What Solar Power Is

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The sun comes out daily. It brings light, heat, and rays that illuminate, help create and sustain life, and if you're not careful burn you too. The sun has always been of great importance to the human race. Thanks to some very inventive and innovate technology human beings can now harness the power of the sun for use in their homes and places of business. Solar power is a highly effective form of clean energy that brings a multitude of benefits to not only those who use it but the environment as well. If you've ever wonder exactly how solar power work there are a few key things that will help you understand how it all happens.

Using The Sun As An Energy Source

The sun gives off a tremendous amount of heat and energy every second.  In order to move solar power from the atmosphere into a home or business it must first be gathered by solar panels. Once captured by solar panels it is converted into usable electricity and then sent through a system and finally into appliances.

While many like to credit the sun solely for solar power a generator or battery system  must  also be in place and connected in order for the suns energy to be made usable. When the sun’s lights and rays hit the panels the panels distribute it directly to cells and then a positive and negative area of a battery. That battery stores the energy and then distributes it on demand when it is called upon by electrical devices.

The Solar cell

To further break this down you’ll have to look into solar cells themselves. There are two types, photovoltaic, and photoelectric. Most panels are labeled making it easy to determine which type you're looking at. To help keep some perspective, a light bulb could be powered by just 1 square meter of paneling. These are the cells that you see on rooftops, across fields, and as well as the side of homes and commercial structures. These don’t just stand alone as they are connected to a grid and battery system which are needed to complete the conversion of sunlight to usable energy.

In addition to powering  appliances solar power can also be used to heat water. Similar to that of solar electrical grids many homes utilize a water heating system that is connected directly to the cells mentioned above. The solar collection device takes the heat and rays and pushes them through a boiler which then goes through a twin coil cylinder. Cold water comes through the cylinder and is heated, hot water comes out the shower and tap.

Overall, solar energy is an efficient alternative source. While it is an evolving technology it can reduce and/or eliminate power bills for both home and business owners.

Orange County Solar Power Experts SolarGEM