Going Solar – Things You Should Know
March 1st, 2010 |There’s a massive buzz going on right now about renewable energy and solar energy in particular, but it’s surprising how little most people know about solar energy, how it works, how much it costs, etc.
So, let’s shed some light on some of the things about solar that may be mystifying or even unknown to many people. This is especially important if you’re interested in doing your part to help save the planet and investing in a solar electric system.
First Things First
Most people think that going solar is just a matter of putting a few solar panels on their roof and watching their utility bill practically disappear overnight. Sorry, but as great as solar is, it can’t work miracles – yet! One of the very first things every household should do to reduce their electricity bill, whether they’re planning on installing a solar energy system or not, is to look at how they’re using electricity and opportunities to make reductions in their usage.
And, if you look around, there are opportunities a-plenty. For example, how about turning off your computer when you’re not sitting at it? Or turning the lights off when you leave a room? These are basic things you can do, but did you know that that fabulous new 46″ LCD TV you just bought is gobbling up electricity even when it’s turned off, as long as it’s plugged in? So, unplug any appliances and electronic devices that don’t need to stay plugged in and you can reduce your electricity bill by up to 10 percent.
Let’s Just Stick Solar Panels On The Roof
Once you’ve got your electricity bill down as far as you can by cutting out unnecessary usage, you’ll be in a position to look into getting a system sized because you won’t be paying for a bigger system than you really need. So, now it’s just a matter of putting a few panels on the roof and away you go, right?
Well, not exactly. First of all, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun crosses the sky to the south, so PV panels should ideally be placed on a south-facing roof. I say ideally because that’s when you’ll get the maximum amount of solar radiation (also known as insolation) hitting the panels, but that’s not essential, as solar panels are so efficient these days that they’ll perform more than adequately even if they aren’t directly south-facing. But, what is essential is that there shouldn’t be any shading from trees or foliage or structures affecting any area of the solar panels, because that can have a drastic effect on the efficiency of the panels.
So, What’s So Special About solar Panels?
The reason even a small amount of shading can have such a dramatic effect on the performance of a solar panel is because a panel is made up of solar cells connected together and then housed in a frame, and, since the cells are interconnected, eliminating the production of one cell due to shading can affect the cells immediately connected to it, so that a good sized section of a panel can be rendered pretty much ineffective.
PV (photovoltaic) panels perform best when there is no shading and at cooler temperatures. A panel’s performance is measured under what are known as Standard Test Conditions, which measures a panel’s performance with no shading and at the optimum temperature of 25 degrees centigrade. As you can tell, solar panels are very sensitive beasts and need to be treated with the utmost care and attention if they’re to perform at their best.
This is a basic introduction to some of the more important things you need to know about solar energy and how it works, whether you’re considering having a system installed or not.
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