The sun constantly provides energy to the planet in the form of sunlight.
Making better use of this clean energy source is a key alternative for energy efficiency and the sustainable use of natural resources.
What Is a Photovoltaic Panel?
Photovoltaic panels are made up of cells coated with silicon, a semiconductor that captures visible solar radiation and transforms it into electrical energy.
These cells capture visible solar radiation, transforming it into electrical energy that can be used in different ways. The cells are impacted by photons, stimulating the electrons thanks to the action of their semiconductors. This generates movement, current or voltage within the plate's electrical field.
To obtain sufficient energy, several panels are usually connected in series, linked at the same time to a current regulator from where we can store the energy in storage batteries, for those days when we do not have sunlight.
Direct current, if not stored, can also be transformed into alternating current or electric current using an inverter. In this way, the energy needed to power the various electrical appliances in a home is obtained. It is even possible to charge an electric vehicle, although not completely at the moment.
Thus, self-consumption of solar energy through photovoltaic panels is gaining strength at a time when we are experiencing one of the greatest environmental crises related to climate change, a product of the rise in the planet's temperature due to the constant emissions that our activities based on fuels and waste generate.
What are the benefits of photovoltaic panels?
Among the benefits of choosing photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, we can point out:
Profitable investment: The panels do not require an excessive initial investment, which makes them accessible to everyone, in urban or rural spaces, especially in areas where having electrical wiring can be more complicated.
Photovoltaic panels also do not require constant extraction processes for their operation, as is the case with fossil fuels. Therefore, the initial investment is safely recovered. In addition, a photovoltaic panel can have a useful life of forty years, with proper care and maintenance.
Good performance: By using renewable energy, the panels offer excellent performance that only depends on the presence of sunlight. In the absence of sunlight, it is possible to store energy on clear days.
Along with that, unlike other renewable energies, sunlight also provides heat, which further improves its performance.
Simple technology: Domestic photovoltaic panels generally do not have moving mechanical parts, unless they have mechanical bases that follow sunlight.
As a result, they present fewer problems in use and require less maintenance than other renewable energy systems such as wind farms, for example.
Zero emissions: It is a clean energy that significantly reduces the carbon footprint, without generating greenhouse gases during its use. This point is really important if we consider that by 2030 an agreement was reached to reduce global temperature by 1.5°, which is achieved by controlling or eliminating Co2 emissions.
Another advantage of solar energy is that it reduces the need to exploit and use fossil fuels, helping to preserve natural resources.
Water care. Solar energy transformed by photovoltaic panels protects bodies of water, unlike energy generation through the use of fossil fuels.
These fossil fuels create toxic waste that somehow ends up in landfills. This causes some of this waste to filter into water reservoirs, rivers and groundwater, contaminating them.