Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electrical energy, either directly with the help of Photovoltaic (PV) cells or indirectly utilizing concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems make use of lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a vast area of sunlight into a small powerful beam.

Solar panels comprising several Photovoltaic cells convert light into electricity due to the ‘photoelectric effect’. Solar energy is a free and renewable form of energy. It is worthwhile installing a solar energy system at residences in view of several advantages.

Those who have done a cost-benefit analysis of installing a home solar power system might immediately decide to switch over from a traditional energy source to a solar energy system for their homes. However, in order to fully appreciate its utility, advantages and costs, it is advisable to widen their knowledge on solar technology.

Solar power is useful for lighting, operating home appliances such as refrigerators, electric stoves for cooking food, water heaters and heating the area inside rooms and running air conditioners and various other equipment. The surplus energy available after meeting all household requirements is stored in special battery bank, which can be used during nights or during cloudy weather conditions.

Although it will obviously cost a fairly large amount to install a home solar system, after the initial investment and some maintenance expenses, there will be considerable savings on the monthly electricity bills.

Another advantage in having a home PV system at is that electricity companies will purchase any surplus power that is no longer required.

Those who have installed solar panels will soon be pleasantly surprised to find that the electricity consumption from traditional power source has drastically come down and consequently, a substantial drop in electricity bills. A solar panel is also very useful for growing plants in a ‘greenhouse’.

Greenhouse is built on the roof-top with transparent plastic or glass on which a solar panel directs the heat from the sun warming it up thereby, facilitating the growth of plants.

When talking about a home solar power system, a question that normally comes up is how much does it cost? The cost of a complete system varies depending upon its power generation capacity. It is, therefore, important to assess the requirements of electricity for his home, before making a decision to buy the system.

It would cost a minimum of $4000, if someone would like to have a home solar energy system installed at his residence by an expert in this field. In contrast, there are numerous websites that provide videos and instruction manuals so that you can build his own PV panels via Do It Yourself (DIY) approach for a budget of less than $200. You will need 8 – 12 panels in order to fulfill the energy requirement of a small house.

All materials and tools needed for the job are easily available in every local hardware store. If more number of solar panels is installed, there will be a lot of surplus energy that can be sold to power generating companies. In other words, installing a solar power system will not only help in saving substantial amount of money but also facilitate in generating additional income too.

The present state of economy is in a bad shape all over the world. In these difficult times and with ever increasing prices, people are finding very difficult to maintain their current lifestyle. Many people are not in a position to satisfy even minimum requirements of their families.

In such a scenario, a home solar power system will help people to afford certain items, which were not within their reach earlier. Moreover, people having an alternative energy system at home will be able to preserve environment and contribute their bit to a pollution- free environment.

As the Government is providing support in the form of tax incentives and subsidized equipment, many homeowners might be thinking of going green by installing solar power kit on their home to not only contribute to environment preservation but save on their energy bills as well. But the solar power system need spare space to install the solar panels known as installer.

This short blog post provides the following 9 points that should be kept in mind when deciding where to put the solar power kit:

1. Solar panels need to be installed facing sunshine.

In Northern Hemisphere, the Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels should face south to get maximum sunshine. So it doesn’t matter whether you install your panels to your rooftop or on the ground or on out building such as shed or garage, the only deciding factor should be availability of south facing section to get maximum possible sunshine.

2. Any obstruction to sunshine decreases the panel’s efficiency.

So it should be taken into account that the place you are considering to install the panels shouldn’t have shades resulting from your trees, your neighbors’ trees, vents, air conditioning units, and any other obstructions that could shade your panels.

The solar pathfinder can be used in finding the sun’s angle changes over the course of the day as well as in different seasons round the year. These solar pathfinders can be obtained from most of the solar stores.

3. The life span of a solar system can be around 20 to 50 years.

So they are going to provide you energy for a long period of time. Obviously, you should keep in mind that over the period of time the panels need to be shade free. So it would be good to keep your panels away from your trees and bushes unless you are prepared to trim them.

4. Generally solar panels are installed at 45 degree.

At this angle, they tend to clean themselves but in some areas, where dirty rain, heavy dust or snow accumulates, the solar panels need to be manually cleaned using garden hose or a long handled broom. So if you put them on roof tops it might be very inconvenient and dangerous to clean them.

