What Is Solar Energy?
It’s one of the most renewable forms of energy, it’s harnessed by collecting sunlight through photovoltaic (PV) panels or concentrated through mirrors. It’s then turned into electrical energy via solar inverters and stored in solar batteries to be used to power a home and its appliances such as light, heating, AC, or water systems.
If you are interested in renewable power then solar energy is an incredible source of free electricity that will definitely help reduce your carbon footprint and power your home.
So let’s look at what solar energy is in more detail and how you can really benefit from this fantastic power source.
How Does Solar Energy Work?
Solar panels, also known as Photovoltaic Solar energy, are the most widely used form of solar technology to capture the sun’s light, and then turn it into electricity. The other method, Solar Thermal, is used for large-scale capture of solar energy, for manufacturing or industrial purposes, so isn’t relevant to homeowners.
With this in mind, we’ll focus on how solar electricity generation works with solar panels, through a 3-step process.
- Step 1: The light hits the solar panel, and the energy from the sunlight is absorbed by the PV cells in the solar panel.
- Step 2: This energy is transformed into an electric current (DC). This current though isn’t yet suitable to be used directly by your appliances.
- Step 3: The DC electrical current then travels through an inverter to convert it to an alternating current (AC), which is now in a usable form for all your household electrical needs.
How Is Solar Energy Stored?
As you are reliant on the sun, you will only be able to generate electricity during peak sun hours, which also varies by season.
So you are not dependent on the feast and famine nature of electricity production, it’s critical to have solar batteries.
What Are Solar Panel Batteries?
They enable you to get the most out of your solar panel installation so you can have electricity throughout the day, particularly when there’s limited sunlight, or at night where there’s no light. The batteries store any surplus energy your solar panels produce so you can use it later to power your home.
How Do I Choose A Battery For Solar Panels?
When you look for a home solar battery some factors to consider include the:
- Power Rating Of The Solar Battery
- Solar Battery Storage Capacity
- Solar Roundtrip Efficiency
- Solar Battery Lifetime
- Types of Solar Batteries
Are There Any Limitations In Using Solar Energy?
This is a question that’s often asked. Overall, it depends on your solar energy system and whether you are completely self-sufficient or partially self-sufficient. With the latter, the electricity you generate will only cover the running of your major appliances.
When looking at which option applies to your circumstances, you need to take into consideration your location, the space you have for solar panels, and your budget. This will determine how many kWh you can produce and store every day.
To estimate yours, use these steps,
- Determine your hourly energy needs
- Calculate the number of daylight hours per day
- Work out the daily electricity output by multiplying your solar panel wattage with the sun hours per day
- Calculate the number of solar panels by dividing your daily electricity needs by the daily power output
What Is Solar Power Used For?
From lights, hot water, heating, and AC, to appliances such as washing machines, TV’s and refrigerators, you can cover all your household electricity needs using solar energy. How much you can satisfy depends on the circumstances we outlined above.
How Does Weather Affect Solar Energy?
As you are tied to peak sunlight hours, the weather, location, and season all affect solar electricity production. However, with the use of solar batteries and the dramatic strides in improving energy efficiency through technology, the constraints caused by weather and shade will lessen.
Is Solar Power A Clean Energy Source?
Sunlight is free, renewable, and shines every day, even in the winter.
As the Solar Energy Industry Association of America says, “Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world.”
Frequently Asked Questions On What Is Solar Energy
What Are Solar Panels Made Of?
Mostly they are made of silicon and the renewable aspect of solar panels is getting better every year.
There are 4 main solar panel types in the market today. Each varies in terms of quality, price, and efficiency. Ranking them from the lowest quality and efficiency first, they are:
- Thin Film Solar Panels: Made from amorphous silicon, gallium selenide, cadmium telluride, and copper indium, these are cheaper to produce compared to other solar panels.
- Polycrystalline Solar Panels: Made by melting different types of raw silicon
- Monocrystalline Solar Panels: Made from slices of a pure ingot of monocrystalline silicon.
- Solar Shingles: Made from silicon solar cells or textured glass
What Is Solar Energy Converted Into?
Once the solar energy has been collected by the solar panel it needs to be changed from the direct current (DC) electricity captured by the solar panels, into alternating current (AC).
This is done by using a solar inverter which converts the electricity into the standard flow required by the electrical circuits in your house so that you can use the electricity with your white goods and electrical appliances.
The three types of solar inverters are:
- String inverters: These are the cheapest option and work by arranging your solar panels into groups and connecting them together to a single inverter.
- Micro-inverters: Unlike string inverters, that connect lots of solar panels to a single inverter, microinverters are built into each individual solar panel. They are more costly but offer greater efficiency particularly in times of shade.
- Power optimizers: These are a mix of string and microinverters. optimizers take the DC energy and pass it to a central inverter that then finishes the actual conversion process. Again, more costly and mid-range, but they have higher efficiency.
Summary Of What Is Solar Energy?
So, we have seen that solar energy is one of the most renewable forms of energy, as it collects sunlight, which is free and renewable, through photovoltaic (PV) panels. It’s then turned into electrical energy via solar inverters and stored in solar batteries to be used to power a home and appliances such as light, heating, AC, or water systems.
We also looked at the 6 factors of why solar energy is a fantastic source of renewable power, including:
- How solar energy works by using free peak sun hours
- How solar energy is stored by solar batteries so you can get electricity even when there’s no sunlight
- How location, budget, and space will determine whether you can be self-sufficient or partly self-sufficient for electricity generation
- What solar power can be used for including heat, hot water, AC, or running electrical appliances
- How the weather has some effect on generating solar energy but with advances in technology, energy efficiency is getting better every year.
- That solar power is a clean energy source and how solar panels are increasingly becoming more sustainable.
