How Solar Power Works

As we move toward alternative energy sources more and more people are considering solar power to run their homes. Solar power is simply a method of harnessing the power of the sun and using it to replace public energy company supplied electricity.

Many people are aware of solar power but do not understand how it works. Solar power has been around for decades but as technology advances the gathering and delivery of solar power improves.

The amount of solar energy that strikes the earth is equal to 1000W per square meter. However, at this time the solar panels that we have developed are not efficient enough to harness the full 1000W. In actuality, a square meter of solar panel can only harness about 150W of energy from the sun.

But as technology is advancing, the efficiency of solar power is advancing also. The great thing about solar energy is that it is a natural resource, and it is completely free.

The way solar power works in not terribly complicated. Small packets of solar energy strike the surface of the solar cell. The solar cells contain stacks of material that is designed to absorb the solar light. At this time, silicon is being used for this purpose.

The absorbed energy is then transferred to electrical power to produce a current. But there are problems in that it is very difficult to store. Battery technology is not advanced enough to store enough energy to power a home at night.

The Europeans have developed systems that can store solar energy. They use hydrogen cells which are large tanks of water that store electrical energy during the day for use at night. But these methods are very expensive to produce and very hard to get.

At this time, solar power is very expensive to initially set up. But the long term benefits will outweigh the initial cost of installation. With a solar powered home you no longer will have to pay exorbitant fees for electricity.

In Europe and the United States power companies will buy back the excess energy that is not used by those with solar power because the homes cannot often store the energy. In this way homes powered by solar energy can even make money while using electricity. In other words, during the day, the solar power is producing more energy than you need, the electric company purchases this excess energy from you and then sells it back to you for use at night. A lot of times the user will even make a profit from the solar power.

As the need for conservation continues research is ongoing in how to make solar power more efficient and affordable for the average America. Sometime in the near future, every home may be able enjoy the benefits of free solar power.