5. You should have a rough idea about the space requirements.

The common take around one square foot of space per ten watts capacity generation so if you planning a 3,000 watts capacity installation for your home you will need 300 square foot area.

You will also need 3’ by 3’ area near your electronic meters to install the necessary components. Moreover, if you want a batter bank as well, you will need space equivalent to large chest freezer.

6. The angle of the sun changes .

Over the course of the say as well as during different seasons over the year. The tracking system automatically follows the sun and maintains the optimum 90 degree angle to the sun. But if you planning to install them without a tracking system you can adjust the angels manually or fix them at the angle equal to the latitude.

For example, Spokane, Washington which measures 48 degree latitude will fix the panels at 48 degrees from horizontal. Adjustable panels produce more energy so it will be good idea to keep them at optimal angle.

7. Solar panels produce direct current.

DC is prone to transmission loss so it requires more expensive high quality wire. Naturally, if the units are placed at larger distances from home, they raise installation cost. So, closer units are very cost effective.

8. It is also expected from you to behave like good neighbor.

You solar panels might cast a shadow to your neighbor’s yard reducing the output of his bushes or block their satellite dish. It will be good idea to consider and consult your neighbors as well.

Although, most of the municipalities are themselves promoting renewal energy and should have no objection for your solar system, you should make sure that you don’t violate any terms and conditions imposed by the planning authorities.

So giving a visit to local municipal office and talking to someone with authority on the matter would be good idea to ward off any future issues.

9. Save money with Do It Yourself (DIY) approach.

Solar panels installations cost a lot so if you plan to do it yourself you can save quite a good amount of money as nowadays kits are very installation friendly and can be easily installed. But it should be kept in mind that working at higher places can be dangerous and you are not afraid of heights.

So it is recommended that you should obtain the permits. By obtaining permits you will be sure whether you are allowed to install the kits by yourself or not. As any wrong connection can damage the entire system, you should always have a licensed and very experienced electrician doing the final connections and preferably all the connections.

There are many advantages of using solar power. The main advantage is that maintenance is less as it does not have any moving parts. When there is sunshine, you definitely get free electricity.

With improvements in technology, system efficiency has gone up and costs have come down for sure. This has made it possible to tap solar power for many more applications.

Though solar power offers so much when it comes to clean energy production, some problems, with solar panels and equipment required to bring system power output to your home or any other point, do crop up.

The solar panels that are available commercially are relatively trouble free. These are generally Photovoltaic (PV) systems and come with a guarantee for their construction and power output for a specified period of time. You may be aware that the efficiency of solar cells comes down over a period of time. Often, it takes more than twenty years for this to happen.

Very large installations like home or business power supply units use commercially available panels. It is true that the technology is well established over the years, but problems like failure of components do happen over a period of time. Smaller units or do-it-yourself (DIY) projects face more problems, if utmost care is not exercised at the time of construction.

Almost always problems are due to electrical faults in the panel and along the supply chain of controllers. Fires have happened due to short circuit in solar panels, but very rarely. If moisture is there inside a panel that is operational, there can be a lot of problems. It obstructs light and slowly corrodes the electrical contacts.

Corrosion in turn increases resistance to current flow and the efficiency of the solar cell reduces. This causes a knock-on effect. Once one cell becomes weak due to corrosion, the nearby cells also get affected due to heating and current flow changes.

If the power output rating of the panel is high and greater resistance is developed, the potential for shorting and serious damage to the panel are very high.

Problems do come up in solar system controller and inverter as well. Sometimes animals cause damage to the wiring. If the power output is coming down slowly, it could be due to the problems in the solar array.

Each panel’s output will have to be checked to find out if it is due to one panel or the wiring of the cells within the panel. The container that you construct for your do-it-yourself solar panel must be watertight and secure. It is recommended that you use a sealed aluminum casing and silicon sealing to prevent moisture entering the system.

You can also attach a packet of silica gel inside the panel to absorb the small amount of moisture that will be present in the air inside the panel. It is a good idea to use a comprehensive guide to build a safe and secure solar panel, especially if you are planning to make a solar panel by yourself.