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Quality Solar Concepts Solar System Ontario Canada
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Solar Panels
Solar panels are one of the most popular sources of alternative energy for home power systems. Everyone sees some sun during the year, which means everyone can gain some benefit from solar power, whether to run a whole home power system, or just charge some batteries with free electricity.
Solar panels, which use sunlight to produce electricity, are much more efficient for their purpose than their solar thermal cousins. They are also much more useful in northern climates. While the manufacturing process and the mechanism by which they work is more technical than solar thermal, they are much simpler to install and maintain in actual use. Following is an overview of the function and purpose of photovoltaic panels, as well as the many benefits they have in alternative energy systems.
Browse our site to learn how solar panels produce electricity, how solar energy can work with your home power system, what components are needed in a solar power system, and which solar panels will best meet your needs. We carry solar panels from top manufacturers like BP, Evergreen, Kyocera, Sharp, Shell, and Unisolar.
Solar power is one of the simplest forms of renewable home power. Photovoltaic (PV) panels have no moving parts, and need no complicated control mechanisms. Solar panels are the closest thing to a "plug and play" independent power source you'll find.
Contact us with any questions you might have about solar power systems. We're happy to help you build a system that works for your power needs.
Photovoltaic power is one of the most benign forms of electrical power available. It produces no emissions, uses no fuel, and other than the power storage batteries, PV system components are all solid-state, with no hazardous materials involved.
Most rigid photovoltaic panels come with 20-25 year warranties on their rated power output, and they require virtually no maintenance during that time. Cleaning the surface of the panels and maintaining a proper fluid level in the storage batteries are the two primary maintenance duties.
For villages and individuals outside the reach of the grid power system, solar panels can be a highly reliable and relatively economical source of power. They are also ideal for maintaining charge levels in RV and marine deep-cycle batteries, since RVs and recreational boats are used primarily during sunny summer months. In northern climates, photovoltaic are perfectly suited for powering remote summer vacation cabins, or providing a seasonal power source for year-round homes.
For commercial and industrial use, PV panels can be put to use powering monitoring stations, signal lights, telecommunications towers, and other remote sites where there are no full-time employees stationed. Solar power is also useful for small power loads even in grid-powered areas where running grid power to the load would be inconvenient or expensive (such as signal lights on an airstrip or parking lot lighting).
How Solar Panels Work
Solar electric panels are composed mainly of silicon. Silicon is used because it naturally releases electrons (electrical energy) when hit with a photon (light source). The trick for photovoltaic manufacturers was to find a way to "catch" the displaced electrons and use their energy.
Most solar panels consist of a clear protective top layer, two layers of specially treated silicon with collecting circuitry attached to the top layer, and a tough polymer backing layer. From there, the panel can be framed (adds durability) or unframed (reduces weight), and in some cases the layers are even comprised of flexible materials. The vast majority of PV panels work in the same way:
The top layer of silicon is treated to give it an electrically negative character. The back layer is treated to make it electrically positive. Due to these treatments and added elements, the top layer is rich in electrons, and the back layer is relatively electron poor. These two layers are separated by an electrically charged junction, which allows electrons to flow* from back to front, but not the other way around.
When light strikes the PV panel, the silicon layers absorb some of the photons. The photons cause electrons to be released from the silicon crystal, and those electrons "wander around" looking for somewhere to attach themselves. Some of the electrons are freed from the bottom layer, and they find their way through the junction into the top (electron rich) layer. Some of the electrons are freed from the top layer, and since they cannot travel to the bottom (electron poor) layer, and are being "crowded" by new electrons from the bottom layer, they are left free to be collected by electrical contacts on the surface of the top layer.
Those collected electrons are routed through an external circuit, providing power to the electrical system attached to the panels. The circuit is completed when the electrons return to the bottom layer of the PV panel, find "resting spots" in the electron poor bottom layer, and wait for the next photon to shake them loose.
There are no moving parts in the PV panel, so maintenance is limited to keeping the junction boxes and wiring free from moisture and corrosion, and keeping the surface of the panel clean enough to allow light through to the silicon layers.
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