Solar energy.....????

Question

need some simple information about solar energy and power. Do solar panels absorb the suns rays? what are the benefits of solar energy? and other basic information

10 points for best answer

Answer 1

so much on the internet.  solar panels use sunlight to either heat water and/or generate electricity.  the electricity will fuel home consumption and often produce enough extra to sell to the power company.  heated water is circulated to your home for use in showers, etc.  benefits are obviously reduced use of gas to heat water and electricity used in your home plus some revenues from sale of excess electricity.  many people are turned off by the high up-front investment but this pays off in the long term, and there are often rebates from municipalities and the power company for approved and properly installed equipment.

Answer 2

Solar panels absorb the suns rays and store the energy.  The benefit is that your power bill will drop.  When I lived in Covina I had solar panels on the roof and during the summer we could run are house air all day and the bill for power was never over like 50 bucks.  Its a great savings and I think we all should convert over to it.

Answer 3

The panels absorb light from the sun, and convert directly into electricity.  They are used in outer space, and remote locations on earth to generate power over long periods of time without maintenance.  Anyplace else they are used, they are not cost effective.

To supply a small house with 3600 watts (when the weather is good and the sun shines) costs over $30,000.  This isn't enough power to air condition a home or do much of anything else.  (It will power 36 100 watt incandescent light bulbs ... when the sun is shining and the weather good.)

If you lived up north where no a/c was needed, used propane to heat and run a refrigerator (yes you can refrigerate just using propane as the energy source), used LED lighting, had some deep discharge storage batteries, a back-up propane generator, notebook computer, etc. you might possibly be able to sort of get by with solar cells.

But cost effective?  No.  And being an engineering to tie it all together and keep running would be helpful.

Answer 4

I am still evaluating this idea myself and have discussed it with several of my neighbors that have been running on solar grid connected for 8 to 12 years. The one that has been connected for 12 years spent about $20,000 when he did the original installation and his electric bill is the connection fee to the grid of $15 a month. His home is all-electric, he has no gas. His cooking, heating, air conditioning and water heating are all done with electricity. His bill before going solar was $250 a month winter low up to $400 or so in the middle of summer.

He was telling me another friend of his recently had a similar installation and the cost had come down under $10,000 for his house plus he got a tax credit that covered most of it. People who work for the utility companies will down play the savings, but if you are a high user then it will pay off very quickly.

Answer 5

it is there evrywhere.........cheapest and best  

Answer 6

solar panels do not use the suns heat! they absorb light. they are expensive to install but after a few years pay for themselves. at the moment they're only really used for heating water tanks but there is a few that produce electricity and these will be widely available in the future.