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With the current state of technology installing Solar Panels to reduce your electric bill is a cost effective renewable energy solution that will meet your energy needs now and in the future. As Solar Energy is the largest renewable energy source we have. A Solar Panel is made up from a collection of Solar Cells that are arranged in series to provide a high voltage and in parallel to generate large currents. To meet particular power requirements Solar Panels can be arranged in series or parallel to produce the voltages and currents we need, thus providing enough electrical power to run our electrical devices. Since Solar Cells produce Direct Current or DC we must use a device referred to as a converter to change the Direct Current (DC) into Alternating Current (AC). This is accomplished with an electronic device known as an DC To AC Converter. Essentially a DC To AC Converter is a fast switch that converts the Direct Current into pulses, then feeds these pulses to a complex wave shaping circuit and then to a step up transformer which produces either 120VAC @ 60Hz (US) or 240VAC @ 50Hz (Europe) This ingenious arrangement thus forms a Solar Panel System or Photovoltaic System that provides electric power for the electrical device in your home in much the same way we get electricity from the National Power Grid. To understand how Photovoltaic Panels can convert light into electricity we need to look at the Solar Cell which is the component that makes it all possible. Doping Silicon To Create A Solar Cell Pure Silicon conducts electricity poorly as a result it can not be used in it's pure state to create Solar Cells. This changes however when impurities are added (doping) to the Silicon making it a semiconductor, which then allows for the movement of electrons under certain conditions. When Phosphorous is added to Silicon it obtains a negative charge as extra electron are added to the Silicon. Phosphorous is thus known as an N-Type Material (Negative Charge); for current to flow we also need a positive charge, this is accomplished by doping Silicon with Boron a P-Type Material (Positive Charge).. The N & P doped pieces of Silicon are arranged to form a very compact sandwich with a microscopic gap between them, now when light of the right energy level hits the N-Type material, some electrons are excited enough allowing them to move from the N-Layer across the gap to the P-Layer creating a flow of current. When a load is connected to the Solar Cell the electrons then migrate back to the N-Type material completing a circuit. Silicon Solar Cells can generate between 0.5v to 0.6v of electricity which is a function of the material, while the amount of current produced is a function of the size of the Solar Cell and the intensity of the light hitting it. This important fact means you need to have lots of Solar Cells to create a Solar Panel of sufficient voltage to meet our power generating needs, as a result early Solar Cell with there low efficiencies were impractical devices for generating electricity. With advancements in Solar Cell Technology, todays device have efficiencies approaching 41% making it a cost effective solution for converting Sun Light into electricity. In fact the prices are so low that it's know possible for the consumer to build their own Solar Panel for under $200 verses the thousands of dollars it cost about two decades ago for commercially built panels. If the environment is important to you and your looking to save money on your energy bills then Solar is the Way To Go. The energy is FREE, Non-Polluting, Renewable and will pay for itself year after year.
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