Do I only need solar panels to have energy in day and through the night?
So I want to go completely solar. Do I need the connected solar panels alone for after sundown hours; Do I need something else in order to have energy to run my entire house throughout the night?
In other words do solar panels store the energy for after sun-down or do I need other devices to store the energy?
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Yes they store energy for the whole day. Some can store for a lot more. it replenishes itself constantly
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Comment by lay_06 — @
No. Solar panels do not store energy. You need a lot of very big, expensive batteries for that.
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Comment by Maxwell's Hammer — @
Solar panels do not store energy, so they require a battery system. Additionally, they produce DC (direct current) rather than standard AC (alternating current), so you will either need to do a total conversion (extremely expensive upfront) or add inverter equipment past your storage banks. Whether this is a viable option depends largely on where you live, since the amount of direct sun is a major factor in figuring your final efficiency versus installation cost. Check your local and state regulations to see if they have utility overproduction buy-back in place which can make your system not only pay your investment back sooner, it could eventually bring you a regular paycheck.
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Comment by Christian Sword — @
The current trick is called "grid tied". Basically you sell the power to the power company during the day and buy it back from the power company at night instead of storing it. It’s storage by accounting.
It helps the power company because peak demand is during the day and they also buy from you at a rate lower than the rate that they sell to you at.
Most of a home’s energy needs is for hot water, residential heating and airconditioning, all of which can be provided by solar thermal collectors at one tenth the cost of solar photovoltaics (airconditioning is by absorption cycle which uses heat to regenerate the refrigerant instead of a compressor). It may be more economical to investigate a thermal solution for most of your energy needs and then have a smaller photovoltaic system.
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Comment by John W — @
"Solar panel" describes two types of devices that collect energy from the sun:
Solar photovoltaic modules use solar cells to convert light from the sun into electricity.
Solar thermal collectors use the sun’s energy to heat water or another fluid such as oil or antifreeze.
but sometimes there are rainy days so we don’t totally depend on solar panels
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Comment by Guneet K — @
U need large lead acid batteries to store the power for the night.U need to do a lot of research to decide that they are Too expensive to be practical.If U have plenty of money there will be no problem.I installed $20,000 worth in the ecuadorian jungle to have a storm blow it all away in about 2 months.
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Comment by JOHNNIE B — @
There is a new movement right now its the first to give residential customers the chance to use green energy in their home without the usual dilemma of upfront cost and maintenence . A photovoltaic (“PV”) array, inverters, and an exchange point (“XP”) are prepackaged to deliver energy to the customer or the utility from power generated at the home.
Our new program takes care of all the usual headaches: it provides hassle free installation, operation, and maintenance – and does so with the most attractive terms in the industry. Customers have the option to rent the system for either 1, 5 or 25 years.
With the convenience of net-metering, customers have the chance to adopt while still having the additional reliability of the grid. Solar panels produce electricity during the day and stores it on your grid for night use
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http://www.jointhesolution.com/llojo01
Comment by sunpowerforall — @
If you want to go completely solar and "off-grid" you’ll need some very expensive batteries to provide your power at night, when the sun goes down. The panels alone won’t do it. It really doesn’t matter what size system you’ll want, if you want to go off the grid, it’ll be very expensive.
What I recommend is that you get a system that’ll produce 50-80% of your power and have the grid serve as your backup power. Financially, it makes alot more sense. Less paperwork, less hassle with the utility and so on.
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Comment by Melrose — @
Most of the other answers are correct but not comprehensive.
Solar panels produce electrical energy or heat energy but do not store either type of energy.
Solar heat energy can be used in residential systems for hot water and space heating (also keeping a pool hot). Whether passive or active systems, you need some sort of "thermal storage" usually a big insulated vat of water that heats up when it is sunny and cools down as you use the heat. It is not economical to produce electricity from this energy in residential systems. (btw passive systems should be designed into the house when built and essentially the entire house is designed to collect solar energy and be the thermal storage system — passive systems are almost impossible to retrofit into existing houses)
Solar panels made up of "photovoltaic cells" (PV) produce electricity directly. However, the electricity produced is a direct current (or DC current) like common household batteries or automobile batteries. Not in an "alternating current" or AC like normal household current. So it must be converted to AC to run most common systems. However, if you are going to use only solar energy it may be cost effective to switch to 12 volt DC lighting …and other systems to save on some of the complexity because any time you begin running systems like DC to AC converters or rectifiers you loose energy.
