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As energy costs continue to rise and concerns about the environment continue to make headlines, solar panel systems are becoming an increasingly popular means of going green. A solar panel system also lasts approximately 30 years (same duration as most modern roofing materials) but pay for themselves in the form of savings, tax rebates and credits in a matter of 3-5 years. This means a homeowner can expect to enjoy many years of free electricity with little to now maintenance or running costs. Depending on where you live and your local climate, you may want to install a battery back up system with your solar panel system to insure you have power during storms, hurricanes or extended periods of minimal sunlight. Going 'green' with a solar panel system is also another way to show your red, white & blue. How is going solar patriotic? In fact having more residential solar panel systems installed across the country has a dramatic effect on reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, making our country more secure while doing our part to preserve and restore the environment for generations of American's to come. The US EPA estimates the average two person home emits approximately 41,500 pounds of greenhouse gases during a year. Imagine if we cut that by just 25%! Furthermore the solar industry is really in its infancy. As solar power is more widely adopted nationwide it will help to boost our economy by creating new jobs and commerce opportunities around renewable energy goods and services. Solar panels come in two main types currently. Silicon and thin film solar. Silicon are the most efficient on the market today and they are also the most expensive. Silicon panels are either crystalline(made from a single large crystal) or polycrystalline(made from blocks of silicon that contain many small crystals). Silicon panels are the best performing in low-light conditions which make them a great choice for climatically challenged environments. Although polycrystalline solar cells are slightly less efficient than the single-crystal type, silicon solar panel efficiencies average roughly 33%. Compare that to Thin-Film solar efficiencies which range from 10-19% you can begin to understand the popularity of the silicon panels. Thin film does offer some benefits though that make it appealing, primarily they are much less expensive to produce. Thin Film solar panels are made by spreading silicon and other solar-producing materials in a very thin layer (the thickness of human hair) directly onto a large plate that is usually made of glass or ceramics. The thin, flexible material of these solar panels makes them ideal as building-integrated solar products such as solar shingles and tiles. What is a 'Clean Power" system? A Clean Solar Panel System is simply a designed to replace the majority of a households electric consumption from the utility company but not run independent of it. In other words, this is a very simple panel design that does not require batteries. Since they do not have batteries to store power, they do not generate power when your utility power is out even if it is sunny. If you want back up power so that you have electricty even when the utility company doesn't, this requires designing your system to store power. In a clean power system you use the power immediately in the house as it is generated or its gets sent backwards through the meter to create an energy credit.
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Shelly Howard is a green energy advocate dedicated to educating people on the benefits of acting personally to reduce their carbon foot print. Cost no longer needs to deter people from implementing renewable energy as there are Do It Yourself Solar Panel System Kits that will allow even the most mechanically challenged handy men and women to build their own solar panel systems for under $200.
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