Solar Panels In Rhode Island

When the photons in sunlight hit the atoms in your solar panel, electrons can be kicked loose. Solar panels are designed to collect these disassociated electrons and store them in a battery to power your home and electronics.

Typically, an average-sized house will need 20 to 25 solar panels. However, depending on the size of the house, the sun exposure, where you live, and how much energy you consume, you could need more.

Solar panels are made from a wide range of materials and chemicals that each contribute to the conversion of solar light into usable electricity. The main component in any solar panel are crystalline silicon wafers. These wafers are semiconductors that are able to generate electricity from sunlight in a process known as the photovoltaic effect.  In addition, solar panels use glass, wires, metal components, and batteries in order to fully convert and store the sunlight as usable energy for your home.

Modern solar panels are usually about 15% to 18% efficient. This means that 15% to 18% of the sunlight they absorb gets turned into energy. The remaining sunlight is lost as heat, warming the solar panel casing. That being said there are a number of factors that can impact the overall efficiency such as the solar panel age, materials they’re made with, and average sun exposure.

The average solar panel weighs about 40 pounds. This will add about 2.8 pounds per square foot to pitched roofs, and about 5 pounds per square foot for flat roofs.

A typical residential solar panel is rated to produce between 250 and 400 watts of power per hour. Your average solar panel systems have between 1 kW and 4 kW capacity. Solar panels’ output varies depending on a number of factors, such as their capacity, size, location, and shade conditions. For example, a 4 kW solar panel system on an average-sized house can produce around 2,500 to 2,850 kWh of electricity in a year.