Solar Panels

A solar panel operates on the principle of photovoltaics; which means, to use the energy from the sun to make electricity. If I wanted to make a solar panel myself, I would have to start with cuprous oxide and some copper sheeting…I think I'll pass. I'll leave the manufacture of solar panels to someone else. How to build a solar panel? The basic component of a solar cell is silicon. (Remember this fact to impress your friends and family: Silica from one ton of sand can produce as much electricity as 500,000 tons of coal). Silicon is manufactured into wafer-thin solar cells which are mounted on a panel. The panels are all wired together to form an array.

How do solar panels work? Photons in sunlight hit the solar panels and are absorbed into a semiconductor (such as silicon). Electrons are then knocked loose from their atoms. They flow through the material to produce electricity. This is what is happening on all the other solar panels wired together (the array) and the array converts that solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC). The direct current enters an inverter which turns the DC into 120-240v alternating current (AC). Whew! After all that scientific stuff I sure am tired.

All that free electricity from those solar panels, all that solar power soaking into the panels, sounds a bit circular to me, and with all that going on with no moveable parts needed, no pollution from the sun making all that electricity! Maybe to celebrate I'll look in this book that tells me how to make a small solar panel…oh, look at all these books that have solar power diagrams! Hmmm, here's a guy in a hat who looks like he knows what he's doing…. I guess I'll leave making panels to the hat guy.

You can find used solar panels all over the internet….Build your own solar panel? Haven't I heard that somewhere before? Remember the guy in the hat? Check out his book.

Residential solar panels have many jobs to do; cooking, heating, solar heating panels, even pool heating, if there was ever need for a tough photovoltaic module, it's at home. A 180 watt solar panel designed for demanding applications will do just the trick.

It certainly seems that solar is everywhere, it even travels! Have you seen an RV with solar panels? It might look a little odd at first, but there's an RVer who doesn't have to put up with a loud generator, hot lanterns or smelly kerosene. Happy trails, indeed!