Solar Power, Panels, and Kits

Solar power is quickly becoming the best alternative to fossil fuels.

Energy from the sun has been a reality since the earth has been around. It has given ancient and modern civilizations power to build some of the greatest civilizations on the planet but only recently has man been able to directly harness this power. How was it harnessed in the past and used so effectively? One word: plants. For billions of years plants have successfully converted sunlight into usable energy they just had to be eaten until man discovered they could also be burnt to produce energy.

This discovery has fueled the past two hundred years with dirty, smoky machines that served man’s purposes and desires greatly increasing their amount of technology and ability to produce great works. Only recently has this energy making process been subjected to scrutiny and thoroughly examined for what it is, a destructive, in-efficient process that will become impossible as soon as the rapidly depleting fossil fuel supplies are exhausted.

The quest for cheap or potentially free energy has led scientists to bypass the middleman, the middleman in this case being the process of organic matter converting into oil which takes millions of years to occur. They though, “what if we could harness energy from the sun directly?” and began studying the properties of light more studiously.

Photons and electrons were widely known about at the time but it wasn’t until silicone was being used for electronics that the first solar panels were developed. Silicone wafers have the ability to transfer electrons when struck by sunlight in a process known as the photovoltaic reaction. It was actually camera light meters that were the first devices to effectively generate solar power, albeit just enough to move a small wire indicator.

Since then solar cells have been slowly improving in efficiency. In the last few years a tipping point was reached when the cost to manufacture and install the panels finally dropped below their estimated power output greatly lowering the solar cost. For years it was more expensive to install solar panels for the power generated in twenty five years but that is true no longer. Solar cells are becoming increasingly affordable and easy to install with many solar products being offered by many manufacturers, even flexible solar panels.

There are now a wide range of solar applications available. Solar heating and solar lighting allow the sun to power all the homes needs while residential solar panels can supply power for any number of things. With the addition of solar batteries power can be supplied all night long without any connections to power plants or the electricity grid at all. Easy to install solar kits are available for homeowners although it is recommended that a trained professional do the installation.

Solar power is clean and renewable unlike every fossil fuel making it one of the best choices for an enjoyable future that is full of energy. It may still be expensive now but it can pay for itself in as little as five years and will last for at least a quarter of a century.

 

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