However this can be quite a daunting journey. You have to know many details and speak to many people in order to sieve out the best option for you.

Below are a few tips that can help you cut through the fog and gain some clarity:

1. Determine your budget

It is no surprise that solar panels are rather costly. A complete system for the average household may cost at least $20,000. However this should not deter you from installing PV panels. You can always start with a partial system that costs $12,000, and then put up more panels when you have the budget.

Different brands carry different price tags. Therefore it is important for you to know how much money you can spare for your solar setup. With this information, you (or a solar professional) can work out a plan that benefits you most in the long run.

2. Check if it is worth it

There are different numbers you must find out in order to know if using solar panels electricity is worth it in the first place. The most important of these is the solar intensity at your area.

If the sunshine is not strong enough, your payback period will be extraordinarily long. This means you may only get back the full return of your investment after more than 20 years instead of just 12 or 15 years. Or you may never get it back at all. Careful calculation is necessary to avoid errors in judgment.

The payback period is also determined by your solar panel’s efficiency. Needless to say, the more efficient your hardware is, the faster your payback period. However high efficiency solar panels (that are also of high quality) can be quite expensive. Thus you must have a basic understanding of various solar product and they can benefit you before signing on the dotted line.

3. Work out a plan

With many factors that determine whether installing solar panels at home is a worthwhile pursuit, it is wise to have a plan.

The first step of any good plan is to do a site survey. There are many instruments that can help you with this. A typical tool that many people use is the Solar Pathfinder.

After the site survey is done, you have to find out your energy consumption through different seasons in order to size your solar power system. Then you’ll need to devise a strategy to effectively utilize solar energy in every part of your house.

If all these seems confusing to you, your best bet is to call up a solar professional. Instead of spending time to find out about these details, a professional can educate you, devise an implementation strategy for you and help you coordinate different tasks with various contractors.

Before long, you can be using solar panels electricity for your everyday needs.

Continue Reading:

1. Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels – Electricity Conversion From Sunlight
2. 7 Tips You Can Use When Buying Solar Panels
3. Homemade Solar Panels — Common Mistakes to Take Note Of When Building And Installing Photovoltaic (PV) Panels

During cloudy days and when there’s fog or haze, sunlight becomes diffused and arrives at your solar panels from many different directions. Therefore the facing of your PV panels is not as important during these times for maximum power production.

Even during cloudy days, you can expect to receive about 50% of your original power output. When the sky is completely overcast, you should still receive about 30% of the solar electricity.

Even though light intensity drops during cloudy days, the reduced ambient temperature causes your solar panel efficiency to increase. Therefore the reduction on solar energy production is offset by the increase in photovoltaic efficiency. This is especially true during winter.

There are a few ways to get more solar power during times of low light intensity. Here is a summary for your reading pleasure:

1. Use high efficiency solar panels

Many different types of solar panels are available in the market. If your PV panels have high yield, they’ll naturally be able to perform better in any light condition.

Home solar panels are broadly classified into 3 categories: polycrystalline panels, monocrystalline panels and ribbon panels.

Polycrystalline panels are the best buy. Even though they are not the most efficient, they can yield as much power as monocrystalline cells per square feet due to their physical shape.

They are also not as expensive as monocrystalline solar cells. During low light conditions, they can provide as much electricity for you.

Each polycrystalline solar cell is made from molten silicon that is carefully cooled and solidified. Its manufacturing process makes it less expensive to produce than single crystal silicon cells.

Monocrystalline solar cells are made by cutting thin layers of silicon from cylindrical ingots using the Czochralski process. They yield more electricity than polycrystalline cells but are more expensive. Also, because they are round, they leave gaps at all four corners. This reduces the potential power output of each monocrystalline solar panel.

Ribbon silicon is formed by drawing thin films from molten silicon. This process facilitates a multicystalline structure in the final product. Although its manufacturing process is cheap and there is less silicon waste, solar cell efficiency is compromised.

Among these 3 types of solar cells, polycrystalline is most widely used for obvious reasons.

