How Solar Panels Are Made - Video

Here are two videos explaining how solar PV panels are made. One video is produced by Trina Solar and one by Discovery (How It's Made Series).

The main raw material is silicon and, according to some independent engineers, the price of solar panels is still too high considering what they're made of.

Wikipedia fact: Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, but very rarely occurs as the pure free element in nature.

What Are The Sunniest Places Suitable for Your Next Solar Energy Investment - Solar Radiation Map

Before investing in a large solar farm, you may wanna learn whether the site benefits of enough insolation.

In Europe, Germany is the leading country for the use of solar panels, even though according to this solar radiation map (see above), it's not particularly a sunny country. But the Germans are making the best of of everything, aren't they?

What's The Difference Between PV Panels and Solar Panels?

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.

How a Home Solar System Works - Video

If you've been thinking about installing you own solar panels on your house, you've probably been wondering how a home solar system works.

The simplest systems work like this:

• All the electric energy that your photo voltaic panels produce goes through an inverter that transforms the DC (direct current) into AC (alternating current) and from there it goes out into the national grid. A meter tells you how much energy you send into the grid.

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• You consume the energy necessary to power your home from the national grid. Your consumption meter tells you how many KW/h you use.

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• At the end of each month (or quarter) a calculation is made between the amount of energy you spent and the amount of energy you produced.
  

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  Thus you know whether you either get money from your electrical company or you have to pay them. And even if you pay them, you pay less than you paid before installing your solar panels array.

Why Your Government Is Giving You Money To Install Solar Panels on Your House

If you live in the western world, you may have heard about the fact that your government is giving grants for mounting solar panels on your house.

What's western world? you may ask. Well, since I've only been to Europe, I'll mention Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. But of course, the rest of the countries have their own programs as well.

If you live in North America, you should check out more info with your authorities to learn whether they're giving out solar panels grants or not.