Solar Power
The simple answer is – solar power is energy that comes from the sun. Whether we use it or not, the sun’s energy hits the Earth every day. While only a tiny percentage of the energy that the Sun emits every day comes to this planet, it is still believed that the sunlight we do receive is sufficient to generate enough electric power for every person on the planet several thousand times over.
When you think about it, it is logical that the power of the sun should be usable. After all, the sun provides both heat and light to us every day, and what are heat and light if not energy?
In the past, however, while people clearly understood the concept of the Sun generating power, there was little they could do about it, because the technology did not exist to collect that power and channel it in such a way that it became useful and usable.
The story is very different nowadays, hence our ability to harness solar power and turn it into usable electricity.
• Unlike the fossil fuels that we currently used to generate electricity, the power of the sun is virtually inexhaustible.
• Solar power is free, as no-one has managed to come up with a workable strategy for charging people for sunlight (yet!).
• Solar power is clean and pollutant free. Unlike oil powered electricity production plants, solar power does not belch noxious fumes into the air, nor is it anywhere near as intrinsically dangerous as nuclear powered electricity generation.
• In remote areas where providing mains electricity can be problematical, solar power can provide the ideal solution.
From even such a brief summary of the benefits of solar power, it should be clear that there are no significant downsides to generating electricity using the power of the sun.
The primary problem with using solar power to generate electricity has always been that the technology for collecting energy from the sun was just not efficient.
It was not all that long ago that you needed a solar panel that covered the whole of the roof of your house in order to power an electric radio! Although we have moved on considerably since those times, there is still a great deal of work to do before our ability to collect solar power matches our ambitions.
Having said all that, it is perfectly feasible for you to install a solar power system of sufficient size and strength to provide a significant proportion or perhaps all of the domestic electricity that you use.
Solar energy is collected using solar panels, which are nothing more than boards on which has been mounted a number of individual crystalline silicone solar cells. These cells are also known as photoelectric or photovoltaic (PV) cells. By combining a number of these individual cells together in an ‘array’ of cells on the board, you create a solar or PV (photo voltaic) panel.
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The light energy emitted by the sun is made up of ‘photons’. This energy is absorbed by the individual solar cells that are semi-conductors, which themselves are generally made up of three separate layers.
The top layer, the one that is the main component of a solar cell, is made of silicon. Within the panel, there is usually a layer of phosphorus which generates a negative charge, and a layer of boron which provides a positive charge.
When the silicon layer of the solar panel absorbs the ‘photons’ from the sunlight, it allows electrons from cells to be knocked out of their normal atomic orbit. When this happens, these electrons are released into the electrical field created by the solar cells themselves which then draw these free electrons into a directional electrical current. The whole effect that takes place within the solar cell is known as the photovoltaic effect.
With advancing semiconductor technology making solar panels ever more efficient, the ability of the solar panels that we use to absorb and utilize an ever-increasing percentage of the sun’s energy will mean that solar panels of the future will be considerably more efficient than they are today.
Solar power is likely to be the most valuable of the renewable energy sources available. There are many guides on How to Produce Solar Energy at Home and Save Money on Your Electric Bills on the market. The most frequently used is GreenDIYenergy
