What is Solar Power?
Solar power is the energy from the sunlight, which is converted into electricity, either by using photovoltaics or concentrated solar power or a combination of both. The largest concentrating solar plant in the world is located in the Mojave Desert of California.
Photovoltaics were initially considered a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications. These photovoltaics convert the primary form of light into electric current using different technologies, including photovoltaic effect. Concentrated power plants use lenses to adjust and focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam.
According to reports, solar power provides 1.7 of total electricity production worldwide. With the increasing number of underdeveloped nations, solar reduces the need for dependency and also lessens the cost of expensive fuels.
Point: According to search engines, the first solar cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the mid-1880s.
A note on Solar panels:
Electricity produced by solar panels often depends on three factors: efficiency of solar cells, the size of the board, and, most importantly, the amount of sunlight the panel gets. A solar panel is typically a silicon photovoltaic panel for residential purposes. These solar panels are efficient with the amount of energy available from the sun and converting that into electricity.
What is a Solar city?
With urbanization and economic development leading to a rapid rise in terms of energy consumption, many cities in the country are setting targets and introducing economic policies to promote renewable sources of energy, one being solar energy. To reduce GHG emissions, a minimum of 10% reduction is estimated in the usage of harmful conversion substances for electricity. Solar cities ensure variable use of renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, mass, biogas, etc. to be installed to verify possible energy efficiency depending on the need and resource availability in the city.
How many solar panels do you need to power your house?
- Firstly determine the energy usage of your house
- Estimate how many KWH you get per KW of solar
- Check if your utility offers a concept called net metering
- Calculate the solar panels needs
- Check whether the panels fit on your rooftop
How does Rooftop solar work?
Solar panels work on the ability of solar cells to consume and harness the energy of the sun and convert that energy into electricity. Rooftop solar panels are small, square-shaped semiconductors that are made from combined materials like silicon. When the sunlight falls on the solar cells, it induces chemical reactions that, in return, releases electrons, thus generating electric current.
Here’s a diagram explaining the same:
Benefits of Rooftop Solar panels:
- Solar panels are cost savings
- It is a secure investment
- Adequate access to energy
- Eco-friendly project and thus support from the government.
- Major reduction in carbon footprints
- Renewable green source of energy
- Involves low maintenance cost
- Suitable for Indian climate
- No additional space required for installation
A list of the best manufacturers of rooftop solar panels in India:
- Jakson
- Azure power
- Moser Baer Solar Limited.
- Kotak Urja
- Photon Energy System
- Waaree Solar
- Vikram Solar
- HHV Solar
What are the advantages of Solar Power?
- Solar power is considered pollution-free and thus economically feasible and sustainable. No greenhouse gases are emitted after solar panel installation.
- Reduces the dependency on foreign fuels and expensive imports of fossil fuels as these solar panels require minimum maintenance strategy.
- You can also use batteries to store extra power for use at night.
As the title emphasizes, let us all keep working to harness this great source of energy and power and put it to good use. Funnily there is more solar power that hits the earth every day then the current population can use in a year. Use these rooftop solar panels and start saving energy for your better to come.