2. Use reflectors

Even though light is diffused by clouds and fog, they have a certain general direction. As such, you can use reflectors to get more light onto your PV panels. This method, however, makes your roof a little unsightly if the reflectors are not installed (or chosen) with good taste.

With this in mind, you can site your reflector some distance away from your house. As long as more sunlight falls on your PV panel, you can generate a little more electricity.

3. Clean your solar panels

Dirt, dust and leaf can block sunlight from reaching your solar cells. This can reduce your power output by more than 30%. Simply by cleaning your solar panels, you can have more electricity during winter and on cloudy days.

Cleaning your PV panels doesn’t take much time. All you need to do is spray water on it generously to loosen the dirt and wash off the dust and leaf. This will help your energy output by a huge margin.

Continue Reading:

1. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
2. Solar Panel Efficiency — How Does Dirt on Your Solar Panels Affect The Amount Of Electricity Produced?
3. Important Facts And Properties of A Solar (PV) Panel You Must Know About (Part 1 of 3)

You must use the proper wire size so electricity from your solar panels can reach its destination (like your battery bank) without severe loss of power.

A simple calculation will help you decide what wire size to use. A common standard for wire size is based on the AWG (American Wire Gauge).

Step 1: Decide on the voltage for your solar power system: 12, 24, or 48 volts

With lower voltages, you’ll require thicker wires. Recall:

Power = Current x Voltage

The power output remains constant. Therefore when voltage decreases, current increases.

Using thinner wires means you’ll have to spend less on cables. However this is not a great consideration if you do not have long cables to manage.

Do note that whatever voltage you decide on, the rest of your equipment (like charge controller and inverter) will also have to follow suit.

Step 2: Determine the maximum current (in Amperes) your solar panels will produce

You can get this figure from your datasheet. If you have built your own solar panel, you can first find out the maximum output current of each solar cell from its datasheet. Then calculate the resultant output current according to how you connect the cells together.

After you have got the maximum current rating for one solar panel, simply multiply it by the number of parallel-connected panels you have in the array.

Note: If you connect the PV panels in series, the voltage adds up. If you connect them in parallel, the current adds up while the voltage remains the same.

For example, if you have two 12-volt PV panels connected in series, the output voltage becomes 24 volts while the output current remains the same. If you connect these two panels (rated at 10 amps each) in parallel, you’ll get a current output of 20 amperes while its output voltage remains at 12 volts.

Step 3: Estimate the length of your cables

Estimate the distance between your solar panels and your battery bank (or wherever you want the cables to run to) in feet. Then add to this figure by another 5% to cater for loops and tiebacks, if needed.

Finally multiply this figure by 2 because one cable will run to the battery bank while the other will run back from the battery bank. (One positive and one negative.)

Step 4: Determine the allowable voltage drop across your cable

Power loss and voltage drops are unavoidable. For your initial calculation, you can simply use 3% as an estimate.

Eventually, you’ll have to use your voltage meter to measure the actual value across your solar panel array output and determine what’s allowable.

Step 5: Use the chart below to find out which wire you should use

First, you have to calculate the VDI value:

VDI = (Current x Distance) / (% Voltage Drop x Voltage)

Then compare this value to the table below to find the type of wire you should use.

For example, I have chosen a 24-volt system that gives me an output of 20 amps. My cables will run a total distance of 100 feet, to and fro. My allowable voltage drop is 3%.

Therefore my calculation will be:

VDI = (20 x 100) / (3 x 24) = 2000 / 72 = 27.8

Referencing the table below, I should be using a 2-gauge wire according to the AWG standard.

Note: Your max operating current must not exceed the max current ratings as stated in the table.

Continue Reading:

1. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 2
2. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
3. Homemade Solar Panels — Common Mistakes to Take Note Of When Building And Installing Photovoltaic (PV) Panels

RV Solar Panels

There are many benefits to install recreational vehicle (RV) solar panels. The most important one is you can go further without having to worry or plan to stop at the next RV Park to charge your batteries. This may be obvious. But when you can’t find an RV park to recharge your batteries for the night, you can get pretty frustrated.

