Panels for Residential Use

Posted: 2nd April 2010 by admin in Uncategorized
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The solar panels are the most important component of any home solar power system. They do the actual conversion of sunlight to electricity and are at the heart of the solar system that provides energy to your home . The homeowner must think about a number of things before choosing a type of solar panel for his or her house as there are many differences between solar panels even though they may look the same . The best guide to building a diy solar panel is   Green Diy Energy .

Newer solar panels are better than older models in efficiency and construction. The result is that no matter what style of panel you ultimately decide to use, you will be better off than if you were installing solar panels even just a few years ago. While it is true that all of the newer panels are much better than in the past, there are quite a few differences between different models of solar panels so selecting a panel should be done based on both your budget and how much electricity you want to produce.

First of all, you need to consider how much output voltage the system you are building needs. You need to choose the voltage level among several standard voltages available for residential solar panels. Your choice of solar panels and power inverter will be dictated by this voltage level decision Higher voltage panels have some advantages as they have less power loss in the long wire runs than lower voltage panels have, but they are also more expensive. Though there are some home solar panels with even higher voltages, most output at 12, 24 or 48 volts. Selecting the highest voltage your budget will allow is usually the best course because of the lower power loss in the wires.

Number of volts in your solar system will also influence which solar charge controller you use .

Another differentiator between different panels is conversion efficiency. The efficiency difference between different panels, even ones that look alike , can be as much as 10%. This is a giant difference in the amount of electricity that will be generated with a given level of sunlight. The difference in the amount of power that will be generated over the life of the panels is really huge. Because of this, you will need less space for panels and you will need to spend less money because you will need fewer panels. You should check the efficiency rating of any panels you are considering and generally go with the highest efficiency rating that you can afford. During the life of the panel, you will be paid back many times over if you purchase a better panel, even if it means spending more money.

One more thing to consider is some of the newer specialty residential solar panels being produced now. There are some panels that combine solar electric panels with solar thermal panels in one package. This type of panel can be used for both hot water and electricity.This kind of panel can produce both electricity and hot water at the same time. These panels will make the most efficient use of available space on your roof and provide double the benefit.

Another newer development is panels that include a micro inverter. A micro inverter is a power inverter that is build into the solar panel. It is sized to work with just the amount of electricity the panel outputs. A power inverter converts the DC electricity from a solar panel or battery into the AC power that your appliances need. Usually all the solar panels and batteries feed into a single large power inverter for the entire system. Instead of spending money on a big power inverter right away, you can build up your system slowly. This means you can build your solar system up little-by-little, but still get the benefit of AC power from the system at every step. The AC electricity will also be at a higher voltage and have less loss in the long runs of wire. For a free in-depth look at micro inverters, visit   Solar Micro Inverter .


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