Can someone tell me about solar panels for homes?

Question

I was trying to look online for solar panels for my home to take some of the strain off of using oil and electricity but I find it very hard to understand exactly how they are used.

Like one that I looked up is 100 watts.....is that like a light bulb watt? How many things can that power?

Is it really cheaper in the long run because the panels are very expensive?

If anyone has web sites that can explain this to me I would appreciate a link, or anyone to answer part of my question.

Answer 1

Solar panels are used primarily to collect and convert the suns energy into usable electricity. It's not like you plug a solar panel into a refrigerator and it runs, there is much more that needs to happen, primarily making and storing the electricity which included batteries and converter boxes to convert the stored electricity from a DC currant to a AC currant.

Here is a wonderful website that really simplifies the explanation of Solar Power, how the 3 cells differ and a lot of information of the necessary equipment needed.

http://www.electricityforum.com/solar-el...

Answer 2

If your locality is windy you might consider wind turbine.

Answer 3

Solar panels produce low voltage direct current electricity. To be used in a home that electricity must be stored in batteries and converted to 120-240 volts 60 hertz AC (alternating current). And its frequency must be synchronized to the electricity supplied by the power company.

A 100 watt solar panel produces 100 watts of power, enough to power one 100 watt light bulb. To generate enough power to power a home, the solar panel must be capable of producing at least 1500 to 2000 watts per hour (1.5/2.0 KW/hrs)

And you're quite correct, it's an expensive proposition to install a solar panel system... and it should be installed by experts.