Most people have some idea as to what solar energy is but the more technical aspects are often ignored. So what is solar energy, how is it produced and how does it work? Solar energy is the energy produced by the sun. We have created ways that we can use that energy and convert it into electricity. Photovoltaic panels are used to collect the energy. These come in various sizes – small ones for garden lights and calculators and much bigger ones for heating houses etc. The cells contain two thick pieces of silicon – one positive and one negative. These are placed under glass. The sun light hits the glass and the positive ions and protons in the sunlight hit the neurons of the silicon, which are dislodged and move around as they are attracted to the silicon but cannot touch it due to the opposing magnetic field between the two oppositely charged pieces. There are small wires on the silicon which the neurons hit and they form a current, which is the electricity. This produces a type of electricity referred to as direct current. We use alternating current to power items in our homes so it has to be converted. This process means that about 5% of the power is lost.

Although the glass on the photovoltaic cell will need to be cleaned in order to keep it working efficiently, apart from this they take very little maintenance. This means that they are very long lasting – maybe up to 40 years.

Some houses have so many solar panels that they can actually sell power back to the national grid. They do have to have a special system installed, but what it means is that when you have an excess of power in the summer months you can sell it back and make some money to help towards the costs in the winter months when your demand is greater and the sun shines less. It is well worth finding out whether the country that you live in has enough sunshine to make it worthwhile fitting solar panels to your house.

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Quick Tip #1

Solar energy is best for countries that get a lot of sunlight. It can be a great source of electricity and help add to the current supply, providing a cheaper and renewable source that causes no pollution.

Quick Tip #2

In India it is possible for the country to be able to produce more energy from the sun than they would ever use. This is because they receive a huge amount of sunlight and their population is not massively in demand of electricity.