The miracle of solar power is truly amazing! The heat energy being radiated by our Sun on the Earth's surface in one day packs more energy than all the world's oil reserves combined.
However, the cost to build and operate a solar power plant is not realistically achievable yet. But once costs come down in the future and technology makes this more practical, solar power can potentially be used as our primary source of energy.
In fact, heat is one of the most common forms of energy in the Universe and solar panels basically work by collecting heat from the Sun and converting it into electrical energy that, in turn, has many practical uses.
Solar panels have the ability to convert solar energy into electrical energy because of their photovoltaic properties.
Photovoltaic actually means "light" (photo) and "electricity" (voltaic).
The cells in solar panels are made up of semi-conductors, with silicon currently the most widely used. When the sun's rays hit the surface of a semi-conductor, a reaction takes place. The chemical makeup of the solar panel absorbs the energy, and the energy causes electrons to break free of their atoms and in the process they create electricity.
With today's technological advancements, the latest solar panel designs have improved their absorbing and retaining properties relative to the Sun's energy output.
Application 1: Portable Solar Power System
This system is excellent for outdoor use. The best place to store your battery bank and electrical equipment would be the garage or you can build a custom shed instead. By installing a DC-AC inverter you can run your appliances from a second loop fed by the solar generator.
The portable solar power system can even handle an 800 watt refrigerator, so just imagine how much you will save if you run your fridge off of this system. In fact, this type of solar system guarantees you your money back after just a few weeks of service.
Listed below is the basic setup for this system...but there are other add-ons you can consider if you happen to have extra money to spend (which we'll talk about later). You can also use multiple solar panels and batteries with this if you want.
Here is how this system connects...
Connect the (1) energy source (in our case a Solar panel...12V is fine) > to a (2) Charge controller > to a (3) Battery > to a (4)Inverter >to the (5) Household loads (Laptop, TV, DVD player etc.)
This is a cheap and simple way to set up a solar power system that costs less than $200. You have the option to either buy an expensive solar panel from a store and use it in this manner or (what we recommend) follow our do-it-yourself guide in this book and build your own. Then you can connect your solar panel to your household loads (we'll show how)!
