What Are Solar Panels
You are no doubt familiar with the expression, cant see the wood for the trees. It means when something is so obvious you often overlook it. OK, so whats the most obvious thing that you are overlooking every day, something that could put money in your pocket on a daily basis 365?
If you hadnt read the headline you would never have guessed.
The actual answer is daylight.
All you need to turn daylight into cash is a solar panel. They can put money in your pocket, or to be more precise they can reduce your expenditure and allow you to keep more of your hard earned cash in your pocket.
How do they work?
There are two distinct technologies at work here. One is called solar (PV) or photovoltaic that will turn light into electricity, which you can then use to power up your appliances. Solar (PV) is a brilliant technology that is under constant development and will eventually lead to houses being built with solar roofs. Right now, due to cost per Kw, it is best suited to smaller applications such as garden lighting, pond pumps and mobile use on boats etc.
If the rate of development echoes that of the computer, which has gone from mainframe to laptop in under 20 years, it wont be long before you are much less dependant on your power company.
Solar thermal, however is already a well-tested technology and has almost universal appeal, but through lack of education or human inertia is still under utilized in many developed countries. Domestic take-up of these panels differs dramatically from county to country, with Germany having reached a level of 50% of domestic homes with solar thermal, against the UK with around 2%.
With energy costs set to rise to unparalleled levels in the near future, more should be done to educate the people to the benefits of installing solar panels. Solar energy is a free and ever-lasting source that doesnt pollute the atmosphere and, being cheap to install with extremely low maintenance costs, is surely the route to take.
It may be the misconception that solar thermal requires direct sunlight to produce heat and that northern European climates are not suitable candidates. Due to continued research, panels have been designed for just such climates that are capable of turning diffuse daylight into heat without the need for clear blue skies.
So if you want to reduce your energy bills by using a free, everlasting source, that will provide around 70% of your hot water annually and at the same time dramatically reduce your impact on climate change, you need to be looking at a solar thermal system for your home.
Graham has worked in energy related industries for 30 years and now runs a website dedicated to educating homeowners and businesses to the benefits of \"going solar\". Solar Energy is Free Energy. Solar Energy is Zero Carbon Energy.
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