The New Way to Solar Power Your Home
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by: GeorgeGreenaway | Total views: 14 | Word Count: 447
Solar energy panel systems have frequently been criticised as hulking and unappealing. New cheap solar panels technology starts to make such criticisms a thing of the past. While everybody agrees solar electricity is a clean, inexpensive energy source, there has always been one problem. The solar cell systems inclined to be giant and rather bulky. Overtly, they do not add to the attractiveness a home. While solar cell designs have got better over the years, a new development involving shingles is getting lots of attention.
Photovoltaic shingles are a major design discovery for those who have a distaste for enormous solar panel systems. These shingles are, well, shingles. They replace the shingles on a roof, but have the appearance of a regular roof. Although they are black, they do not standout from the roof in the manner of panels. As an alternative they seem like a regular roof and many individuals cannot notice the difference. Quite clearly, this continuous design is miles better than the ponderous designs of panel systems.
The technological discovery that makes this advanced technology possible is the discovery of thin film photovoltaic cells. Known as "amorphous silicon thin alloy technology", the designers essentially stepped back from normal solar cell designs and did a little thinking. What they realized is the materials employed in panels were not the sole ones that could be used. Without getting very technical, the design team came up with a solution where more effective cells may be built on a steel substrate. Each super thin cell was custom-made to capture different spectrums of the sunlight. When layered on top of one another, they became very efficient at manufacturing power.
The final result's a system that may sit immediately on the roof of a home or building, is more effective than regular solar panels and far more appealing from a visual perspective. If your excuse for not using solar in the past was the bulky system, you want to reconsider solar. Will this state-of-the-art technology become the discovery we have been waiting for in solar power? It already is if you consider just the following:
1. The US Military is building a solar powered community using it.
2. Museums in Beijing, China are converting to it.
3. Habitat for Humanity is using the system on plenty of the houses it builds.
4. Lockheed Martin is experimenting with the technology as a power source for high altitude flights.
In the opinion of many experts, this leading edge technology represent a major breakthrough in solar electricity. With energy costs exploding, solar represents the most practical answer to lessen our dependence on limited oil and natural gas resources. Fortunately , the sun will provide free power for the foreseeable future.
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