How to purchase a Solar Panel?

alex — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:51:17 +0000

The purpose of a solar cell is just like a normal battery cell which you purchase from the market except that it generated energy when exposed to sunlight. Yes! It is that simple. You just need to purchase a solar cell from the market for a specific volt rating and put it in the sunlight and it will output DC voltage.
If you want to purchase a solar panel then you must know about following terms.
Efficiency: It is the most important factor of a Solar Cell. Take a survey of the whole market and make a list of the prices and efficiency. You should purchase that solar cell which has the highest efficiency and still falls in your budget.
Cost to Energy Ratio: This is the modern term which you might not find on all solar cells. However if you find it, make sure that the ration is as higher as you can afford.
Life Time: Old solar cells have less life span as compared to modern solar cells. Make sure that the solar cell you are purchasing has at least 20 years of life.
Watt: This is the term you are already familiar with; you can decide how many watts you need as per your electric consumption.
Volts: Normally you will need a 12v solar panel. However make sure that the solar cell you are purchasing has your required volts output.
Suggestion: I suggest you to use the solar cell with a chargeable battery and then directly with your appliances. For example if you have a 12 volts solar panel, just connect it with a rechargeable battery and then run 12 volts devices on this instead of purchasing an inverter to convert it to 110v or 220v. It will result in a double loss, a loss of money as well as a loss of power. Inverters waste a lot of electricity during voltage conversion. You can easily find 12 volts fans, cell phone chargers, laptop chargers etc within your market.
Just to explain the functionality a bit, Light is pure form of energy. Sun, which is the greatest energy holding object in our solar system, emits a lot of energy towards earth in the form of light and radiation. When this light hits a solar cell, it is absorbed by semiconducting layer of that solar cell. This extra amount of energy causes a flow of electrons but those electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. This also cause positive charge on the opposite direction termed as holes. This results in a potential difference between both ends which is called voltage or electricity in simple words

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How to purchase a Solar Panel?