More and more full time RVers are planning to install solar panels on their vehicles so they can reap the full benefits of using solar energy to power up their equipment in their recreational vehicles.

Before you decide to buy a solar energy kit to hook up onto your recreational vehicle, there are a few points you need to work out. The first and most important step is to determine your total energy needs. This affects the number of solar panels you’ll need to buy and the batteries and size of inverter you need to have.

In order to size your solar energy system, you’ll have to make calculations with considerations to the energy you’ll use in a typical day. After sizing your required solar power system, you can then know if you have enough space inside your RV for the batteries and inverter.

You’ll also need to consider having a backup generator in case the worst happens…and these situations occur from time to time.

If the solar power system is too big to fit into your RV, the best solution is to reduce your energy consumption. Some practical electricity-saving advice given by fellow RVers are as follows:

- Avoid cold places that needs extensive furnace use
- Never fall asleep with the TV on
- Always switch off lights and equipment when not in use
- Do not leave any lights on throughout the night

You may also want to consider using a catalytic heater, as this does not require electricity. Since heaters would otherwise consume a large part of your solar generated electricity, this may help you get away with a smaller solar energy system.

You may also be wondering how much it costs to install a complete RV solar panel system. Depending on the quality of your solar panels, batteries and inverter, an approximate cost for each complete panel system is about (more or less) $500.

You may choose to buy a portable solar panel to charge your batteries and see if using solar panels suits your way of life. Very soon, you may be hooked to it. Then you’ll experience for yourself the benefits you can only experience with a set of RV solar panels installed on your recreational vehicle.

Continue Reading:

1. Solar Energy Panels For Big “Toys”
2. Recreational Vehicle (RV) Solar Panels — Run Your Appliances With A 12VDC Panel
3. Solor Panel Inverters – Multifunction Solar Panel Inverters

Overcome Hurdles

Despite many benefits solar panels give us, there are sometimes obstacles that prevent them from being installed on your property.

We’ll discuss 3 of them in particular and attempt to shed light on how to solve each type of problem.

Challenge #1: High Upfront Cost

This is a common one. There are a few ways you can still install solar panels without burning a hole in your pocket.

You can get a loan. There are many ways the bank can structure this loan. Often, your supplier can help you apply for it. Sometimes the supplier can even lend you the money.

Ultimately, loan repayment spread over many years. You have to pay a monthly installment to offset the loan. Your aggregate savings will not be as much as when you do without a loan (due to payment of interest).

But you’re better off this way, financially. Your solar panels help you save on energy bills. By having solar panels earlier rather than later, you can enjoy free electricity sooner.

Another way to go around this challenge is to install a small system that can be scaled up later when you have the money.

Or you can opt for used or refurbished solar panels. These may not be as efficient as new ones. Yet when you do your calculations, you can often get your money working harder for you with this option.

(Tip: Calculate how much power you can get in total for every dollar you spend.)

Challenge #2: Timing of Electrical Supply

PV panels produce electricity when the sun is shining. Often, your family use electricity only in the morning (before going to work) and in the evening (after coming back from work).

This means solar panels produce electricity when you’re not at home. Thus there must be some way of storing the energy so we can use it at our convenience.

One solution is to use large rechargeable batteries to store the entire day’s energy production. This is especially useful for homes that are located in remote parts of the country where it is too expensive to run transmission cables (just for a few families).

With batteries, the acquisition cost of your solar power system increases. Thus many people opt for a grid-tied solar power system.

This design allows you to channel unused electricity back into the power grid. For your power contribution, the utility company pays you at a rate known as the Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs).

At night, when your family returns home, electricity is drawn from the grid. Thus you are really using the power grid as an energy storage. And this is good for you as much as it is for the power company.

Challenge #3: Red Tapes

If you want to mount PV panels on roofs (or the building structure), you have to adhere to building codes. This is for your safety. When these restrictions are not adhered to, you risk damage and injury if you overload the building structure such as roofs.

