Solar Power – How It Works
Solar Power – How it Works
So you are beginning to get interested in the concept of solar power, but first you want to understand how it works. This is a good idea, since once you see the ins and outs of solar power you will understand just how powerful of an energy source solar power really is.
Every day light and heat from the sun reaches the earth. We know that within the light there are certain additional elements that cannot be seen, like ultraviolet light. There are also small packets of energy within the light called photons. Photons are the basis for solar power, and we receive billions and billions of them on earth every single day.
Solar power is the method of capturing these photons and converting them into usable energy. This is accomplished with the help of solar panels. Each solar panel is made up of a bunch of cells, called photovoltaic cells. The number of cells determines how much energy can be captured and converted into electricity.
Within each cell there is a small layer of semi-conductor material. There are different types of semi-conductor material but for the most part manufacturer’s use silicon crystals. Within each silicon crystal there are billions of silicon atoms, all lined up and waiting for their chance to make energy.
When the energy from the sun (in the form of photons) hits the solar panel, the photons are absorbed by the silicon atoms. This energy causes the silicon atoms to become excited, and they begin to move about. Eventually when enough energy is absorbed some of the electrons will jump out into the free space above the silicon atoms. When enough electrons do this, it creates an electric current.
After this, the rest is simply a matter of transferring the power from the solar panel to your home or device. Once the current has left the solar panel it will usually pass through a charge controller, which ensures that the current can’t flow back into the panel, as this would damage it. Depending on the system there may or may not be batteries to store excess power in to draw from when the panels are not creating energy.
Finally, since the energy created by the solar panel is DC, or direct current, it needs to pass through an inverter to change it to AC, or alternating current. Now the energy can be used by any conventional device in a home, cabin, RV, or car. If you are running it into a building you simply plug the system into an electrical outlet and you will have free, clean and renewable solar power.
Now that you understand solar power and how it works you will likely see that it is a great alternative to conventional electricity-creation methods. It does not require any outside contribution and once set up it simply creates electricity without interference, and needs very little maintenance. So the question is – why aren’t you taking advantage of solar power in your home?
