Power costs in many countries have become unsustainable and as a result have forced consumers to look for cheaper more cost effective ways to produce energy that can provide enough power to run their home appliances and devices. With today's climbing fuel costs it is becoming more and more realistic for you to say goodbye to the grid, and start generating your own electricity from renewable sources. Unfortunately solar panels can be expensive, and if you want to be totally self sufficient you are going to need a lot of them. Luckily you can build solar panels for a lot less than commercially finished ones cost. We do not have much choice when it comes to power our house. All of us almost always have to rely on the local power station for electricity. But things are different now. Some property owners started testing with their own solar energy panel to power their house.

While using solar energy panels can be a good option to traditional sources of power, it is very expensive to set up them. The average house owner will not be able to afford an advanced budgeting of $35,000 to $40,000 on a complete set of solar power generator installation.

How do Solar Photovoltaic cells work?

Photovoltaics is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Some materials exhibit a property known as the photoelectric effect that causes them to absorb photons of light and release electrons. Silicon is the most commonly used semi-conductor. The energised electrons result in the generation of an electrical voltage. When these free electrons are captured, an electric current results that can be used as electricity. PV cells are usually fairly small, with lots joined together to form a PV panel. These panels are then grouped together into PV arrays.  Due too the natural abundance  of silicon, the semi-conductor material that  PV cells are primarily made of, and the practically unlimited resource in the sun, solar power cells are very environmentally friendly. They burn no fuel and have absolutely no moving parts which makes them virtually maintenance free, clean, and silent.

How much electricity does a solar panel produce?

The amount of electricity a solar panel produces depends on three main things.: the amount of sunlight hitting the panel, the size of the panel, and the efficiency of the solar cells inside. We will break down what you can expect from a typical solar panel. And how tthaat power output compares to the power you need for the gadgets and appliances you use inside your home. In a whole day, a well-located PV panel will typically generate between 2.5 and 5 times its rated power output. So a 1kWp (kilowatt peak) PV panel could produce between 2.5kWh (kilowatt hours) and 5kWh per day, or between 880kWh and 1750kWh per year.