SOLAR PANELS - EFFICIENCY

BY MILENA

1. Can solar panels power a whole house?                                                                                          Yes. A 3,200 square foot house can be powered by only 24 average sized solar panels. Actually, 24 panels are more than enough. During the day when the sun is shining, the panels make more energy than the house needs. The extra energy not used by the house is sold to an energy company like PG&E. At night however, there is obviously no sun shining, so PG&E gives the extra energy back to the house for its power.                                                                                                                          
2. Is it cost effective to buy solar panels?                                                                                           Many people use the excuse that solar panels are too expensive, and that is why they have not gotten them for powering their house. Over a short amount of time, solar panels actually end up paying for themselves. If you have solar panels installed in 2010, by about 2017, you would have saved as much money on energy bills as you spent buying and installing the solar panels. So after 2017, you really are saving lots of money. As oil becomes more scarce, it becomes more expensive. With oil prices rising, the panels could end up paying for themselves in even fewer than 7 years.
3. Where is the best place to put solar panels?
• Locally (your house) - On a south facing roof or yard is the best place for solar panels to capture the suns energy in the northern hemisphere . In the southern hemisphere, the panels should be facing north. This is the most efficient way to capture the most sunshine. By putting solar panels up high on supported beams, you can make a covered car parking area.
• Regionally (in communities) - Near power lines or close to the the area of demand is a good place for solar panels because not as much energy that the panels collect will be lost through transportation (degraded land is also good). You may hear about people wanting to put huge solar farms out in various deserts where nobody lives. At first, this sounds good, but there actually is life there too. In every desert there are many diverse ecosystems. By putting miles and miles of solar panels, you are destroying wild lands and unique habitats. The destruction is not just during the construction of setting up the panels, it is permanent. 
• Globally (on Earth) - Where is there the most sun on Earth? The equator of course! Solar panels can collect lots of sunlight near the equator. Where does the sun never set? Outer space! If we launched solar panels into far outer space, they could collect energy and beam it back to Earth via microwaves to receiving stations. For more information on outer space panels, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power