Another myth is that in order to get a practical
solar water heater kits system working, very large roof areas is required. The rule of thumb is that a 1,000 watt system (1KW) requires approx. 8-10 mē of roof surface area-this is much less that most people expect. Another advantage of Solar Panel system is that Photovoltaic systems require almost no maintenance. Consequently the operating and maintenance costs are very low. Dust and dirt are usually washed away by the rain. Rarely remove any significant accumulation of dirt, like leaves.
Solar Panels (or solar panel kits) are very much different.. They convert solar radiation into electricity and they work best in direct sunlight at a low temperature. Large PV (Photo Voltaic) systems are still quite costly. They produce DC current and require inverters to convert the DC to compatible AC power. The AC power is often connected to the grid so that
solar collectors may be sold back to the power company. Due to the reimbursement tariffs it makes sense to feed all the solar power into the public grid and continue consuming household electricity at much lower rates.
To learn more about building your own solar power system at a fraction of the cost of a commercially installed system
click here.
Solar energy can be harnessed in several ways. The most common methods are using Solar Collectors or using Solar Panels. It is very important to understand the difference between these two terms as they are completely different. In general
solar collectors produce usually hot water or hot air, while Solar Panels produce electricity.
Solar Collectors use the greenhouse effect to capture the sun's energy. It is able to harvest the suns energy in the form of heat. Greenhouses use air to transfer heat and Collectors use water or a combination of water and antifreeze.
Many people mistakenly still think that we are waiting for a big scientific breakthrough for the use of photovoltaic panels to become feasible. The panels are extremely reliable and cost effective in many applications today. With more support from policy makers, solar energy could become a significant contributor to the nation's energy production with the existing technology.