WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE SOLAR PANEL
Hi beautiful people, its sparklez here.
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Most times we see the solar panel but don’t know really what it is. Ok, let’s take for instance, one of my friends, he always thought the solar panel was a big black tray for guarding against the sun…hahaha! Yeah! Take a big laugh with me. Well it’s not.
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You walk along your street and main road and see beautiful street lights glowing and you wondering in amazement how it is possible for a pole to glow, even without any connection to a power source. Some people go ahead to wonder if science is magic, nah! It’s just science. So I will just go ahead to explain what a solar panel is.
Solar panels are combined piece of photovoltaic devices or solar cells linked or combined together which helps to draw electricity from the sun. Sun rays are made of Photons which are energy. So when the photons (which is the sun rays) hit the solar panel (silicon) with sufficient energy, those free electrons are the electricity.
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The photovoltaic cells are mostly squared shape, attached to it are two silicon (a semi-conductor material). Since silicon is not a very good electricity conductor, it is combined with phosphorus (-ve charge) and boron (+ve charge) to help create electric field, so that when sunlight hit those cells, some electrons are set free.
Wow! Phew! Let’s take a break there…ok! Remember those days in school, that you were asked to memorize the first 20 elements, it was really fun. Me and my friends had a made up song for it. Maybe I would have to publish it on dtube one day..lol. let’s get back to where we were. When sunlight hits the solar cells directly, it is converted to electricity.
Where an a solar panel be used
For so long, solar panel has been an alternative energy source, which means it has always been used for decades. As the world evolves and gradually shift from fossil fuels, people begin to seek for renewable sources for everyone. Already there are different things making use of the solar panel already to generate electricity from the sun. Below are different things a solar panel can be used for
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- Home: Solar panels are used in homes to power various things inside the house for instance, a solar panel would be used to power fans in the house, since there is nothing better than a cool well ventilated house. It would also be used to heat the swimming pool or a bath tub my installing a hot water heating system that utilizes solar hot water heating panels placed on the roof top, collecting sun’s heat and circulated to the pool. Just as the pool water is pumped, heated and returned from the panels, the pool temperature is increased. Let’s just pause for some seconds and imagine if you could enjoy unlimited power and supply of electricity and paying very small amount than the usual heavy amount on you. Wow! If it was in Nigeria, this my ghetto area, hmm! I will be like; Sweet! Am in heaven. Because right here, the cost of having uninterrupted power supply will cost a fortune and probably feed me for like 2years…lol! So the solar panel help to convert sunlight to the home
- They are also use for charging of batteries on cell phones, imagine if I go around with no fear of going offline with my phone.
- Battery powered cars, soon fuel cars would be out of stock because everybody wants a low cost economy.
- Solar lightning panel on the streets.
- They are also used in remote places where there is no single electricity, the solar panel can be used to generate power for gadgets and appliances, for instance, to make emergency phone calls or signals for transportation
- Solar panels are also used to power research centers that are in remote places. They also used for powering space-crafts for months. In space where the sun is in excess, let’s say like 1,300watts of energy per square meter comes from the sun. the solar panel is used to convert the sun’s energy to be used for powering sophisticated on-board radio and equipment. with a reliable source of power, with the help of a solar panel, expenses are reduced and it could serve them for up to 20years
- Solar panels can also be used on sign posts, even some speed limit signs and radar-driven speed warnings are powered by solar. The solar panel helps to charge their batteries so that signs won’t stop lightning up during the night.
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Power Rate of a Solar Panel
It gets tricky at this part. You have a gadget or home appliances and you wondering what power rate of solar panel can power my stuffs. Well let’s do some little conversion. Most of our appliances are measured in volts, amperes or watts like our light bulbs, power supply, television set, fridge, etc. well, you should go sip some fresh juice because it’s about to go down. Smiles. For instance, let’s take a 60-watt solar panel. It could supply us electricity between about 12-18volts, going by ohm’s law for electrical power, we can say 60-watts divided by 18volts gives us 3amperes.
Imagine if we want to calculate the power that will power our appliances at home, let’s say we have a tv set, radio, our main light bulbs, iron. Let’s do it this way
TV Set – Maybe an LG 32” screen of 1.3A.
To convert Amperes – Watts. To get the watt of a device, you just need to know the number of amperes(Amp) and number of the Volts for the device. Watt is the Power.
WATT = Amp X Volt (W=A x V) where Watt (W) is also Power (P). So P = A x V
So let’s say our TV Set is 1.3A and Voltage of 110V, we say P= 1.3A x 110V = 143WATTS
So our TV Set of 1.3A is 143W.
So for a TV Set of 143W, on for 3hrs, will consume 143W x 3hrs = 429WH per day
For Radio of 10W on for 5hrs per day - 10 x 5 = 50W per day
Light Bulbs, let’s say 50W and we got like 5 light bulbs in the house + 2 outside the house, maybe a security light,
that’s equal 7 light bulbs and each is 50W, then 50 x 7 = 350W light bulbs, on for 4hrs – 350 x 4 = 1400W per day.
The total energy we will be consuming in a day will be 143 + 50W + 1400 = 1593W per day. That what we will be consuming. We could lower our energy consumption by making use of energy-saver bulbs.
Since the battery is used to store power from the solar panel, and its used at night when the sun has gone down, it is good we consider the type of battery we use. A battery is measured in Amp Hours (e.g. 125AH). Let’s say the battery of a trailer/truck of 125AH.
