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Home Solar Panels

Affordable Solar Panels For Your Home

Home solar panels, also known as photovoltaic solar panels or PV panels, are becoming increasingly popular with home and property owners wanting a clean source of renewable energy that's not only "green" but affordable. Today's home solar power systems can offer you affordability and lots more.

Solar power systems have advantages over other renewable energy systems. Solar electricity is clean, safe, quiet, and reliable. An investment in solar energy can actually save you money in the longer term, because you can sometimes sell the excess electricity generated by your PV solar panels back to the power company. You not only get to help the environment, but you get to enjoy an extra income source as well.

Thousands of people across North America are now installing home solar panels. Some enjoy off grid solar power as their main source of electricity, but most prefer the benefits that "grid connect solar power systems" can offer. Plus, the resale value of solar power homes continues to increase as there are often government tax incentives and a possible income source to attract green minded home buyers.

The Affordable Solar Panel

As the popularity of installing home solar power increases and more solar panels get installed, there's a corresponding reduction in the cost of solar panels, making them increasingly affordable. Though a home solar power system initially costs more than a conventional power set up, it saves you money in the long run after the installation cost is accounted for.

Solar panels gather natural energy from the power of the sun; therefore, you are neither expending anything nor are you producing any waste to harm the environment. Solar electricity is environmentally friendly. Now that everyone is going green, it's only natural that solar electricity would increase in popularity.

It's even possible to build your own solar panels if you have the time and patience it requires. Instructions for DIY solar panels are found on this site and elsewhere on the Internet.

The most practical option for most of us, however, is to purchase quality built home solar panels from a reputable company like Canadian Solar Inc., one of the world's largest producers of PV panels and currently operating in seven countries including Canada, United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and China. Canadian Solar products are affordably priced and guaranteed to deliver the best value in home solar panels.

How Do Solar Panels Work?

We've all seen those grid-like flat panels mounted on roofs that collect energy from the sun, but do we really know how they generate the electricity to power our homes? Knowing a little about how residential solar panels work can help us to choose the best solar panels for our needs.

Surprisingly, solar power panels are not a recent invention. The first modern solar power cell was developed by Bell Labs back in 1954, when it was discovered that an electric charge was created in silicon when exposed to the sun's rays. This led to silicon being used in the making of photovoltaic cells (solar cells) that are connected in groups to make up solar power panels.

In a nutshell, here's how solar panels work. When sunlight hits the photovoltaic cells, they absorb the sun's energy which they drain off through metal contacts on the cell. The word "photovoltaic" (PV) simply means "light (photo) and electricity (voltaic)" and refers to the conversion of sunlight into electricity.

To look at how solar panels work another way, photons from the sunlight cause the electrons in the solar cells to have a higher degree of energy causing them to break free from their associated atoms which creates the electrical current.

Solar power cells are combined on a sturdy support system to create the solar panel. Panels are then connected to form arrays or solar power systems that convert sunlight into usable electrical power.

The more photovoltaic cells combined in a panel and the better their quality, determine how efficient the panel is at producing electricity. When it comes to residential solar panels, size and quality matters. Look for the highest number of cells and the best quality that you can afford.

Solar Panel Efficiency

However, size and quality aren't the only things that matter when it comes to solar panel efficiency. The quantity of sunlight a panel receives (also called solar insolation) will directly determine the quantity of electrical energy a panel will produce.

Where you locate your home solar panels is vitally important. Do your panels have an unobstructed view of the sun throughout the day? Does the sun shine its rays on them directly at a proper angle? What's the normal cloud cover in your area? These are questions that must be considered.

Your geographical location has its effect on how solar panel performance. For example, a home located in Phoenix, Arizona would naturally have a significantly higher "insolation index" (amount of sunlight received) than a home in Toronto, Ontario. This means that solar panels installed in southern states can be expected to work more efficiently than those installed in the northern states and in Canada.

But, not to worry. Thanks to recent innovations in solar panel technology, a solar installation located in Ontario, Canada will still have a high enough insolation index to make solar power a practical, affordable source of electricity. Today's home solar panels are even efficient in cold Canadian winters.

Solar panels work best when they are angled directly at the sun and have a view that's unobstructed. The measure of energy they can collect is determined by their position and angle relative to the sun. Their efficiency can be significantly increased by using an automated solar panel mounting (solar tracker) that rotates the panel to follow the sun's path to enable sunlight to always fall directly onto the flat surface of the panel.

Installing Solar Panels

You also need to consider whether to install solar panels on the roof or on the ground. Solar panels are commonly seen mounted on roofs, but that only works best if the roof is facing due south. Roofs that are not southerly facing would produce only marginal solar panel efficiency unless the panels are tilted to the southern sky.

Your best option might be to install your panels on the ground or mounted on poles. Solar panels situated on the ground or elevated on poles are much easier to access, plus they also let you avoid the additional cost of having to remove and reinstall roof-mounted panels whenever roof repairs or re-shingling is necessary.

By having a basic knowledge of how home solar panels work, you can install your panels where they can receive the most sunlight so they can achieve their highest efficiency. The greater your solar panel output, the greater your potential energy savings.

Welcome To My Website

My name is Don, and my goal with this site is to introduce solar power as the best available option for alternative, renewable energy.

The solar information on this site is freely given to assist you in your journey to an affordable green energy future.

Solar Power Ontario

Heiko Liebethal, CEO, Flagstone Solar Power, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Heiko Liebethal, Flagstone CEO

If you live in Ontario, Canada, and qualify for the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) microFIT program, you could sell all the electrical power that your solar panels produce back to the OPA, and they will pay you up to 80.2 cents per kWh. Guaranteed.

Arrange for your FREE Solar Site Evaluation today. Don't miss out!

Flagstone Solar Power Peterborough, Ontario

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