few years. Did you know that homeowners are going solar roughly every 90 seconds? Even though going solar can be challenging, 93Energy has made it easy for you to take advantage of this opportunity by contacting us for a free in-home consultation.
What Are Solar Panels?
Solar panels are panels designed to absorb the sun’s rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating.
Solar energy works by capturing the sun’s energy and turning it into electricity for your home or business.
What Are Solar Panels Made Of?
Our sun is a natural nuclear reactor that releases tiny packets of energy called photons, which travel 93 million miles from the sun to Earth in about 8.5 minutes. Every hour, enough photons impact our planet to generate enough solar energy to theoretically satisfy global energy needs for an entire year.
When these photons hit a solar cell, they knock loose from their atoms. If conductors are attached to the positive and negative sides of a cell, it forms an electrical circuit. When electrons flow through the electrical circuit, they generate electricity.
Multiple cells make up a solar panel and multiple panels (modules) can be wired together to form a solar array. Thus, the more panels that you deploy, the more energy that you can expect to generate for your home or business!
What Are the Parts of A Solar Panel?
The materials used to manufacture the cells for solar panels are only one part of the solar panel itself. The solar panel manufacturing process usually brings together six different components. Here’s a list of the common parts of a solar panel:
1. Silicon Solar Cells
2. Metal Frame
3. Glass Sheet for Casing
4. Standard 12V Wire
5. Bus Wire
6. Plexiglass
In addition to the solar cells themselves, a standard solar panel includes a glass casing at the front of the panel to add durability and protection for the silicon PV. Under the glass exterior, the panel has a casing for insulation and a protective back sheet, which helps to limit heat dissipation and humidity inside the panel.
The insulation is particularly important because temperature increases will lead to a decrease in efficiency, resulting in a lower solar panel output.
This means that a premier solar systems installer like 93Energy must go to extra lengths to ensure that light is being captured without the technology being overheated.
How Do Solar Panels Generate Electricity?
PV solar panels generate direct current (DC) electricity. With DC electricity, electrons flow in one direction around a circuit. This example shows a battery powering a light bulb. The electrons move from the negative side of the battery, through the lamp, and return to the positive side of the battery.
With AC (alternating current) electricity, electrons are pushed and pulled, periodically reversing direction, much like the cylinder of a car’s engine. Generators create AC electricity when a coil of wire is spun next to a magnet. Many different energy sources can “turn the handle” of this generator, such as gas or diesel fuel, hydroelectricity, nuclear, coal, wind, or solar.
AC electricity was chosen for the U.S. electrical power grid, primarily because it is less expensive to transmit over long distances. However, solar panels create DC electricity. How do we get DC electricity into the AC grid? We use an inverter!
What Does A Solar Inverter Do?
A solar inverter takes the DC electricity from the solar array and uses that to create AC electricity. Inverters are like the brains of the system. Along with inverting DC to AC power, they also provide ground fault protection and system stats, including voltage and current on AC and DC circuits, energy production and maximum power point tracking.
Micro-inverters optimize for each individual solar panel, not for an entire system, as central inverters do. This enables every solar panel to perform at maximum potential.
Why Should I Go Solar?
Other than the fact that using solar power is good for the environment because it doesn’t pollute mother nature and that no greenhouse gas emissions are released into the atmosphere, it’s also important to note that the sun provides more energy than we’ll ever need! Which means that we have the capability to rely on the sun for our energy.
It’s a commonly known fact about solar energy that it represents a clean, green source of energy.
Solar power is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint.
You have the power to contribute to a sustainable future and adapting your home to this is a great way to show that you care about the environment.
Solar Power Causes Less Electricity Loss.
Solar Power Improves Grid Security (users of solar power are less likely to experience blackouts or brownouts)
Solar Power is a free source of energy!
Solar Power is revolutionizing the way that we create energy!