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For a 125AH with 12V battery, the WATT is 125W x 12V = 1500WH
Which is to say that the battery can supply 1500W for 1 hour, 750W in 2hrs because the more energy you consume, the more your battery discharges.
How Efficient is a Solar Panel?
When we talk about efficiency of a solar panel, it is the ability of that solar panel to convert sunlight into electricity. For example, if we have 2 Solar Panels having 30% and 15%, the one with more efficiency will produce more electricity than the one with low efficiency. When you go for a solar panel below are some of the efficiency you need to check
- Panel Rating: When considering buying a SP (Solar Panel), it is important to know its rating. Rating is a way of to make consistent comparisons between panels, so when you get a higher rating, it simply means the panel produces more power. In the general market, you get mostly 200 – 350 WATTS
- Lifespan: When going for an SP, we should check for a guarantee as most manufacturer give a warranty for the output, to still stay above 80% after 25years, as most solar panel output drops by 0.5% every year.
- Temperature: In cases where you live in a very hot environs, temperature affects the solar panel, as it increases, the efficiency decreases with time. So temperature is inversely proportional to efficiency.
- Maintenance: This is something that must be carried out especially if we stay in a dusty environment. It is recommended to always wipe of dust with soap water, as dust and dirt affect the efficiency of the solar panel.
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Basic types of Solar Panel
1. Monocrystalline: This is a Solar Panel which has the highest purity silicon available. They are known to be the most efficient SP for the home.
2. Polycrystalline: This type of SP are not as efficient as the monocrystalline, but the different are not much as it still performs almost like the Mono.
3. Thin-film Solar Panel: This are inefficient but are lesser in price. They are not really suitable for household as they tend to take more space than the Mono and Polycrystalline solar panel
The Economic Importance
- The Environment – When you use the solar panel, it does not produce air-pollutance or carbon dioxide which can be harmful to our health and to the environment. And with the SP, there is no noise pollution.
- Cost Saving – When we get to calculate the amount of energy we consume, for instance, I leave in Nigeria and pay up to N30,000 (Thirty Thousand Naira) monthly, that’s about $82, for energy consumption to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) in Nigeria. If I could install a solar panel and use the solar energy, the cost would reduce drastically, let’s say to just the fee of maintenance. So it really saves cost.
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- Employment – It also creates employments as manufacturers of SP now employ more people to help in SP installation
- Power Availability – For the remote areas where no hope of getting electricity, the SP is used to conserve and use the energy from the sun.
At this juncture, we should be able to decide if we really need a solar panel and the answer will be a yes, considering how well it will serve us and what it could do. In time, the solar energy would be the most preferred source of energy and the solar panel will be present to serve.
Thanks for Reading...Love you all...loads!
Being A SteemStem Member
Thank you so much @steemstem
All i want now is solar energy boss...how do i get one sir...
Hahaha...you really need that man...You could check around you for Solar Panel manufacturers...thanks!
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Thanks boss, I will correct that ASAP...
@greenrun, it is corrected boss, it was an oversight. Thanks so much for the correction
Seen it. Thank you very much.
I thought you read computer science at school how come you know about solar panel. Oh I see, you're increasing your knowledge(vast knowledge) no knowledge is a waste I've also learnt something here, thanks for sharing boss
Hahahaha...I believe its what steemit does to one. It makes you go into things you never thought you would venture into. And its been really interesting and motivating. Thanks bae, I sight ya!
Well, that was amazing. It was a good read and I learned more about solar! Nice write up! My wife and I are really tossing around the idea of adding solar to our lives. We think we may habe to add wind because of being overcast. Do you know how much an average house would use? I mean including a washer/dryer and refrigerator?
Hi big man, thanks for dropping by. From the write up there, it is a good idea if you choose to add the wind as its also an alternate energy source. Since we not in same region, it would be hard for me to determine how much it cost for you to install in your home including the laundry machine and refrigerator, but i would suggest you find a solar dealer nearby, because they would have to check and calculate the workload in your home and give probably an accurate amount for an installation of the solar panel. You could also use the calculations above to check the power of your appliances, then do a google check on the pricing of a solar panel closeby. Thanks alot for reading!
Right! Thank you! We are hoping to move out to the middle of no where in northern Wisconsin. It really makes you feel good when you know you don't have to rely on a company for power or heat. We have been heating with a wood stove for 4 years now, and it is freeing! 🙃
Wow, thats really good to hear...am not really sure if thats middle of no where...lol. you probably going to a private property...hahaha...well, its really freeing using something and you not being disturbed for it. I wish I heard sum funds too, I would like to try out something like this. So heating of wood doesn't cost much? @freedompoint and where do you guys get constant wood for upto 4yrs now? It is really amazing
Yeah, it will be private property 🙃
It does not cost much at all to use wood. The cost is upfront. A stove, all the pipe, and a good chainsaw. We live in the forest. There are always dead or dying trees to cut. You can identify a dead standing tree with alittle practice. Also, logging is a big business here. Loggers take the bottom of a tree and leave the tops, so the tops alone make alot of wood. There is so many people here that heat with wood that I have also made a living cutting/selling firewood. It is efficient and a nice dry heat as well as neutral carbon.
This is really interesting...d log now serves both as daily income and means of heat supply...so econonical! The problem we used to have here is that we get rain soaking or wetting the logs nd dey becomd wet nd unusable. Dont you get bothered about rain there? Sire can we continue on discord or telegram, so we could discuss more as my new friend on steemit...smiles!