Solar panels are gaining more recognition as key ingredients to produce eco-friendly, renewable and viable alternative energy source. Previously, they were financially out of reach for most people, however with technology advancing, the price as always starts to fall. With the growing need for more energy, there will be in future, a massive increase of solar panels all over the world.
There are 2 types of solar panels, one heats up your water by passing it through the tubes in the panel and the other is a photovoltaic (pv) panel which actually produces electricity and in most cases, no planning permission is required in the UK.
It is possible to put up solar panels, and feed excess power back into the power grid, and the electricity companies then pay you for the power you put into the system. The main advantage of staying connected to the grid is that you won't have to have an elaborate in-home battery system to store energy for nights and cloudy days, you can draw on grid power during those times, and the power will be subtracted from the amount you put into the system.
There are also off-grid and mobile solar power options and if a home is equipped with a system with a sufficient number of panels, it can cut ties completely with the power grid and become self sufficient. This is only likely to be an option if you have a fair amount of land to set up the system on as one of the main problems with using PV panels is the small amount of electricity they generate compared to their size therefore the number of panels installed will determine the amount of viable electricity to be produced.
In some countries, solar panels are used extensively in rural areas that are not serviced by the utility grid, and in Spain solar panels are now compulsory on all new and renovated buildings, as part of the country's efforts to bring its building rules up to date and curb growing demand for energy.
The panels are created by combining silicon with other elements and they generate electricity using the same principles of electronics as chemical batteries or standard electrical outlets and it's all about the free flow of electrons through a circuit.
There is still a debate about the cost of these panels and the length of the payback period, however, it is now possible to build your own solar panels with simple plans that drastically reduce the outlay and therefore the payback period.
To find out how you can obtain plans to build your own solar panels cheaply, go to http://www.philcurl.co.uk/green-issues/can-i-build-my-own-solar-panels
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