To store solar made electricity you can use batteries.. like "wet cell" automobile batteries (or more likely deep cycle marine batteries which are designed for long slow discharges)…
Alternatively, as one other person suggested you can "sell" the power to the power company and buy it back at night. One issue is that typically you sell it to the power company for a cheap rate and buy it back at a more expensive rate… so be sure to include the actual rates in your estimates of cost. This type of system also has a safety backup.. you can always buy power from the electrical company if it rains for days and you cannot produce the power yourself.
Hope this helps
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I have been studying solar energy for years.. passive systems were the rage in the 1970s during the first energy crisis but never seemed to catch on…
Comment by Attorney — @
No matter how great your solar system is and how big your batteries or heat tank are, you are going to need power from a generator of some sort (such as the power company) eventually when the sky is cloudy for several days in a row.
Than said, why not have your own generator powered by natural gas or diesel? You would only run it when absolutely needed and when run as a combined-cycle generator, it could generate electricity while providing hot water (from exhaust/water cooling exchanger). If done correctly it shouldn’t be much more expensive than buying electricity from your local utility, especially after cap and tax kicks in.
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Comment by Mark in Time — @
I’m sure you will need more than solar panels. I hate to burst your bubble, but solar power doesn’t have very dense output. You only get about 10-15 percent output with the technology we have. The energy isn’t able to be harnessed into chemical energy just yet. I’m not saying it’s impossible; I’m saying don’t put all your eggs into one basket. If I were you, I would look into getting a helical wind turbine because wind usually blows more at night. That’s how you’ll get base-load generation.
Comment by Polaris — @
You can energize your home with a solar panel system if it sized correctly and if you have sufficient space for the panels oriented in the correct position.
The solar panels will not provide your power directly since most of the devices we use are AC. The system will include and inverter for conversion from DC to AC. It will also include batteries to store your daytime energy for your nighttime use.
If considering a solar panel system look and the references below and don’t forget to do a home energy audit first to minimize your electrical needs so you can invest in a smaller system.
I would also recommend incorporating solar hot water heating system, separate from solar panels. This will also minimize the amount of solar panels you will need.
Comment by bwise — @
Solar panels only convert sunlight into DC electricity; you would need to have the appropriate wire that carries the DC current to the inverter which in turns the current into AC power which is what we utilize. Most systems you see sold are designed to reduce your "on-peak" demand (which costs you the most) and are designated as a "grid tied" system. Grid tied systems are designed to feed any excess energy your array makes back into the regular electrical grid and it allows you to still get electricity from the grid if you need more than you produce. Going completely solar takes quite a bit of money and a complete lifestyle change as we are so used to using electricity without any thought. Battery systems are much more expensive and maintenance intensive.
http://www.azsolarguys.com
http://www.azsolarhotwater.com
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Comment by mindnmatter_1 — @
Unless you are independently wealthy, I’m pretty sure you will change your mind after you run the numbers.
For most households, this is not even anywhere close to an option. The size of the system that you will need, unless you have VERY low electrical needs, will be enormous.
Even off-grid houses in remote areas all have backup generators, for cloudy periods, or days when they have more than usual electrical needs… like laundry day.
Even with the best technology, biggest incentives, & highest local electrical costs, the payoff on a grid-tie PV system is about 20 years. For off grid, it never pays for itself, if you gauge it by commercial electrical rates.
Start with a solar hot water system.. and move up from there. The payoff on those can be less than five years, and you will be making a very big difference by installing one.
You have a lot to learn about solar energy. Here’s a good resource for practical applications, there are some great articles this month about just what you are asking. Good luck.
http://www.homepower.com
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Comment by LasVegasPasses.com — @
solar panels don’t store energy, they only generate it. If you want to store energy you need a battery bank of some kind to get you through the night and anytime the sun isn’t shining.
If you have a little extra in the budget you might look at a geothermal system for your home’s heating and cooling needs. They’re highly efficient systems and you can supplement however you like.
Whatever you do, though I hope you have a good building envelope in place already. Solar panels are cool, but if you have a leaky house, you’re still not getting the best out of your panels. Do the more mundane stuff first. Insulation, windows, and weather-tight doors.
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Comment by snorkweezl — @