Are Solar Panels Effective?

Introduction

There may be some confusion about the term Solar Power because there are a number of systems that have been established for many years using the sun to heat water, heat ovens to cook food or heat your home either directly or indirectly. But what we are really interested in is the idea of producing electricity from the sun. That electricity can then be used for different purposes not just for heating water or rooms. Technically Solar Power is any system which is powered by the sun to produce useable energy.

Making electricity really isn’t that hard so I am told. The technology is now available to convert the sun’s light into electricity using Photovoltaic cells. One company I know has developed large scale photovoltaic plants in Southern Spain, where of course there is plenty of sunshine. Panels made up of photovoltaic cells can be installed on the roof or placed anywhere they will capture the sun. They are then connected to the electrical supply in the home and used to run the everyday appliances we depend on.

What Does Photovoltaic Mean?

Photovoltaic literally means light and electricity and the technology has been developed to convert solar energy into usable power. Basically the sun produces white light, which is just a different kind of energy; as I understand it, photovoltaic cells trap this light and turn the wavelengths into electricity. They do not need bright sunlight to operate so even on cloudy days electricity can be made due to the reflection of sunlight, and on days of light cloud energy yields are higher than in bright sunshine.

How Photovoltaic Cells Work

To make these cells produce energy you need two layers of semi-conductor material which has been adapted, so that one is positively charged and the other negatively charged. When light shines on the semi-conductor, electrons are released to produce electricity. The greater the light the more electricity is produced. The electrical field across the junctions between the layers causes electricity to flow as (DC) Direct Current. Photovoltaic cells are then joined together to make panels which are positioned strategically to capture as much sunlight as possible on or around the designated building. Once the photovoltaic cells are joined together they officially become Solar Panels.

Where to Install the Solar Panels

Once you decide to have solar panels then positioning them for optimum light and sunlight is a serious consideration. If you have a good roof space high enough and not shaded by trees, preferably facing south or south west, then you will probably have the ideal location. Because we live a bungalow there is a huge roof facing south on one side. Looking at the design of the roof we concluded we could have several panels facing South East, South and South West thereby capturing sunlight throughout the whole day.

Solar panels can be mounted on frames on a flat roof or the ground or even on the side of buildings. I would think the main criteria are that they are safe and stable so they won’t fall over or blow away in high winds. The solar panel we have fitted for hot water is securely mounted on our roof with strong metal fixings.

Solar panels are produced in many shapes and sizes, some are even made as roof tiles, and there is some new technology on the horizon enabling solar panels to be incorporated into actual windows. Smaller portable solar panels can be taken on holiday when you go camping or caravanning.

These days solar panels come in myriad different sizes.

Why Would You Want to Install Your Own Solar Power System?

Green Energy – Well firstly there is the issue of ‘going green’ and avoiding using carbon producing energy. There has never been a better time to do your bit to save the planet. Carbon emissions are contributing to the erosion of the glaciers which provide much of the world with drinking water. Global warming is a huge concern and if a large proportion of the world population reduce their carbon footprint then the hope is that global warming will slow to its natural cycle in the evolution of the earth.

Cost – Then there is the cost of electricity today. Utility companies are charging far too much for energy and today I read in the paper that one company is not going to reduce the bills now that the price or raw materials has gone down. They plan to use the profits for re-investment! So in fact we are paying twice for the cost of re-investment.

Prices in the UK have trebled in the last year and even with less sunlight in the UK than many other countries solar power is still worthwhile to reduce the bills. During this financial crisis anything that can be done to reduce costs is of benefit. Once your solar system is up and running any excess electricity you produce can be sold back to the national grid. So instead of bills you get paid by the electrical companies for producing more than you can use.

Freedom – When I am showering using the water from my solar heating system, I have this wonderful sense of it being free hot water. I know it is not really free because we have already paid for its installation. But now it is done, it looks after itself and on sunny days there is an abundance of hot water. It does not need electricity to make the water flow through the pipes so if there is a power cut we can still get hot water.

My strategy over the last few years has been to put in systems that free us from the tyranny of the electricity companies and the oil barons. Without independent systems we have no choices if the powerful companies decide to put up prices or cut us off.

The most persuasive argument for me was when Russia decided to cut off gas supplies to the customers when they had a contract in place so that the people of those countries had no fuel to keep them warm during the coldest winter months. From my perspective is seemed it was all because ‘the powers that be’ wanted to flex their power muscles and increase prices to line their own pockets. None of us want to be in that position.

DIY Solar Panels and Installation

Now that we have a solar hot water heating system installed we are keen to get started on producing our own electricity. We use a great deal of electricity running 5 computers for our home based business and expenses have gone through the roof this year.

