Many people are interested in alternative energy these days but few understand much about the components that go into a renewable energy system. Solar panels collect energy from the sun and produce DC electrical current. The current that they produce is generally around 16 volts. Its 16 volts so that there are a few extra volts to charge the 12 volt batteries. If they only produced 12 volts and you were trying to charge the 12 volt battery, you wouldn’t be able to fully top off the battery charge.
As mentioned above, the solar panels are used to charge the 12 volt batteries. The 12 volt batteries are not of much use to us since our homes are powered on 120 volts of alternating current electricity. In order for us to be able to make use of the energy that the solar panels created we need to use a solar power inverter. A solar power invertor takes the 12 volt DC Power and steps it up to 120 volts AC Power.
There are several sizes of power inverters to choose from. It’s important that you choose one that is large enough for your needs. If the power invertor that you purchase is too small, not only won’t it power your electrical devices, it will be constantly working at its maximum capacity and this will cause it to prematurely fail.
Solar power inverters come in 12, 24, and 48 volt units. The reason for the higher voltage units is simple. Low voltage DC electricity is not very efficient at traveling through light gauge wires. If your batteries are very far from your solar panel, a lot of power is lost due to resistance in the wires. When using a 48 volt unit, your wire gauge can be smaller without as much electricity lost due to resistance.
Back with more news for you today. It’s amazing how much good information there is on this stuff out there if you know where to look. Three in particular that I found really valuable were…
http://www.xpresspa.com/index.htmlSRS Energy to Exhibit Sole Power Tile(TM) at …
htmlSRS Energy to Exhibit Sole Power Tile(TM) at Greenbuild 2009 – SRS Energy, US Tile will Feature Solar-Powered Roofing Tile among Fellow Green Building … Read More…
Mountain View considers cutting commercial solar fees by 75 percent
The change will make it cheaper for businesses to go green while still allowing the city to recover its costs, according to city staff. Solar installer Kurt … Read More…
Solar energy favored at summit
It would seem that for this area, if you are interested in going "green," solar energy is the favored way to proceed. There was a surprising lack of … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.
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Sam Nichols started to generate his own solar power for his home in Montana back in 2001. He was given some blueprints from a friend that didn't understand it. Sam used this as his basis for creating and expanding on ways to create your own solar power. 
