Much has been publicized about the pros of using the sun as the source of energy. Foremost of which is the idea that this is free and renewable. Scientists calculated that the sun has been in existence for quite sometime releasing great amounts of energy. The good news is, it will continue to do so and we can be rest assured that it will keep on doing what it has been doing until our last days here on earth.
Is the energy that comes out of those solar panels really free? The answer is yes and no. The companies that manufactured the solar cells spent time and money in research and production before it is available in the market. It is a common knowledge that businesses are there to make money and in order to do so they would sell those solar cells to us at a certain price. Solar energy therefore is not free but you can probably classify it as an investment. It earns money ( not online :D ) since you don't have to pay the power provider for your energy usage.
Here in the Philippines, solar energy hasn't really caught on simply because of the prohibitive cost. For example an advertised 20 Watt solar panel costs 10,000 pesos. This is too much for an average Juan but this might be cheap to expatriates or well-off Filipinos. Personally, I'd like to install one in my house but in order to do so, I have to save-up first. I am aware of the benefits of solar cells powering my house but then shelling out this much would definitely strain our budget.
Solar panel advertisement in the Philippines
Also, don't forget that for solar power one also needs an ac/dc converter and batteries to store the energy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Kevin. In addition, and based from what I've read, a charge controller is also needed to protect the battery. I saw how you're building your setup and will definitely use that as a reference in the future.
ReplyDeleteCheers!