Is Solar Energy Right for Your Home

As you probably know, there has been a ton of talk about green energy, and reducing the carbon footprint that people are making on the earth. There have been a bunch of news specials about energy saving tips and everyone is looking into saving energy in their homes and in their daily activities. This is a great trend that is taking place and it’s good to know that people are really starting to consider how they are affecting the environment. If you’re the type that has made a dedicated effort to start saving energy and reduce your carbon footprint, chances are, you’ve thought about installing solar panels on your house. This can be a very beneficial way to start saving the planet and save a little money as well. But there are some important things to take into consideration to know if solar energy is right you and your home.

The sun is by far the greatest source of energy this earth has. In fact, the sun delivers more energy to the earth in one hour than the entire population of the earth uses in an entire year. Taking this veritably unlimited source of energy and transforming it into useable electricity is exactly what solar panels Long Island do. But how exactly do they do this and how efficient are they?

Solar panels are made of photovoltaic (PV) cells (photo = light, voltaic = electricity). These PV cells are made up of semi conductive material, usually silicon, which absorbs some of the light which knocks electrons loose from the silicon atoms. If you are not a scientist and don’t really understand electricity, this is important because the flow of electrons is what makes electricity possible. But just having electrons bounce around doesn’t really help. The electrons need to flow in a particular direction in order to create current which creates electricity. In order to achieve this, the PV cells must have an electric field. This is achieved by adding a few “impurities” to the silicon. These impurities include phosphorous atoms and boron atoms. The phosphorous atoms cause the silicon to become “negative” because it has extra electrons. The boron atoms cause the silicon to become “positive” because it lacks electrons. Now if you know anything about magnets you know that opposites attract (i.e. negatives want to be with positives). This same principle works in photovoltaic cells because the negatively charged electrons want to go to the positively charged silicon atoms. This flow of electrons from negative to positive creates a current which is where the electricity comes from. The solar cells turn the current into useable electricity that is then transferred to your home. Unfortunately, this whole process is not very efficient yet. Most silicon solar panels are about 16% to 20% efficient. Meaning only about 20% of the energy from the sun that hits the cell is actually turned into electricity.

So now that you know how solar panels work and how efficient they are, you should consider if they are an investment you should make for your home. There are plenty of pros and cons to installing solar panels on your home. First of all, let’s address the pros. Solar energy is completely clean and “green”. There are no carbon emissions in the creation of electricity and the energy comes from an unlimited source – the sun. Because of the huge push for renewable energy sources, the government is providing plenty of incentives to invest in solar panels. One incentive that the government offers is a tax credit equal to 30% of the total cost of your solar panel purchase and installation. That means that if the whole system costs you $10,000, you get a $3000 tax credit from the government. Most state governments also offer renewable energy incentives which you can find at DesireUSA.org. Another benefit from residential solar energy systems is that the extra electricity created that you don’t use can be purchased by your local electric company as you feed that electricity into the “grid”. Moreover, solar panels have a long lifespan of about 30 years and require very little maintenance. So after your initial investment, you can expect to enjoy clean, renewable energy for many years to come.

Conversely, there are a few drawbacks to residential solar energy systems. The most poignant drawback is the price. Silicon solar panels can be really expensive and can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 for a quality system that will provide for your home's energy needs. Another drawback is the efficiency of solar panels. Because they aren’t very efficient yet, you need a lot of them to provide the wattage that you’d need. You may think it’s unsightly to have a bunch of black panels on your roof.

Solar energy systems have a lot going for them. They are a clean source of energy for your home and very easy to maintain. So if you have a strong desire to help the environment, a lot of extra money for the initial investment, and an affinity to black rectangles on your roof, a solar energy system would be a great investment for your home. If not, you may just want to stick to turning the lights off when you leave a room and riding a bike to work to save the planet.