Your source for information about Efficient, Renewable energy.
Your source for information about Efficient, Renewable energy.
"Solar energy" refers to energy that is directly collected from sunlight.
Solar Power
Solar power is the technology of obtaining usable energy from the light of the Sun. Solar energy has been used in many traditional technologies for centuries, and has come into widespread use where other power supplies are absent, such as in remote locations and in space.Solar Panel
The term solar panel is best applied to a flat solar thermal collector, such as a solar hot water or air panel used to heat water, air, or otherwise collect solar thermal energy. But 'solar panel' may also refer to a photovoltaic module which is an assembly of solar cells used to generate electricity. In all cases, the panels are typically flat, and are available in various heights and widths.Solar Cells
The electical building blocks for solar panels or modules. The blue or black squares are silicon cells producing about .5 Volts each. Smaller panels are usually 12V nominal, with 36 cells in series to produce around 17V at Standard Test Conditions, under load. The larger panels we sell are usually 24V nominal, with 72 cells in series, and produce around 35V at Standard Test Conditions, under load. Some panels are made with different numbers of cells and therefore have rated voltages which do not correspond to standard battery voltages. These panels are primarily designed for high voltage grid-connected systems, although they can be used for battery based systems as well. Generally we prefer the traditional voltages simply because it is a standard, which makes compatibility into the future more assured.Solar Water Heater
the most economic (least expensive up front as well as fastest payback) of these is the solar domestic hot water system. The reasons for this are simple; first, domestic hot water is a year round load, so you can take advantage of the sun all year round; second, the typical existing systems for heating hot water are incredibly inefficient, so eliminating this load is ‘low hanging fruit’ in terms of energy savings. As you no doubt know, your oil boiler stays hot all summer long, even though there is no heat demand, only to be available to produce hot water when you need it. This is an incredibly inefficient operating mode. If your household is typical, you probably consume between 200-250 gallons of oil each year in the non heating season. Of that 200 G of oil, only about 40 G is actually heating water, and the remaining 160+ is just heating the boiler, the chimney, the basement etc. Like I said, this is an inefficient way to heat water. So our goal, when designing a solar hot water system, is to be able to eliminate as much of this waste as possible.
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