Solar panels
- Panels hat take energy from the sun and use it for energy. This is a renewable energy source. The problem that our technology is trying to fix is to use less non renewable energy and more renewable energy. They reduce the amount of money on your electricity bills for people in sunny areas. People in sunny places like California or Arizona can save money if they use solar panels.
The parts of the solar panels system.
The first and the most obvious of the parts is the Solar Panels itself. The solar panel collects the sunlight and turns it into electricity. These are usually on the roofs of houses. Another part of the solar panel system is the mounting racks. The solar panels are attached by one of three things; on roofs, on free standing poles in arrays and direct on the ground. Solar Panels connected to the roof are the most common while the ground ones are the least common. The system has a DC disconnect who’s job is to just disconnect the system from the house so maintenance can be done safely. They also have an inverter that converts power from the panels and batteries that produce Dc power to the appliances which run on AC power. The ac breaker, ac panel and circuit breaker connects the power source to the electrical circuits in your home. The circuit breakers make sure that the appliances don’t take in too much electricity causing a fire hazard. When the appliance needs too much electricity the breaker will interrupt the flow of electricity. Battery packs are also part of the system and are used during the night or on cloudy days when the sun isn’t shining, and the solar panels are unable to produce electricity. If you didn’t have battery packs, you would have power for only half of the day. The charge control or the charge regulator maintains the amount of voltage in the batteries.
The most common element in solar panels is silicon. The atom of Silicon can hold up to eight electrons in their Valence shell but only carry four electrons naturally. Silicon bonds strongly together making this the material that the plates of the solar panels are made from. The Solar Panels are made from Silicon because electrons flow through it easily. Silicon can’t create electricity on its own, so it comes together with its chemically combined with Phosphorous and Boron. Phosphorous has five electrons that it can share with Silicon making it negatively charged. Boron has only three electrons to share resulting in the charge being positive. Sunlight sends several different particles, but photon is the only one used in the solar panels. If the panels are facing right, the photon from the sun rays hits the combination of Silicon and Phosphorous and eventually forces the extra electron out of its shell. These negative electrons are attracted to the phosphorous-boron mix which is attached to wires. The electrons then move through the wires connected into the home or whatever is getting charged.
Evaluate
The strengths of solar panels is that it’s a renewable energy source. The solar panels are using the sun as electricity. This lets us not use other non renewable energy source, hydro dams being the most common in British Colombia because of all the water we have in the area. By using solar panels its helping use less gas and other resources that are destroying or damaging our planet as well. Another good thing about solar panels is that it can cost less for people in sunny areas. People in sunny areas will be able to collect a lot of electricity from the panels because it doesn’t rain that much and will get plenty of use out of it in the process. The weaknesses are that it can cost too much for some people and that it isn’t effective in the rain. The price to have solar panels isn’t cheap. They cost more than electricity that you get through non renewable energy sources. The only exception to this is if you live in a sunny place. The problem is that not all places are really sunny. Solar panels are also useless in the rain. This piece of technology relies on the sun to be shining and when its not it has nothing to generate electricity from. This makes us have to use a different energy source not good for the environment.
I think this is a good idea to fix our problem of not using renewable energy, but it isn’t perfect in the slightest. There are several times during the year that the panels do nothing and are just sitting there. The solution is a good idea but it definitely needs improvement.