Solar energy has a lot of things going for it. It is 100% clean, renewable, and free. As long as the sun is burning, there will always be solar energy (and if the sun stops burning we will have much bigger things to worry about). Even though solar energy is so abundant, it can still be relatively expensive to harvest it. Luckily with increases in technology the cost of solar energy usage is dropping dramatically. There are several different ways you can put solar energy to work for you. Today we are going to look at one of the most high tech ways of harvesting energy, the photo-voltaic (PV) panel.

 

As the name suggests, a PV panel transfers light energy (photo) into an electric potential (voltaic). By implementing a home PV power system you can completely offset your home power and prevent about 30,000 pounds of CO2 emissions each year. You can also sell back the extra power you produce. The utility company in many cases will even pay more for your power, than the price you buy it for. There are many environmental and financial benefits to installing a PV system. Let’s take a look at how these systems work, and what you will need to set one up for yourself.

 

 

How do They Work?

 

The first thing you should know is that solar panels do not output power that is very useful. Due to the nature of the photo-voltaic effect, the power from solar panels comes out as unregulated DC. The direct DC power can be used for some special applications (water pumps, DC lights, etc), but most the time you will need to regulate and invert the power to usable AC power. AC power is what all of your household devices run on. So knowing this, you will need the proper interface to connect your PV panels to the electric grid and your home. Now that PV systems are becoming so popular, you can purchase ‘all in one’ packages that include everything you need for a given power requirement. This may be ideal for people who are not familiar with the ins and outs of PV systems. Be aware, some of these packages may be more expensive and less efficient than a custom designed system. So assuming you want to make your own system, let’s examine the major components

 

pvpanels

 

The first thing you will need to do is determine how big your green homes system will be. This is done by doing a home power analysis. Once you have a rough idea of the size you are looking for, you can start shopping for components. Keep your size requirement approximate, as you may find some serious price breaks for going a little bigger, or a little smaller.

 

 

Solar Panels

 

The actual panels will be the most expensive part of your system and will comprise about sixty percent of the total budget. You will have to decide where you want to mount them. They are usually put on roofs, but mounting them on the ground can provide extra tracking flexibility. There are many different brands and sizes of panels. You can expect to pay anywhere from one to five dollars per watt. Be sure to get one with a good warranty. Most have 20 year warranties, but be sure to check twice with the manufacturer. It is also worth taking a look at their long term production expectations. Most panels will deteriorate and become less efficient as they age.

 

 

Build Your Own Panels

 

If the cost of solar panels is too high, you may consider building your own. It is actually not as difficult as you think, and can save thousands in initial investments. Click Here to learn how you can build your own PV panels.

 

Next week at Green-Home-Building we will examine the other major components of a PV system; inverters, tracking systems, and switches.