Solar Panels

Solar panels have been branded as inefficient, quick to degrade and expensive, but now sales in this new type of energy has massively boomed rising as much as 50% in one years in some states. This statement about the downfalls of solar panels are in fact not true, they are not inefficient because they are still worth while installing in cold countries such as the UK. They are not quick to degrade as many have warranties spanning over 20 years. They are not expensive due to the wide spread government grants and tax breaks for renewable energy. Also installing solar energy not only gets rid of your energy, but in most countries, the national grid has a legal obligation to buy your energy back off you at a very reasonable price, meaning that you can start earning your money back for the installation very quickly and even make a profit over time. If you would like to have a look at a more indepth article about the pros and cons of solar panels click here.

There are two different types of solar panels, photovoltaic and standard water heating solar panels.

Inside a photovoltaic cell there are two different types of semiconductors, usually silicon, one called P-Type another called N-Type. N stands for negative and P stands for positive. When each other semiconductors get struck by solar radiation. The negative silicon is a type that is full of spare electrons and the positive silicon has a lack of electrons. When the semiconductor is hit by sunlight, the energy from the photons knocks the free electrons off the negative silicon and down a wire and into the battery.

This type of solar panel is much more simplistic than photovoltaic cells. Cold mains water is pumper into tubes in the solar panel, then it is heated by the thermal energy of the sun, absorbed by the black lining, with insulation underneath the pipes so that no energy is lost into the house. Once the water gets how enough, it is then pumped into the boiler and replaced by more cold mains water. This water is then used just as any other hot water. You may think that you cannot get the water hot enough for a shower or a bath, but the pipes have a very high surface area to volume ratio, meaning that lots of thermal energy is focused on each millimetre of water.

It is much cheaper to build you own solar panels at home, than to fork out thousands of pounds to be installed by contractors. It may sound like an impossible task, building such complicated materials, but it is quite the opposite. I found a great article, that I am in no way affiliated with, which just helps to show you how to get started in making a solar panel, click here for it.

If you do not wish to risk making your own then there are a few websites that I would consider viewing. I wish to reiterate that I am not at all affiliated with these sites but I have found them to be the most reliable and value for money. These website are Sunshine Solar and Local Solar Panels. Sunshine Solar are more useful for little projects and smaller solar panels, whereas local solar panels are more used for big installations and government grants and schemes.