Solar Panels

Solar Panel arrays for all types of installation.

Simply put, a solar panel works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many, smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.) Many cells linked together make up a solar panel.
Sunlight hits the solar panels, and creates an electric field. The electricity generated flows to the edge of the panel, and into a conductive wire. The conductive wire brings the electricity to the inverter, where it is transformed from DC electricity to AC, which is used to power buildings.

Most of the solar panel options currently available fit in one of three types: monocrystalline, polycrystalline (also known as multi-crystalline), and thin-film. These solar panels vary in how they're made, appearance, performance, costs, and the installations each are best suited for.

How many solar panels do I need?
If you use 3000 watts per day in your home and the average sunlight is 4.3 hours, then you would divide 3000 by 4.3. This means you will need at least 698 watts of solar panels to get enough solar energy to power your entire house.

For each kW of solar panels, you can expect about four kWh per day of electricity generation. So a 5kW solar system will generate about 20kWh on a good day (which means plenty of sunshine but not too hot.
A typical average home will need 14-36 solar panels to cover their power bill and at least 70 square meters of rooftop space to accommodate solar panels. The amount of energy that solar panels can absorb, and then produce, is measured in kilowatts (kW).
A 10 kW solar system can produce between 11,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) to 15,000 kWh of electricity per year, which is enough to cover the "average" house electricity usage of 10,972 kWh per year

Solar panel prices in South Africa are determined by the brand, size, and type. Monocrystalline panels are more expensive than polycrystalline, but they are more efficient. You can buy a 100W solar panel for a lot less than the biggest, but more efficient panels, It is all down to budget. To prevent loss of efficiency, in hot environments especially. The panel needs to be installed in a way that allows cool air to circulate beneath and around it. This is a crucial way to keep them cooler and more efficient!

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