However building codes are sometimes a pain in the neck. It’s not that we can’t solve this problem. But it gets irritating when you have to make many calls to government agencies just to solve simple issues at times.

The best way to tackle this problem is to share your concern with your contractor. He’ll likely be able to solve the problem better than you. This is because he would have encountered many of such issues and also solved them. Very likely, he’ll know who are those guys handling this stuff and may even know then personally.

Apart from different obstacles, there are also cautions that you must know about when handling solar panels. This are especially important if you are installing your own panels or repairing them yourself.

1. Danger of electrocution. PV panels supply your house with electricity. They are capable of generating a lot of energy. If you have to handle them, please use precaution. Remember to wear thick safety gloves and put on safety boots. If you need to climb onto your roof, remember your safety harness as well.

2. Risk of PV panel damage. If you have to handle your PV panels yourself, please make sure you have the necessary qualifications or knowledge. You may render your warranty void if you open or dismantle certain parts of your solar panel. You may also damage different components if you wire electrical connections in the wrong orientation.

When you meet with challenges, the best action you can take is to pick up the phone and call your contractor or an expert…or a friend who had prior experiences with solar panels.

Continue Reading:

1. Why Are Solar Panels The Best Investment For Your Home?
2. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office
3. Creating An Energy Efficient House – A Primer On Why You Should Do It and How

Google assembled a 1.6 MW solar panel installation at their headquarters in Mountain View in 2007. After several months, they facilitated a study to find out if cleaning solar panels would make them more productive, thereby yielding more electricity.

The engineers focused on two separate sets of photovoltaic panels in Google campus — the flat ones in carports and the tilted ones on roofs. They gathered a plethora of data about the energy their solar panels produced. Observations were also made on the accumulation of dirt on both sets of solar panels.

Conclusion?

They found dirt accumulating on the surface of flat panels. On tilted panels, less dirt was found. This is because rain swept them away, leaving some accumulation at the bottom corners. After cleaning both sets of solar panels (after 15 months), energy output from the flat panels doubled! The improvement from tilted panels was marginal.

Both sets of solar panels were left untouched for another 8 months before they were cleaned again. This time, the flat panels showed a 36% improvement in electricity output while the tilted panels produced negligible gains.

The conclusion of this study illustrates 2 points:

1. Solar panels are best installed in a tilted position.

Like those solar panels in Google headquarters, tilted solar panels are less likely to retain dirt and occasional leaf. Blocked solar cells introduce high internal resistance and this devastates power production. In fact, just one cell without sunlight can cause an observable drop in energy output.

Fortunately, most of us are living away from the equator and chances are we have to tilt our solar panels considerably. Thus all we have to do is spend 5 minutes to wash away unsightly dirt that accumulates at the corner of your solar panels. You can do this by spraying water using a hose once a year.

2. Solar panels have to be cleaned once in a while.

If you have to install your solar panels in a flat position, you’ll stand to gain when you clean your solar panels every 6 months (or more often if you bother to). Obviously, the more energy your solar panels generate, the sooner you’ll be paid back your solar investment.

It does not take you more than 15 minutes to briefly wash down your solar panels. But once you put in this little effort, your solar panel efficiency shoots up and these photovoltaic power generators can again work as hard for you as when they first arrived.

Continue Reading:

1. Solar Panel Efficiency
2. How You Can Benefit from Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) with Electricity Generated by Your Solar Panels
3. How To Build A Sun Tracking Mechanism to Increase Your Solar Panel Efficiency by 40%

Different manufacturers produce varying solar panels quality. While better quality panels command higher price tags, they tend to last much longer. This additional lifespan often justify the added expense. However many people will rather save money by choosing lower quality solar panels than cough out the difference for higher quality ones. This is understandable.

As solar panels produce electricity under the effect of sunshine, they begin the irreversible process of aging. When they age, their resale value decreases. Thus it is important to verify with your sales representative the age of solar panels you are receiving. Stored solar panels, on the other hand, maintain their full lifespan. Thus solar panels do not lose their value while kept on shelves unless a new technology renders them obsolete. By then manufacturers will have to slash their price to move them out of the storehouse.

