Solar Power

Have you ever wondered how a solar panel takes sunlight and converts it into electricity?  The sun is a completely renewable resource(at least for now), and it is extremely efficient to power homes and small businesses via solar power.  While it is not realistically possible to power everything via solar power, the sun's energy can be used to power residential homes, which will certainly cause less harm to the environment.  So how does solar power work?

The process of obtaining energy from the sun begins with solar panels.  The solar panels function by letting particles of light, called photons, from the sun hit the panel.  These photons cause electrons to be knocked free from atoms.  When there are enough electrons freed, a direct current (DC) is generated and begins to flow (Dhar, 2013).  This is the process of converting sunlight into electrical energy.

Once a DC current is established, it needs to be converted into alternating current (AC).  This is due to the fact that the United States power grid solely uses AC power.  AC power was chosen primarily because it is much cheaper to transport over long distances (SunPower Solar, 2015). In order for the DC power to be converted to AC power, it is ran through an inverter.  This allows for the power to be used anywhere.

Once converted to AC power, the electricity can be used in residential homes, businesses, etc.  Typically, if a house has solar panels, the power generated from those solar panels is used for that house.  The excess power generated is then sent to the power grid to be used by other homes.  It is common for solar panels to generate more power than one home can consume.  Power companies will typically reimburse homes for generating excess electricity, so it is worth it to get them!

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This video gives a more detailed description as to how electrons are used to generate electricity.  The video also talks about the disadvantages of solar energy, and why today's world does not become completely reliant on solar power.

Works Cited:
Dhar, M. (2013, December 16). How Do Solar Panels Work? Retrieved March 10, 2017, from http://www.livescience.com/41995-how-do-solar-panels-work.html

How does solar energy work? | SunPower Solar . (2015, June). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://us.sunpower.com/blog/2015/06/15/how-does-solar-energy-work/