Harnessing Solar Power For Residential Use

By Evans D. Smith

There is a lot of interest in harnessing solar power for residential use and despite the high initial investment, the long-term savings are being touted as an efficient means of beating the high cost of electric power. As utility prices continue to rise, so does the interest in finding alternative methods of powering homes and, with the efficiency of solar panels improving, the interest in using solar power for residential electric needs is growing, also.

There are 4 elements to a system using solar electricity for home use. They’re the solar cells, charge controller, storage batteries and a converter. From there, home appliances are plugged in and the house is running on solar energy. How much power the home has is set by 2 factors, primarily it’s all relative to the system’s positioning, as it requires direct daylight, and the size and number of the solar energy panel arrays being used.

To determine the number and size of panels needed to supply solar power for residential applications, consider that a solar panel measuring 20 inches by 44 inches will produce about 360 watt hours per day. That is assuming that at least six hours of bright sunlight will hit the panel and that’s about average. How additional panels are wired together will determine whether you have an increase in voltage or amperage.

Elements Help Harness solar energy

Controlling what proportion of a charge is sent to the batteries is set by the charge controller. Working similarly to a voltage regulator in an automobile, it decrees when the battery is fully charged and shuts off power going into the battery from the solar energy panel. Without this element as a part of solar electricity for home hardware, there’s the chance of damaging the batteries as well as other potential safety dangers.

The batteries are one of the most important parts of a solar power for residential setups, and deep cycle batteries are designed to be discharged and recharged thousands of times. As home appliances are used, power is drained from the batteries. The controller flips a switch and power from the solar cells is sent to recharge the batteries.

Since few home appliances will operate on direct current, which is what the solar cell is pumping out and the batteries are storing, a converter will be wanted to be ready to use the electricity you are producing with the solar electricity for home system. These have been available for a while permitting people to use their auto batteries to operate cartable TVs, radios and other appliances. The converters used to provide solar energy for home use are bigger and will operate more than one appliance.

That is what I can tell you about solar power for homes, there is more in-depth knowledge at solar power for homes.

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