Despite their image, used solar panels aren’t all that bad when it comes to payback period. Although they have a shorter lifespan and a slightly lower efficiency, most of them are still in good working condition and can last many more years. Best of all, they’re cheap. Therefore you should keep your mind open — as long as the price per watt and warranty conditions justify the purchase, you should be on your way to purchase cheaper energy.

As technology improves, the cost (per watt) of solar panels decreases. Currently, consumers often get solar panels below $5 per watt. Understandably, prices vary from location to location. Therefore you have to contact a few solar panel manufacturers to understand how they price their products before you sign on the dotted line.

If you want to install a solar panel system that can supply your entire house with power, it is not surprising to find manufacturers quoting you a whooping $25,000 to $30,000 for the entire installation. This may appear to be expensive. But the system can serve you for more than two decades and they usually pay for themselves slightly after the first. Therefore you’ll be able to live on free electricity for another ten years after the payback period.

Certainly, a manufacturer’s quotation depends on how big your house is and your average electricity consumption. If you’re able to find and eliminate energy wastages around the house, you may reduce to a smaller system. This means you end up paying less. In every household, there are wastages that account for a huge portion of energy consumption.

An alternative to commercial, off-the-shelf system is the DIY solar panel. Those of us who are apt at working with simple tools and electrical circuits can make for ourselves a homemade solar power system. Do not be mistaken…these are not some shoddy projects that over-the-edge enthusiasts make. The solar cells and related components are from renowned manufacturers. The DIYer’s only involvement is putting various components together to make a solar panel, and then install this solar panel on their roofs. These can last as long as commercial panels at a fraction of the cost.

Whatever your choice may be, understanding the cost of solar panels involve a little fact find. Hopefully, if you compare between suppliers, you may be able to find a solar power system that suit your budget and energy needs.

Continue Reading:

1. Cost Of Using Residential Solar Panels
2. How To Determine The Payback For Your Solar Panel Investment (Part 2 of 3)
3. How To Determine The Payback For Your Solar Panel Investment (Part 3 of 3)

Commercial solar panels cost at least $20,000 (usually much more than this) and you need to wait at least 12 years before your investment pays back. Of course the actual price and payback period depends on how much electricity you require and the amount of sunshine at your location.

Even though solar panels seem expensive, owning them can help your finances in the long run. Beyond its payback period, solar panels are essentially free. Thus you are actually using free electricity from that point on. If oil price continues to rise (quite certainly), the savings you realize will only become greater.

On top of that, your property value appreciates the moment you install solar panels on your roof.

Installing PV panels at home or office may be one of the best few decisions in your life. If you buy the correct solar energy system, it’ll reward you handsomely in time to come.

Why solar panels?

Solar panels convert solar energy into electricity. Since the sun will not burn out in the next few billion years, this is a perpetual source of energy we can use. Many solar panels can operate for up to 30 years. Thus they provide us with a long lasting source of electricity.

Solar panels are suitable for providing electricity in remote places that are far away from the main electricity grid. If your home is situated in such places, solar electricity may be the cheapest and most convenient source of power for you.

PV panels do not require much maintenance. In fact all they need is an occasional jet of water for 5 to 10 minutes. This helps to wash away the dirt and dust that accumulates on the glass panel after months and months of use. Besides this, no other regular maintenance is needed.

Solar power does not pollute. It neither gives off toxic nor foul-smelling gases. There is no way solar panels can harm your health and well-being when it generates electricity. In fact, it doesn’t even produce any noise. Thus solar panels do only good and no harm.

The only time when pollution is involved is when solar panels are being produced. Energy is needed at production lines, and this likely comes from burning fossil fuel. Fortunately it does not take long to manufacture each PV panel. Thus its indirect damage to the environment is negligible as compared to its advantages.

For many homeowners, using solar electricity is a means to hedge against the rising cost of fuel. It is quite likely that oil price will double again after 15 or 20 years…who knows. But the price of solar panels keeps dropping. Today, you can get solar panels for as low as $3 per watt. And this (one-time cost) is all you have to pay for the next few decades. What a good deal.

