The Many Benefits of Using Solar Panels

Solar panels can be used in so many different applications that it would take volumes to talk about all of them. In the same token, the benefits of using them are also just as numerous. Solar power as a form of electricity has been around for a few hundred years, but using solar to heat homes, cook food and make water hot has been around for centuries. This article focuses more on the electrical applications, however.

In the last few decades, with the demand for solar power increasing, solar panels and the technology behind them has grown by leaps and bounds. They are smaller, lighter, and can be used for just about anything these days, from charging and powering laptops, small appliances, even to power homes and businesses. Output efficiency has also grown, and now even on a cloudy day your solar panel can absorb at least half of its normal capacity. There are flexible solar panels, which can be used for marine applications. They can also be used for back packers. There are small panels that are integrated into things like backpacks, identification tags, and many others.

Here are some of the many different benefits of using solar panels in your every day life. One of the major ones is the solar power is free, and even on a cloudy day, you have to be happy that you are using free power. Solar power is abundant, and totally renewable energy. Because of this, it is also clean energy, not emitting any toxins into our atmosphere like a lot of forms of electrical power do, say power plants and gas generators.

Solar panels are versatile. There are more different kinds of solar panels than you can shake stick at, and can be used for many applications. You can take a solar panel with you wherever you go, and have electrical power to run your laptop, play video games, or keep your cell phone charged at all times, especially when needed in an emergency.

You will save a lot of money, on energy costs, batteries for your flashlights and other electronics. Using solar power for outdoor lights can save you hundreds on you power bill every year. Having solar panels can help you save money on batteries, because many of your electronics, even those without rechargeable batteries, can be recharged or powered by solar energy.

Solar panels, lighting, charging systems, generators and the like are easy to install and usually don't require any extra wiring. This means that you can set up a solar panel for pumps that are way out on your property, or take a panel with you to a remote campsite, use them on the beach, just to name a few.

Now there are some disadvantages of solar panels, but not many. One of them is that they are affected by the sun. The sun goes down at night, but the batteries store this energy during the day and release it's power at night, like solar lighting for patios and walkway. These systems can be a little more expensive initially, but they can pay for themselves in just a short period of time.