By now, many people have heard about solar power. It is a type of renewable energy. Despite being a leading clean energy technology, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding installing solar panels. How much does solar cost? Do you need a battery? How does solar power even work? In this article the basics of solar power is broken down to answer questions and give readers a better understanding of the increasingly popular energy source.
History of solar power
Solar power has been around for a lot longer than someone may think. The history of solar energy is a story of innovation that all started in the early 19th Century when the first-ever solar cell was invented in France back in 1839 by scientist Edmond Becquerel. He realized when electrons were in an excited state in a conduction band, they could move freely through a material, thus creating a current. He discovered this photovoltaic effect, as it is now known, at the young age of 19.
Decades later in 1883, the first solar panel was invented by Charles Fritts. He used selenium wafers and erected the panels on a New York City rooftop with an energy conversion rate of only 1%.
After this, a few patents were created in the U.S. for solar cells and solar panels, with the solar panel patent belonging to Nikola Tesla. In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper describing the theory behind the “photoelectric effect,” for which he won a Nobel Prize, 17 years later, in 1922.
Then, in the 1950s, the silicon solar cell which is used today revolutionized solar energy when Bell Laboratory scientists focused on photovoltaic (PV) developments and began utilizing silicon to produce solar cells. This breakthrough is credited to Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson, which produced an efficiency of 4% only. It was a game changer when it came to solar power, as silicon solar cells could be converted to electricity far more efficiently than the selenium solar cells.
Since then, 50 years of continued discovery and development of silicon and other PV materials is still ongoing. Today solar panels’ efficiency is 22% and provide electricity to millions of houses worldwide, power up buildings, satellites and provide clean energy all around the world.
Now, the United States has over two million solar panel installations and is on track to double that number by end of 2023. One reason is because solar energy has exhibited the most rapid cost decline among energy technologies. The price of silicon PV cells in the 1950s was 76 US$/Watt which significantly declined to 0.20 US$/Watt in 2021.
How does solar power work?
Solar power can run anything that electricity generated by fossil fuels can power, just without all the guilt and dirty emissions. There are two key things to understand how solar power works: How solar panels turn sunlight into electricity and how that electricity is then sent to homes and businesses.
Solar power is produced through something called the photovoltaic effect. A solar panel is made up of multiple small squares. Those squares are called solar cells, photovoltaic cells, or PV cells. Almost all solar panels are made of silicon solar cells. Each cell has a negative layer with extra electrons and a positive layer that has room for those electrons to travel to. When sunlight hits that negative layer, the electrons are knocked loose and begin to move to the positive layer. The flowing of electrons is solar electricity!
How solar power is used
Solar panels produce something called Direct Current, or DC, electricity. Most homes can’t use DC electricity, so it needs to be converted into alternating current, or AC electricity. That’s where solar inverters come in - the DC electricity produced by the solar panels travels to the solar inverter where it is converted into AC electricity.
The AC electricity can then be used to operate home appliances such as refrigerators, lights, and TVs.
The necessity of batteries
A large part of the limitations to have widespread use of solar power as a renewable energy boils down to batteries. Battery technology is improving daily to store enough of the energy produced by solar efficiently so that it can provide reliable power.
Essentially, consumers need batteries that are good enough to store the incredible amounts of solar energy that are constantly hitting the Earth so this energy source can be used even when it’s not sunny.
Interesting facts
There are some simple facts that may just change people’s thoughts on renewable power.
In a single hour, the amount of power from the sun that strikes the Earth is more than the entire world consumes in a year.
Last year, solar only provided 0.39% of the energy used in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Renewables — including solar, wind, hydropower, biomass and geothermal — accounted for 13% of all the energy used last year.
A local company
Power Anywhere USA, located in Watervliet, was born under the belief that solar energy can come to consumers in their mobile units that essentially brings power to “where it really is… Power Anywhere!”
Many people have seen houses with solar panels mounted to the roof; well, Power Anywhere has designed and manufactured a mobile solar trailer. This new innovation allows these mobile trailers to go with, so if the owner sells their house, the unit can move with them. Or people with a cabin or lake house can take the unit there. The mobile solar trailer can also be connected to a house without any additional tax assessments or permitting requirements in most regions.
These mobile solar trailers are utilized a lot at construction sites, disaster recovery sites, farming and ranching, and remote access areas, and even special events like the Watervliet Fourth of July celebration. These trailers are used in different settings all over the United States, and the company operations are right here in Watervliet with Bob Dabicci at the helm. Dabicci is the chief engineer that works closely with his son, Aaron, general manager, to create new designs and improved technology implementation. The company corporate office is in Georgetown, TX. Principal partners are Randall Johnson, president and Mark Battell, vice president.
“In a world where solar power casts an unapproachable and unattainable shadow, we aim to bring light through knowledge, solutions, and support. We are building a culture of solar accessibility,” Dabicci said.
These non-hazardous panels harvest DC electric, the system inverts it to AC power and with the battery fixed upon the unit itself, the complete power system can supplement utility power wherever it’s needed. Not only that, these units have a backup propane generator as well, so users always have power even with poor weather or sun conditions.
The new innovation of this mobile unit meets the needs of many types of consumers both near and far. For more information, check out their website at poweranywhereusa.com or reach out to the team through poweranywhere1@gmail.com. Phone contact is also available at (833)SOLAR55.
ความคิดเห็น