Solar Panels For Homes

Tracking advances in solar cell technology, I’ve stumbled across another landmark efficiency gain.  This one, obtained by switching from conventional screen printing to a non-contact aerosol jet printer, has upped efficiencies by 2 percent on thin-film solar cells.

Thin-film solar cells (TFSC) are defined as solar cells made by depositing one or more thin layers (nanometers to micrometers) of photovoltaic material on a substrate. These thin-film cells are classed as: amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), polysilicon, dye-sensitized solar cells, or organic (plastic, or polymer) solar cells – the latter three still in development stages.

Printing is a deposition method, and the use of aerosol jet printing could raise the copper indium gallium selenide efficiency – already reported at 9.5 percent (with reports from NREL in excess of 19 percent) – to a value competitive with silicone-based solar at about half the cost to manufacture.

The advance, coming from the Fraunhofer Institute’s Solar Energy Systems in Germany, reports that using an Optomec printer enabled thinner strata deposition of metallic, semiconducting and insulating inks via nanoscale pigments developed by Applied Nanotech Inc. enabled efficiences in excess of 20 percent, as compared to previous figures of 16 to 18 percent.

Fraunhofer also used the printer to fabricate front-side metallization lines on otherwise conventional solar cells, which enabled it to shrink the metallization area and boost efficiency by reducing shading losses.

Screen-printed solar cells can be manufactured faster than ink-jet printing methods, and the Optomec’s 40-nozzle head can print a solar cell in under 3 seconds. What this means to you, the consumer, is a future of truly affordable solar. What it means to the environment is of inestimable value.

Of course, waiting to save a few bucks doesn’t make a lot of sense in terms of the environment. News coming out of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland (December 5 to 12) indicates that climate change is not only upon us, but likely to reach that critical “tipping point” in as little as a decade.

About the Author:

Cooler Planet is a leading solar resource for connecting consumers and commercial entities with local solar Installers. Cooler Planet’s solar energy resource page contains articles and tools such as our solar calculator to help with your solar project.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Landmark Efficiency Gain in Solar Cell Technology

Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications (Wiley Series in Materials for Electronic & Optoelectronic Applications) $164.57 Thin-film solar cells are either emerging or about to emerge from the research laboratory to become commercially available devices finding practical various applications. Currently no textbook outlining the basic theoretical background, methods of fabrication and applications currently exist. Thus, this book aims to present for the first time an in-depth overview of this topic covering a broad ran...

Back Reflectors for Amorphous Silicon Based Thin Film Solar Cells: Design and Fabrication $78.00 In this Book, back reflectors for hydrogenated amorphous silicon and hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon based solar cells have been systematically studied. 1) By using the optical scattering theory and PVOPTICS simulation program, it is found that to characterize the texture of the BR, not only texture height, but also the texture angle is needed. It has been deduced that the light trapping sc...

CIS-type PV device fabrication by novel techniques ...

There are certain points that a homeowner should keep in his mind before powering his home with solar energy.

There are a numerous vendors in the market supplying solar panels and other related equipments. Before dashing into the purchase of the solar power generators panels, as an home owner you need to inquire about all the aspects relating to the making of a residential home solar panel.

A few suggestions to make your decisions appropriate are given below, which need to be kept in mind before you decide to buy the materials to convert your home to a solar powered system.

Energy Consumption Wattage:

Various types of solar panels and solar arrays, which give out different amount wattage, are available in the market. How to get the right one depends up on the energy consumed by household [load]. So the first step towards purchase of a solar array is to determine the average power load requirement of a household.

The easiest way to arrive at this figure is to take the average of the power consumed per month by the household appliances for the past one or two years.

Efficiency Residential Solar Power Panels

The next step is to get the rated efficiency of the photovoltaic cells of different companies. The priority must be given to the photovoltaic cell with higher percentage of wattage output. Its always better to go with a product which offers longer guarantee periods. In the above case, it would be better to go with a product, which offers lifetime guarantee or at least a 30 year guarantee.

Since the amount that you are going to spent on solar power generators are considerably high; it is advisable to do internet research on the different products and manufacturers as well. You can turn up plenty of information from the solar companies.

Selection Residential Home Solar panel systems:

One important decision  has to be made by the homeowner is regarding the grid system to be used. Solar panel systems are of two types:

· Grid-Tied System:

Your residential solar panels are connected to your current power source. This system supplements the energy from your do it yourself solar panels with the power from your electric company.

· Battery backed Grid-Tied System:

The power from your residential solar panels are collected in a battery and used in urgent situations and the excess power is passed through your meter to electric company.

REMENBER to source out the correct package that gives you all this information as some do every little in the way of explaining the details, so be aware, Read  the SITE  carefully.

About the Author:

Bret Parker comprehensive manuals and Videos on how to
Home Made Solar Panels
How to build/make diy solar panels, home made wind power generator and information you’ll need to build a Complete Home Solar Power system and how to use Solar Electricity.
Residential Solar Power Panels Home Use

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Home Made Solar Panels – Residential Solar Power Panels Home Use

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