Photo of a PhotoVoltaic (PV) roof panel c/o USA department of energy
See their wonderfully educational site here.
A Photo-Voltaic (PV) panel consists of typically 36 silicon cells connected internally in series. When light reaches these cells they produce a small electric current. The amount of electricity produced is dependent on the brightness of the light and the number of cells. The life of a solar cell is typically over 20 years (no moving parts.)
An idea of the total power generated is given in the table below.
For comparison, a typical car battery holds 20 to 40 amp - hours (Ah).
Location |
PV module Size Peak Power Watts |
Summer Output Ah/day |
Winter Output Ah/day |
Dimensions mm |
South West England |
10 |
2.5 |
0.7 |
444 x 267 x 11 |
60 |
15 |
4.2 |
1109 x 502 x50 | |
(2 x60) 120 |
30 |
8.4 |
1109 x1050 x50 | |
Scotland/Northern Ireland |
10 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
444 x 267 x 11 |
60 |
12 |
2.4 |
1109 x 502 x50 | |
(2 x 60) 120 |
24 |
4.8 |
1109 x1050 x50 |
Prices:
10 Watt 12 Volt PV panel £114.49
60Watt 12 Volt PV panel £420.76
In addition to the panel you will need a solar regulator and Schottky Diode Kit (5Amp).
These fit together quite simply using a connection box to the battery regulator.
Have you dreamed of being connected to the mains for cloudy days but generating your own solar power and saving the earth Tonnes of CO2 pollution? Well its happening all over the planet. Last year the US Government announced a programme to install a million solar roofs. The European white paper on energy calls for a similar effort. Locally, there are more incentives. In about 6 years time, Northern Ireland may have run out of power station capacity - in other words, there will be more demand for power that there is the capacity to supply from the existing power stations. We are soon to have fund a 50 MW new power station at a probable cost of fifty million pounds. This puts up the cost of a 1kW electric fire from thirty pounds to 1030 pounds, one thousand for 1kW of power station capacity and thirty pounds for the electric fire. Believe me, the consumer pays.
The cost to the environment of generating power is even higher. A kW year of electricity costs the consumer about five hundred pounds and the earth somewhere between five and seven tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. When you consider that the space in an articulated 5 axle tanker is about 20 cubic meters, that little one bar electric fire, could fill over 250 artic tankers a year with carbon dioxide! Only 600 parts of CO2 in a million parts of air will melt all the ice caps on earth. Guess why there is increasing unpredictability in our weather systems?
So what about grid Connected PV? Firstly its running cost is virtually nil. Secondly the CO2 production is virtually nil. However, whereas a power station is financed over 30 years, we have to pay for our PV panels up front. Imagine having to pay for your food bill up front for 30 years in advance! Enter Practically Green. We are currently negotiating with a number of financial institutions to make financing possible for all types of solar panel - what should really happen though is the government that signed the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global warming gases should provide structural funding for 1000 PV roofs - watch this space. In the mean time, if you would like to be a PV pioneer and first to sign up to saving the earth, give Practically Green a call.
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