How Things Work – Solar Panels

Solar Panels

 

What are solar panels used for? Solar panels are used to try to solve the problem of using renewable energy instead of non-renewable. They also try to make electricity cheaper which they do by reducing electricity bills for people in sunny areas. People in places like California, Arizona etc. can save money by using solar panels to power their homes.

 

How do solar panels work and what makes them work? These are the most important parts. The most noticeable part of a solar panel is the solar panel itself. The solar panels are usually placed on the roofs of houses although they can also be placed in large fields with other solar panels or on free-standing poles. The solar panel is what converts the sunlight into electricity. These panels are placed on solar array mounting racks. The racks hold up the solar panels and are angled so that they can use the sun as much as possible. There are two types of mounting racks. The cheaper kind, fixed mounts, have a fixed height and angle for maximum efficiency, but the sun moves throughout the day and throughout the year, so your solar panels won’t always be working to the best of their abilities. The more expansive rack is called a tracking array. Tracking arrays move east to west with the sun and adjust their angle to use the most sun possible. These solar panels need maintenance and you can’t just take them apart while they are on. The array DC disconnect is used to disconnect the solar panels from the house while doing maintenance. The reason it is called the DC disconnect is because the electricity that solar panels produce is direct current. Standard appliances in most peoples homes use AC. That’s why you need an inverter. Inverters convert the DC from the solar panels, to AC so that it works with your appliances. Solar panels don’t work all the time because days can be cloudy, and there is night. That’s why most solar panels have batteries. The excess electricity made during the sunny hours, go into a battery pack that holds the electricity until its needed. Although, the batteries can’t hold too much voltage. A charge controller fixes that problem. The charge controller allows you to maintain the proper amount of charge going into your battery, and when the electricity comes out of your battery into your appliances. The electricity enters your home at the breaker panel. There is a circuit breaker that prevents the appliances on a circuit from drawing too much electricity and causing a fire hazard. If this happens, the circuit breaker will switch off, interrupting the flow of electricity. These are the main parts of a solar panel that do the most to keep your system running.

 

How do solar panels actually work? The answer is chemistry. The main element in solar panels is silicon. Silicon atoms have room for eight electrons in their valence shell but naturally carry only four. Silicon bonds strongly together so this is what makes the plates of the solar panels because the silicon allows an easy platform for electrons to flow. Silicon alone does not create electricity so it is chemically combined with phosphorous, and chemically combined with boron. Phosphorous has five electrons that it gives so when combined with silicon, the result is negatively charged. Boron only has three electrons to offer so the result is positive. Sunlight sends many different particles of energy but the one used by solar panels is called photon. If the panels are faced right, the photon from the sun’s rays, hits the silicon-phosphorous mix and eventually knocks the extra electron out of its shell. One of these doesn’t create much energy, but together they start to build up. These negative electrons are attracted to the positive phosphorous-boron mix (because opposites attract) which is attached to wires. The electrons then move through the wires that connect to the home or whatever is getting charged.

 

Solar panels have many strengths, but also many weaknesses. One of the biggest strengths is that it gives a different option for a more renewable power supply. Instead of having to burn fossil fuels, and create nuclear waste, solar panels makes for a completely eco-friendly energy source. Even Hydro dams have a problem with not letting fish get up rivers. Solar panels use nothing but the sun to make energy. Their next biggest strength is cost effectiveness. Solar panels can cost a lot to install, however, if you live in a sunny area the price can actually be paid off and eventually, you can save money. Solar panels take a lot of money off energy bills so if you live somewhere sunny, the money you save from energy bills will eventually pay back the money spent on buying and installing the solar panels. These are the biggest strengths but, solar panels also have some pretty big weaknesses.

 

The main two weaknesses are connected; they can’t run all day because there isn’t any sun at night, and they don’t work very well in places that don’t have as much sun, for example, right here in British Columbia. With solar panels, you still need normal electricity, because it doesn’t last all day, so in the hours with no sun, you need an alternative. In places without enough sun, its just not worth it because you’ll end up paying more for installing it and paying for the solar panels, than you would save from actually using them. Yes solar panels can help, and yes, they are eco-friendly, but they only work in the right conditions, so its not a complete solution to the problem it is trying to solve.

 

The problem solar panels are trying to fix is using more renewable energy. Do solar panels use renewable energy? Absolutely, but do solar panels fix the problem entirely? Although solar panels are useful, and a good start to the fight against non-renewable energy, they don’t fix the problem completely. People in sunny areas might be able to get by with them if each day is perfect, but if not, they will usually have to rely on a secondary source of power. Solar panels are useful, and they definitely eliminate the use of some non-renewables, however, they don’t quite fix their problem.

 

Model

 

Sources

 

“Components of A Residential Solar Electric System.” Cleanenergyauthority.com, Chris, 6 Jan. 2010, https://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-resources/components-of-a-residential-solar-electric-system.

Pollick, Michael, and Niki Foster. “How Do Solar Panels Work?” WiseGEEK, Conjecture Corporation, 29 Nov. 2019, https://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-solar-panels-work.htm.

Fox, Stuart. “Sizing the DC Disconnect for Solar PV Systems.” CivicSolar, Inc., 11 Nov. 2011, https://www.civicsolar.com/article/sizing-dc-disconnect-solar-pv-systems.

“Tubular sunshine; Solar energy.” The Economist, 11 Oct. 2008, p. 99EU. Gale In Context: Canadahttps://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A186568185/GPS?u=43sbo&sid=GPS&xid=fe04895e.  Accessed 11 Dec. 2019.