Using solar panel kits is outlined in a number of e-books on the market to build your own solar power production system. with the results.

So why would you want to make your own solar panels and then install them yourself? Wind and Solar power systems have been on the market for years but the costs are virtually prohibitive. The cost of commercial panels makes nonsense out of the whole idea of recovering the outlay within a few years. Then there is the satisfaction of producing something necessary to maintain our way of life with your own hands.(Rather like growing your own vegetables)

As well as making these panels for yourself and when you have become more skillful at making them, there is the possibility of a lucrative business producing and installing solar systems starting with your friends and neighbours. Once they start telling their friends about the savings they are making you will find you have more orders than you can handle.

Future for our Children and Grandchildren

The ways we have used and misused our natural resources are creating a legacy for our children and grandchildren which will be, to say the least, challenging. The fossil fuels will run out in the next century and as resources become scarce and population increases there will be competition for what is left. I don’t think the world is going to be an easy place to live in and our descendents will have to adapt to a life that could in many ways, be similar to the Middle Ages in Britain or the early settler days in the US.

I won’t dwell on the possibilities of what could be, but I do think anything we can do to help establish a system using renewable energy will be the best legacy we can bestow on future generations.

A wonderful example of natural resources running out is on Easter Island. From study and research of this uninhabited island it would seem there was once an abundance of trees. In fact it was completely covered in forest. The inhabitants cut down these trees as a source of fuel but also for carving images which you can still see on the island. However when the trees became scarce, instead of planting and nurturing their valuable resource, they continued to cut down the trees until there were none left. Because there was no more wood they had used up their means of survival so they all died out or possibly left. To this day it is an uninhabited island with no trees. (In New Zealand there is an oral history of the Maori people canoeing from the pacific islands to find their new land of the long white cloud. They could well have been the ones from Easter Island)

Storing Electricity or Selling Back to the Grid.

Just having solar panels is not sufficient to provide you with electricity for your requirements. Once electricity is produced there has to be a scheme to convey the correct power to the appliances. For the most basic system after the solar panel, you will need a charge controller which regulates the flow of electricity to the battery. A battery is an essential item to maintain the supply when it is dark and an inverter which is essential to convert the direct current (DC) generated by the solar panel to alternating current (AC) for use with all appliances. However by DIY the system could pay for itself within a couple of months.

Once your solar power system is up and running you could opt to just provide electricity for your own use and store any excess in deep cycle batteries. You may however prefer to sell the excess back to the national grid to offset any usage you might need over and above the production of the solar panels installed.

To provide a renewable energy system there are solar power kits readily available on the market.

Apparently there are ways of getting deep storage batteries for free in which to store electricity that you have produced, over and above your current consumption. A charge controller is advisable to monitor and control the charging of the battery and prevent it being overcharged. Careful use of the battery will extend its life and save having to replace it so often.

Selling electricity back to the national grid will require installation of several more items than the basic system uses and is a little more complicated to install. But if it offsets the cost of the electricity you do need, it might be a better system .

Will it work in the UK?

Although sunlight hours are fewer in the UK than in other more sunny climates photovoltaic cells work with light, and as mentioned earlier, they work particularly well on partially cloudy days of which there are many. We already have several solar units in the garden and I have never known them to not have enough light to work, even in winter.

Will we run out of Raw Materials?

The semi-conductor material used in the construction of the solar cells is mostly silicon. Silicon is basically derived from sand and sand is the second most abundant material in the Earth’s mass. So I think it is unlikely we shall run out of raw materials.

Conclusion

Hot water powered by the sun has been in use for many years in countries where there is a plentiful supply of sun and is known as passive energy. However the development of new technology whereby light can be converted to electricity is a significant step in the evolution of civilisation.

What I don’t understand is why Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain don’t make more use of this technology as their location is ideally suited to solar production. Now that oil supplies are dwindling maybe they will turn their attention to other forms of electricity production and use their vast wealth to invest further in the solar and wind technology. I did read that there are plans to turn parts of the Sahara into solar power farms, and that the plan is to export a fair amount of the power produced, into Europe. This could be an excellent export opportunity for Africa.

To be completely free of electricity from the grid would be a huge bonus for me and there seems to be a small revolution going on with a ground swell of public opinion demanding the use of renewable sources to produce energy. People are getting fed up with being hostage to energy companies and are looking for ways to alter the system.

It is a fact that solar power is one of the safest, easiest and cheapest ways to create electricity for our homes. In an ever increasingly energy hungry planet, currently only 0.2% of energy comes from renewable sources and 93% comes from sources that will eventually run out. So now is the time to look for an alternative in the form of wind and solar energy to provide a very moral and ethical gift for the generations after us.

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