The Pluses Of Solar Panels On Your House
Solar panels will benefit your home in many ways. The most obvious is the dent it will put in your monthly power bill; however, the fact that you will be trimming your carbon footprint is also a plus. Depending on where you live, you might also be adding to the value of your home. Read on to find out some of the basics about solar energy.
Each solar panel contains a photovoltaic cell. When rays from the sun hit the cell, it converts the light into electrical power. Then, the solar panel arrays send the power through the circuitry into your electrical grid. You want to work with your contractor to ensure that they are placed optimally on your roof, so that they face the angle from which the most sun rays will come.
If you want to start out small with solar panels, it is possible to install a connection from a smaller array on your roof directly to your water heater if your water heater runs on electricity instead of gas. This would take one of the major sources of electrical expense out of your budget by hooking your hot water heater up to the sun. You are still going to want the rest of the grid to connect to the heater, though, just in case you have a bunch of cold, rainy days in a row. You don't want to have to settle for a cold shower.
Solar panels have very little ability to store power. Once the cells convert the light into electricity, it heads into the grid if you are not using it in your house. The good news is that most solar panels do not produce energy to such an extent that both your house and the grid at large would be unable to use the flow. However, you can't "store" power in your panels for use in the winter months.
By connecting your solar panel array to the electrical grid, you are ensuring that your solar energy can make a difference, even if your system produces more power than your home needs. You will want to maintain your own home's connection to the grid as well, so that if your solar array does not produce enough power for your needs, you will still have access to the utility's power.
Not many people have studied what will happen when the solar panels in use today become obsolete and need to be thrown away. However, in the short term, solar energy can only help the environment. If you are using power from the sun, you are not using coal that will make the air dirty, and you are not using oil that will deplete our remaining fossil fuel stores. The sky is literally the limit with solar power!
Over time, going solar can save you a ton of money on your utility bills. Another benefit is that you can know that your solar panels are helping to save the environment for all of your descendants.