Different Types of Solar Panels

Solar panels are made from single crystal (monocrystalline) wafers, polycrystalline wafers or by depositing photovoltaic material onto thin films.

Monocrystalline solar cells are made by cutting single crystal wafers into 1/3 to 1/2 millimeter slices. This is a costly process. The silicon used must be of very high purity and must have an almost perfect crystalline structure. This makes the final product expensive. Therefore even though monocrystalline solar cells have the highest yield, they are not as popular.

Polycrystalline wafers are made by pouring molten silicon into a mould and allowing it to set. Then they are cut into thin slices, similar to how monocrystalline wafers are made. Since polycrystalline wafers do not require very high purity silicon or a near perfect crystalline structure, they are cheaper to produce. However it produces less electricity than monocrystalline cells under the same illumination per square foot.

Yet polycrystalline solar panels are very popular. Unlike monocrystalline solar cells, polycrystalline cells can fill the solar panel with more photovoltaic material (due to its shape). This allows it to produce almost as much electricity per square foot as monocrystalline solar panels. Hence it is more cost effective to use polycrystalline solar panels.

Amorphous silicon cells are made by depositing a layer of silicon on a substrate. Amorphous silicon is just one of the product of thin-film technology. Other products include thin multicrystalline silicon, copper indium diselenide/cadmium sulphide cells, cadmium telluride/cadmium sulphide cells and gallium arsenide cells.

Among these 3 types of solar cells, thin-films produce the least amount of electricity per square foot. However they are light. Therefore they are used widely in portable applications.

In the process of manufacturing thin-film solar panels, very little silicon is wasted. This is in stark contrast to the manufacturing process of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar cells where almost half the silicon is wasted as saw dust.

When choosing solar panels, it is important to know what type of technology is involved. More importantly, you must calculate the price you are paying per watt for the particular PV panel you chose.

A Typical Solar Power System

In a solar power system, one single solar panel is not sufficient to provide enough power for your house or office. An array of PV panels must be used in order to get the necessary amount of energy.

Other than the solar panel array, a control panel must be installed. It is used to regulate power from the panels. For an off-grid system, electricity must be stored in deep-cycle rechargeable batteries so you can use it later (usually at night). For an intertie (or grid-tied) system, this is not necessary.

Power coming from the batteries or your solar panels is in the form of direct current (DC). To run electrical appliances that use 110 VAC, you need an inverter. This device converts DC to AC power.

Even after all these are setup, you may want to consider having a backup source of power. This is important if you are not connected to the grid. One type of backup power you can consider is a diesel generator.

If you have a large solar power system, installing a solar tracker can help you recover some power that would otherwise be lost. What this device does is track the position of the sun and aligns the solar panels toward it. The increase in electricity supply can more than offset the cost of a solar tracker if your system is big enough.

You can also tap another source of renewable energy together with solar power. Wind turbines are commonly installed for residential use. The power generated by wind can charge your solar panel batteries. Instead of lining your roof with more PV panels, this is a good way to increase your electricity production.

Solar Panels Installation

Where your solar panels are sited is of utmost importance. The solar professional must help you determine the best location to install your solar panels. He must also inform you about the shading condition at the site he choose.

During installation, your solar panels will be tilted southwards. The angle of inclination depends on where you live. If solar panels are not installed properly, you may not get as much power as you expect. As a result, your solar panels may end up producing below its potential throughout its lifespan.

To improve the shade condition at the installation site, your contractor may advise you to crop some trees at your property.

When you work closely with a trusted solar professional, you can be certain he will be your best partner when it comes to providing renewable energy for your household.

Continue Reading:

1. Important Facts And Properties of A Solar (PV) Panel You Must Know About (Part 1 of 3)
2. Important Facts And Properties of A Solar (PV) Panel You Must Know About (Part 2 of 3)
3. Important Facts And Properties of A Solar (PV) Panel You Must Know About (Part 3 of 3)