What is a Solar panel?

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday May 6, 2014 at 10:3:33:

When it comes to generating electricity from the Sun, one of the things that quickly comes to mind is a Solar panel. What is a Solar panel?

Solar panel is basically a device of panel that has been designed to convert energy from the Sun into a form of energy that is useful to use such as heat and electricity.

In our world of today, electricity has become a very important utility as most useful devices make use of electricity for doing several things. Activities like heating, cooking, communicating, entertaining and even working mostly require electricity. It can be hard to survive without electricity using the technology we have today.

For a while, humans have relied on power generators to provide electricity to their homes and offices but this has cause an over-dependence on crude oil which has stretched the world's resources and has also become the major cause of global warming which is gradually destroying the earth. There has for a time been a desire to pursue other forms of energy which would at the same time be environmentally friendly and that's why Solar power was developed.

Solar panels were created based on the knowledge that man has gained on how metals react to sunlight. Some metals have the ability to release electrons once they get in contact with sunlight and this has been used to generate electricity.

Solar panels are made from a combination of Solar cells which contain active metals that react to sunlight to create electricity and it normally works by placing it facing the sun while electricity is tapped from it by means of a connecting conductor.

The type of electricity that is generated from a Solar panel is normally called Direct Current(DC) and these can be used directly to power an electronic that requires DC input or can be further converted to Alternating current(AC) by making use of a power inverter. AC is the form of current which most other electronic gadgets require to function.

A Solar panel that has been installed to collect sunlight and generate electricity can be connected to a DC battery in order to charge it while the battery is then connected to other electronic devices for use by consumers. The battery which is normally a DC device can either be directly connected to a DC electronic device or to an inverter which then converts the DC to AC which can then be used for other electronic devices.

A Solar panel is the basic and most important item in a Solar power setup and it can even replace one's need for running a power generator. More and more people are going Solar and one of the cool things about it

With a Solar panel, you can recharge your mobile phone, battery powered devices and even your laptop. With Solar panel you can watch TV, power your light bulbs, play music and even listen to radio. With a Solar panel you could cool or heat up your home and car whenever you need to.

Solar panels mostly work best when there is sufficient sunlight. The amount of power a Solar panel can generate normally depends on things like it's capacity, size, availability of sunlight and the power generated can always be stored when in excess in order to be used when needed.

If you are planning to use Solar energy as an alternative source of getting electricity, you would need to get a Solar panel at least.

There are lots of shops where one can easily get Solar panels and for a starter, you might need to get the whole package. Some solar companies even would not just sell you their product but would also offer you tips on how to install and use them and might even offer a free installation for you.

Solar panels come in various sizes and prices and the bigger or larger they are, the more costly they would be. You can buy solar panels for as lot as $50 to as much as $10,000. Some people buy solar panels just to keep the little things at home like their mobile phones, light bulbs and torches charged up. Some invest in solar panels for the long term.

Think of it this way - If you could spend up to about N1.6m($10,000) just to buy a power generator that can power your entire home, spending about the same amount on Solar panels and batteries could also do the same job for you.