While most of us use these terms interchangeably, some may say that...
- Solar panels refer to solar water heating systems.
- And PV panels or photo voltaic panels (or electric solar panels) are those that produce electric energy.
The solar water heater is a sandwich like panel through which water runs.
Water itself gets hot directly from the sun (heat transfer) through the green house effect and the vacuum keeps the hot water from cooling down (just like your tea stays hot for hours in a vacuum flask).
Which is better?
Due to the lowering costs of photo voltaic panels, these are more popular nowadays. So, households and investors choose to produce electric energy instead of hot water. This comes with the benefit of selling that extra energy to your electric company.
That's coz electric energy is a more valuable commodity than hot water. And when it comes to delivering electricity, all the infrastructure is already in place.
So when we say solar panels, we usually talk about those that produce electric power.
That's it.
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