Thin film solar panels are one method of generating electric power from the sun that’s only come onto the market in recent years.  They’re also called amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells, and they aren’t rigid, unlike traditional panels.  They use an amorphous type of silicon instead of one or more crystals.  These thin panels could end up replacing rigid monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar cell.  Made of a silicon material placed between flexible laminate, steel or glass, this new type of panel has some real possibilities.  Let’s take a look at the good and bad things about this new type of solar panel.

The most common and popular type of thin film solar panel is the flexible laminate type.  That’s because they’re the most versatile.  Their thin film allows them to be applied to almost all surfaces and to take up a lot less space than a traditional panel.  They’ve even been used as a type of roofing material.  Unlike rigid panel types, they don’t stand out, blending in better with the roof itself.  They can actually be used instead of steel or shingles for roofing, creating an entire roof that generates power from sunlight.

However, there’s a reason why thin film solar panels haven’t replaced older types yet.  They’re just not as efficient.  With about a six percent conversion rate for energy drawn from the sun, they can only draw about half the wattage from sunlight that mono and polycrystalline panels do, making them take up twice as much installation space for the same amount of power.  They do cost less, however. 

Their thinner structure needs less material, allowing much cheaper panels to be produced.  In terms of price per watt of power output, thin film panels are as high as other technologies, allowing budget conscious homeowners to pay less for their power generation.  At about seven to ten dollars per watt, the costs are lower than the other solar panels on the market.  The best known brand is probably UniSolar.

The less fragile nature of these panels also means they are unlikely to become damaged during shipping.  Monocrystalline panels, by comparison, are especially fragile.  For those who aren’t worried about space but are worried about what they’re paying for their solar power system, these are a great choice.  You should be aware that their longevity may be questionable, though.  There’s a possibility that they’ll hold up just as long as their competitors, but this technology is new and still hasn’t been well tested.  A decrease in efficiency may occur over time.

One benefit of thin film solar panels that other types can’t offer is that they don’t suffer a decrease in output when temperatures go up.  Some may even have a slight increase in their outputs.  That’s impressive, since areas where sunlight is readily available are also usually hot.  Because of this, thin film solar panels often have an actual output that’s very close to the one they’re rated for.  This can make planning a solar power system much easier using this kind of panel.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Thin Film Solar Panels is a post from: How to Build a Solar Panel

The ultimate resource of the planet Earth today is the sun, which provides the planet with heat, radiation and light. There are a lot of technologies that source energy from fossil fuels to generate electricity. The undeniable fact is that the sun showers the Earth in a stable and steady form of energy that surpasses what the planet needs for electricity consumption.  Modern-day technology has developed rapidly and knows how to generate solar energy very efficiently and yet simply -  it fundamentally converts the sun’s power into electricity.

In view of the fact that producing electricity directly from the sunlight does not drain any of the planet’s natural resources, and is supplying the planet with energy continuously, solar energy is a source that can be renewed anytime and used to generate electricity. To put things bluntly, the planet Earth’s principal source of renewable energy is solar energy.

PV or photovoltaic is one of two basic types of approaches in turning the sun’s power into electricity.  Originally formulated for a space program more than 30 years ago, a photovoltaic device (commonly labeled a fuel cell), relies on the build-up of chemical responses to produce electricity. PV cells are tiny, square, semiconductors covered in slim film layers from conductive materials and silicon. When sunlight hits a photovoltaic cell, it causes some chemical reactions and release electrons, producing electric current. These photovoltaic cells are then installed in modules and can power a home as well as a business or can be plugged into an electricity grid. In today’s economic climate, you find more and more people fitting these to the roof of their house in order to drive down their energy bill.

The second basic type of approach is the solar-thermal technology. This approach is a relatively conventional type of electricity generating process. It uses the sun’s temperature to heat water and produce steam to drive electric generators. A solar thermal collector is a device purposely intended to accumulate heat: To be exact, absorbing sunlight to produce heat. While the expression may be applicable to an uncomplicated solar hot water panel, it is frequently used to denote extra intricate installations. There are an assortment of forms of thermal collectors, for instance, solar trough, solar towers, and solar parabolic. These kinds of collectors are commonly used in a solar power plant where solar temperature is utilized to produce electricity by heating up water to create steam which drives a turbine linked to an electrical generator.

Two further types of solar-thermal technologies are nearing to be categorized as marketable. One is the parabolic dish system.  It is the most dominant type of collector which focuses sunlight in a single, central point, through one or more parabolic dishes — set in a comparable method to a reflecting telescope focusing starlight, or a dish antenna focusing radio waves.

The second type of solar-thermal technology is the central receiver system. Conceptualized for solar energy absorption and gathering is based on a field of independently sun-tracking mirrors that echoes the occurrence of sunshine to a recipient at the top of a tower located midpoint.  On average, 80 to 95 percent of the replicated energy is engaged into the working fluid which will be then pumped up the tower and into the recipient.  The heated liquid forms a stream down the tower and then into a thermal converter more likely to a thermal electrical power plant.

The fundamental disparity between the central receiver system and the parabolic dish system, is all of the solar energy to be accumulated in the whole field, is passed on optically to a miniature central collection station rather than being channeled around a field as hot liquid.  Due to this characteristic, all central receiver systems are distinguished by high temperatures and large power levels.

Energy and power is derived in due course from the sun. It may be direct or indirect, but the fact of the matter is energy sources on Earth are types of indirect solar energy. Although we usually don’t consider them that way, oil, coal and natural gasses derived from prehistoric biological material which obtained its energy from the sun (photosynthesis) thousands of years ago. Knowing how to generate solar energy economically is definitely a must-know for the next generation and to put a stop to depleting the earths natural resources.

Generate Solar Energy is a post from: How to Build a Solar Panel