SOLAR PANELS
WHAT ARE SOLAR PANELS?
Solar energy is used by solar panels to convert it into power and heat.
Two types exist: photovoltaic solar panels and solar thermal panels;
While the former produce electricity, the latter use solar energy for domestic water heating and domestic use.
Solar thermal panels
The solar thermal panel replaces the traditional gas boiler, making it possible to heat domestic water that is used in the home for all household activities. The sun's heat, in fact, makes it possible to produce hot water up to 70° ( during the summer season) and achieve a great reduction in the expense of electricity.
Photovoltaic solar panels
The function of the photovoltaic solar panel is to transform solar energy into the electricity that is used every day for all domestic activities carried out by every Italian household. Photovoltaic solar panels are generally placed on the roofs of houses or businesses so that they can be well exposed to sunlight. Their structure is very complex as it is made up of photovoltaic cells, thin slices of silicon subjected to complex chemical and physical treatments, which connected in series make up the photovoltaic module: every 36 photovoltaic cells give birth to a photovoltaic module, capable of generating a power of about 50 watts.
Through an inverter system, electrical energy is transformed into alternating current and fed into the power grid and ready to be used by users. This energy can be stored in batteries to make it available at all times (and then we speak of stand-alone or isolated systems, usually made to supply electric loads far from the grid), or it can be used immediately by the user, even without the adoption of batteries (this is the case with grid-connected systems).