Solar Kits

For numerous years, the only kinds of solar panels commercially offered have been crystalline solar panels arranged in a rectangular casing and placed on a roof. This is why most people, as soon as they consider solar power for their home, imagine this as their single option. Below are a few recent advancements in solar power and mounting options you may have never heard of before.

Thin Film Solar Panels – Man Is This Thin!

Picture the solar panel you see in a solar calculator. That is a thin film solar panel. Thin film solar panels are used extensively in satellites. Thin film technology is currently being expanded into suburban and industrial use and was named one of the greatest inventions of 2008 by TIME magazine.

Thin film solar panels are flexible, not like polysilicon cells found in conventional crystalline solar panels. These thin film solar panels are being labeled as second generation solar power technology.

Thin film solar panels are more resilient to hailstones, rocks, and so on. If a portion of a crystalline solar panel is broken, the entire solar panel will stop working whereas a thin film solar panel will continue to operate.

Thin film panels can also be flexible and modified to many surfaces. They can be applied in places traditional crystalline solar panels cannot be mounted onto. I have even seen a thin film panel sewed onto a jacket that powered a MP3 player.

The downside to thin film panels is that they do not take up as much energy because they are so skinny. These panels are not nearly as efficient as conventional photovoltaic panels but they are much cheaper. Thin film solar panels are printed onto the rolled backing, eliminating many of the high energy and chemical intensive processes that are standard in conventional PV manufacturing.

Thin film solar panels are low wattage and need more room than traditional solar panels and they are more prone to degradation. In order to counter several of these competitive disadvantages they have versus conventional solar panels, manufacturers offer better warranties for thin film panels.

The biggest thin film solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the United States is the Blythe plant located 200 miles east of Los Angeles, California. The 21-megawatt solar power plant uses thin film solar cells made out of cadmium telluride. At full power, the plant will create enough electricity to power an anticipated 17,000 homes.

Now let’s look at traditional solar panels and some of the mounting options that are offered you may have never heard of before.

Mounting Selections For Traditional Solar Panels – It’s All About the Mount

Solar panel mounts come in three main varieties: pole mounts, roof-ground mounts, and flush mounts. With these mounts, you can set up your solar panel on your roof, onto an RV, on top of or against the side of a pole, or even install them as a free-standing unit.

Pole Mounts – No This Is Not What Santa Claus Uses For His Sleigh

Pole mounts, particularly top-of-pole, have been well-liked for a long time. Top-of-pole mounts are essentially a steel or aluminum rack and rail structure bolted or welded to a large casing that sets on top of a pole with set-bolts to keep it stationary. Side-of-pole mounts are regularly used when you need to mount to the side of a communications tower or telephone pole. Tracking mounts are similar to top-of-pole mounts, but they also have a technique of automatically aiming the mount to follow the sun.

Top of pole mounts (as well as sun trackers) are one of the simplest mounts to install. They really only need a single steel pole set in the ground (typically in concrete), and the mount slips onto the top of the pole. Most common sizes use a 2-inch to 8-inch pole, usually around 11 to 13 feet in length. They can go higher if you need to get the panel up higher to get around shading from close by bushes.

Common Roof-Ground Mounts

Roof-ground systems can be mounted onto a roof or ground without a lot of deviation in setup. They are typically constructed from stainless steel in a grid-like system of supports. Roof-mounted panels for smaller systems are the easiest to install, using small flush-mount brackets that raise the panels to the best angle for solar collection.

Ground mounts, as the name suggests, are solar panel mounts that are installed on the ground (as opposed to a pole mount or roof mount). They have supporting, changeable legs that allow you to optimize their vertical orientation for solar exposure. Ground mounting systems typically require plenty of steel supports, concrete foundations, and galvanized footings, which can be challenging, when you are attempting to keep your system low cost. Ground mounted systems need structural strength to prevent weight bearing failure.

Although module mounting systems are offered for ground and roof installation, roof mount installation is the most popular and cost effective approach. The roof mounted panels are attached to a mounting system normally consisting of an aluminum or steel support structure that attaches the panels to the roof.

The Smack Down On Flush Mounts

Flush Mounts are reasonably priced and straightforward to install – these are perfect for single panel installations and smaller solar arrays. Flush mounts are mounted onto a level face such as the top of an RV, a roof, or the top of a boat and are not used for ground installations. These mounts serve to separate the solar panel from the mounting surface and allow airflow to go below and lower the temperature of the solar panel for smooth operation. Flush Mounts are usually used with small solar arrays on roof tops and RVs, because the structural design of a flush mount cannot hold big solar panels.

There are many new options available in the expanding realm of solar technology. To learn how to calculate the number of solar panels you need for your home and other solar power secrets they don’t want you to know about, go to purchase solar panel kits

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