Green tech

Valuable Information about Solar Electric System

Solar LightPV technology makes use of both scattered and direct sunrays to generate power. Therefore, homes can attain freedom from increasing utility charges. Is the company “solar Los Angeles” free to offer in-home consultation? Qualified professionals will help you discover a solar system that suits your lifestyle and needs. With installation of solar panels, you can enjoy plethora of benefits like avoid utility rate hikes, eliminate monthly electric bill and increase property value.

In addition, installation of a small PV system is a cost-effective way to supply power in locations where it is impossible or expensive to transmit electricity through the regular cable lines.

Solar cells

The building block of PV system is solar cells. They are made from semiconductor materials, which absorb sunlight. This solar heat excites the electrons, which are released from their atoms. The free electrons move into a circuit within solar cell and form electric current. This is called ‘photoelectric effect'.

Solar cell performance is measured in conversion efficiency, which differs in accordance to materials.

Types of semiconductor materials

  • Monocrystalline
  • Polycrystalline
  • Multi-crystalline
  • Amorphous

Absorption coefficient

The absorption coefficient of solar cell depends on:

  1. Material of solar cell
  2. Wavelength of sun rays

‘Band gap' indicates the minimum energy level required to stimulate a bounded electron and free it from the atom. Only free electrons can get involved in conduction. Semiconductor having lower energy level is called ‘valence band' and high energy level is called ‘conduction band'. The difference between conduction and valence band is the ‘Bandgap (Eg)'. In case the materials bandgap cannot release an electron then its absorption coefficient is zero.

Thin film technology

Solar cells are designed with semiconductor materials with thin film (few micrometers thick).

  • Solar shingles
  • Building facades
  • Roof tiles
  • Atria

Benefits of solar shingles

  • Attractive addition into homes
  • Serves dual purpose-pollution free electricity generator and roofing material
  • Durability

Typical solar panel components

  • Glass, transparent top surface
  • Thin sheet of encapsulant (ethyl vinyl acetate) that holds the solar cells, top and rear surface together
  • Rear layer of thin polymer sheet to prevent the access of gases and water
  • An aluminum frame around outer edge

Energy performance ratings

  • Peak watt
  • Nominal operating cell temperature
  • AMPM standard

Solar PV array for homes

Flat plate PV panels are common array design used in residence. These solar panels are fixed or allowed to follow the suns movement.

Advantages of fixed arrays

  • Lightweight structure
  • No moving parts
  • Extra equipment is not necessary

The drawback of fixed array system is that their orientation to sun is at an angle, which is less optimal. As a result, less energy gets accumulated in comparison to tracking array. However, this downside can be balanced against high cost of tracking system.

Home solar electric system

Components of home solar electric system

  • Solar cells
  • Solar panels
  • Arrays
  • Mounting racks
  • Wiring
  • Solar inverter
  • Backup batteries (optional)

Solar panel cost

Over the last ten years, installation cost of solar system has reduced significantly. Generally, the larger the system, lower the cost of electricity per Watt.

Leasing a solar system allows you to pay fixed rate, which is cheaper. In addition, this rate gets locked for 15 years in contrast to the utility rates that have been escalating for decades. Thus homeowners can adapt solar energy for zero dollars down and save from the first day itself.

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