Users can now install solar panels in their homes and reduce their electric bills while preserving nature at the same time Although this technology gives countless of benefits, people are still hesitant to use this mostly because of the installation fee and its functionality.

Site location, orientation of the house, obstructions to the sunlight, climate and weather are all going to figure into how you set up solar panels for homes Even when these considerations aren’t optimal, there are solutions enabling you to utilize solar energy to power your home. The effectiveness of your solar panel depends on the amount of sunlight it receives, needing about six hours of constant sunlight the year round Solar panels work best if they are installed in an angle of orientation facing the sun.

There are two types of solar power, solar electric power which use photovoltaic cells to convert solar radiation into electricity, and solar thermal energy where the sun’s energy is used to heat water

A good solar hot water panel system is able to provide an average household with around a third of its annual hot water supply. At first glance, this may not sound much but it can cut back energy cost by considerable amount With the integration of solar panels in addition to this hot water system, plus the addition of other renewable energy sources such as residential wind turbines, they can all work together in providing a renewable, cheap and clean source of energy for your home.

How home solar panels look on the roofs is another concern for some homeowners Photovoltaic panel designs, thanks to the latest technology, are now smaller and more compact. Today, these panels would look like ordinary roof tiles, only with the functionality of a solar panel; they can keep out the sun and rain, and with the ability to convert solar energy into electricity, helps out in cutting back electricity budget

One advantage of solar powered home systems is that energy can be stored in battery packs and chargers, so energy sources are still available even during fall and winter, when there are shorter periods of sunlight.

While it is possible for a household to run completely off photovoltaic electricity using solar panels, this is unlikely in most cases The costs involving the installation for a whole house with electricity from solar energy would be quite high for the average homeowner. It is preferable to use solar panels together with traditional power supplies It is much more cost-effective and energy-saving than depending on fossil fuels alone. You will still depend on fossil fuels but the solar electricity can still provide substantial amount of power, enough to reduce future energy bills
Installation fees can be expensive, but with the constantly rising utility rates, having a supporting source of energy for your home is a good investment. You can not only protect yourself from price hikes and power outages, but also protect nature through the use of a renewable energy source. Solar energy can lower your fuel costs, particularly when used in conjunction with home wind turbine systems.

Here are some basic facts about solar energy for the home.

A home solar power system has several standard components they are as follows:

* PV Modules or solar panels (to turn solar energy into electricity)

* A charge controller (this is an electrical device that prevents batteries from overcharging and from power running from the batteries into the solar panels).

* Batteries, to store the electricity for night time usage.

* An inverter (an device which changes the electricity created by the solar panels into electricity ready for use in your regular household wall sockets). Solar panels create Direct Current DC and a household runs on A/C Alternating Current.

* In the case of a hybrid home solar system, an automatic switch to get current from the electrical grid, or some other power source such as a generator would be included as well. The advantage of using a hybrid system is that you will not be dependent upon solar energy alone.

* A 1-kilowatt home solar system is sufficient for most households.

* A 1-kilowatt home solar system will provide roughly 1,600 kilowatts per year in a sunny climate (receiving 5.5 hrs of sunlight each day) and about 750 kilowatt hours per year in cloudy climates (receiving 2.5 hours of sunlight each day).

* A 1-kilowatt home solar system is uses about 10-12 solar panels, and requires about 100 square feet of installation area (which could be the roof of your home or a section of land on your property).

* A 1-kilowatt home solar energy system reduces waste and pollution by about 170 pounds. of coal from being burned, 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month! A big step toward protecting our environment, in other words.

* With battery back up, a solar energy system can provide electricity day and night, no matter what the weather conditions. Other options, which include back-up generators and grid-tie systems, provide total security.

* On average a 1-kilowatt home solar system takes about 1-2 days to install and costs around US$10,000 (though prices are coming down), but can vary greatly and does not take into account any tax incentives offered by the government for reducing carbon emissions.

* Most systems come with a 5-year warranty, although the solar panels are warranted for 20, and as technology advances some are even coming out with a 30 year warranty.

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Installing solar power into one’s home is a great way to help clean up the environment and save money as well.

Learn more about Home Solar Power at the author’s website on Solar Energy . You can also visit this Solar Power Store to find a variety of solar powered equipment.

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Photovoltaic cells, shaped as black colored square pieces placed in an on a solar panel, are becoming more efficient with each passing day and their designs are getting more efficient at focusing sunlight in concentrated forms with the cost becoming less as well. They are much smaller in size compared to what was offered a few years back, hence it is possible to produce them for less. The price of solar power energy has reached the price of per hour per watt. That price was double less than two decades back.

There’s definite benefit in using electricity generated from the sun for the environment. Solar energy uses the most natural of sources for its production: the sun which releases no harmful emissions into the environment and is considered to be an excellent alternative source of energy. Solar cells are today very popular fixtures on people’s home rooftops. You can use them without much trouble in heating your home, heating water and in producing power for all your needs . In the case of using the photovoltaic cells for hot water generation, the system works by having the water encased in the cells, where it is heated and then sent through your pipes.

Solar Power

Photovoltaic cells are becoming increasingly better at collecting sufficient radiation from the sun even on overcast or stormy days. One company in particular, Uni-Solar, has developed solar collection arrays for the home that work well on inclement days, by way of a technologically more advanced system that stores more energy at one time during sunlit days than previous or other arrays.

Solar energy can be gathered and utilized by another system known as the PV system. Connecting this PV system to an electric grid that is close whenever there is excessive energy gathered in a particular home, this energy is allowed to pass into the energy grid and hence, the grid gets a supply of energy for itself and it will not have to depend on hydroelectric sources. By providing such a network, the PV system allows you to use a cheap environment friendly source of energy and itself works without much pressure on it. Centralized solar collection panels are being devised in some areas so that they can provide cheap energy to whole town or suburban areas.

Solar Energy

A number of multinational companies have expressed keen interests of entering into solar power generation, thus emphasizing how feasible and viable this source of energy is considered to be. Google has already installed a 1.6 MW solar power generation plant on the roof of its headquarters while Wal-Mart will soon outdo this by installing a 100 MW solar power system of its own.

The popularity of solar power generation is being further fostered by countries like Germany, Switzerland, Japan and of course the US by subsidizing individuals or companies who are installing these systems and also providing additional tax deductions to them. By checking out the new inventions in the solar trapping technology, new investors will want to cash in on the technology and make profits with it and this will only bring in more popularity to solar power generation.