Solar Panels - Power & Energy For A Home/Business

See Solar Product Reviews, Pictures, Videos, Buying Tips, Guides & More!

If you’ve happened across this page, it’s likely that you’ve been watching the news and are a little shocked by the increase in natural disasters and tropical storms, maybe seen Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth or are just independently interested in finding new and innovative ways to power your life; Specifically, ways that involve converting energy from the sun and other undamaging sources into energy to power your home or business.

Welcome to EnviroHub's solar panels & energy section. Understanding that getting into solar technology can be confusing, we made this webpage to make it simple for you to learn all you need to know about solar energy. If you're new to the topic and interested in learning more about it, you can start by reading our 3 step guide to solar energy and taking a look at the products available to use for your home or business.

"Whether you’re just waking up your inner environmentalist, or you’ve had the green bug since you learned about the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle!) in grade school, this site will help you on your way to a greener lifestyle."

We’ll teach you the ins and outs of converting your home or business to solar power, how solar power works and what is required for it to work most efficiently, link you to government subsidies to help downsize your costs, and finally we’ll direct you to solar panel providers who will give you the best quality products at the lowest prices. We also offer many different reviews of solar products to help simplify your search. We'll guide you through how to purchase, install and maintain solar products to save you time, money and ultimately make sure that you're investing for long-term usage.

Two Ways To Convert Power From The Sun For Your Home Or Business

1. Solar Panels - Convert To Electricity

Solar panels are a common technology used to convert solar power into usable electricity. These panels are made up of several layers of photovoltaic cells that convert solar energy into electricity (that's the most common way to convert solar energy, used in solar panels, etc). At present solar panels can typically convert approximately 15% of the sunlight in our atmosphere into electricity. The actual method of conversion is more complicated than we’ll take time to explain here, but if you’d like to learn more about photovoltaic technology click here for an article explaining the technology further.

2. Solar Thermal Collectors - Convert To Heat

Solar thermal collectors are designed to collect heat, specifically to absorb sunlight to provide heat. There is more than one type of thermal collectors, but they are generally based on the following technologies: solar parabolic, solar towers, and solar troughs. Solar towers, troughs and parabolics are generally used in solar power plants where the heat they collect powers a turbine hooked up to an electrical generator used to produce electricity.

Watch This Video Demonstrating The Basics Of Solar Energy And How It's Converted To Electricity Via Solar Panels

10 Powerful Reasons Why You Should Go Solar!

When you think about it, it seems like the most practical source of energy out there. It’s renewable, abundant in most climates, and it has little to no adverse affects on the atmosphere. The sun powers almost every other life form on the planet, so instead of spending millions and destroying the Earth drilling for fossil fuels, why not use the most powerful existing energy source - The sun.

"The technology has been around for at least a century, and it’s becoming more necessary that we take advantage of it."

1. It’s Cheap In The Long Term - Become Your Own Energy Station & Less Dependant On Foreign Oil

solar power picture Why take the time to convert your home to solar power? Well, first off, the initial investment costs of solar power are still pretty high, but over time the technology pays for itself, and once it’s paid off the initial start up costs solar power is cheap, renewable, and in constant supply. What’s not to love about free energy? You'll never have to pay for electricity again!

2. Average Solar Panels Last 20 - 30 Years

Solar panels are extremely durable and long lasting. Investing into the right type of solar panels will last you on average 20 to 30 or more years with little to no maintenance.

3. Installation Is Easy And You Can Expand Over Time

With solar, you can start off small and add to your system over time as your budget increases. Eventually you'll have enough power for all your appliances, hot water, lightning - you name it.

4. Federal, State, Provincial And Utility Tax Incentives & Rebates

If you purchase solar panels, whether you live in the United States, Canada, Europe, etc. it is common that each country has their own federal, state/provincial tax incentives, as well as utility rebates. Check out our resources page for more information.

5. Payback Can Be Quick - Solar Panels Pay For Themselves!

Depending on how much solar energy you use, and also depending on how much conventional heating costs rise, solar energy can quickly pay off the initial cost. This is especially true with the rising costs of conventional fuels, making heating bills rise in virtually every first world country.

6. It’s Unlimited!

As long as our sun is around (and if it isn’t there isn’t much hope for us anyways) there will be solar power available. The only true limitation on solar power is location, and even then there are is solar energy present, just not at the same volumes as equatorial locales.

7. Solar Power Stands Alone

Solar and other renewable energy sources are capable of standing alone, ie. without being connected to a power or natural gas grid. So for those of you looking to move to the boonies, or if you’re a fan of camping in the wilderness, solar power sources don’t need the infrastructure required by much of our current energy suppliers. (This is of course assuming that you’re not taking a trip to the arctic any time soon).

8. To Be Green - Making Intelligent Decisions And Doing Your Part For The Planet!

For some people, including us here at EnviroHub this is the most important aspect of solar energy: it doesn’t harm the environment! Solar power can replace the use of conventional fuels, coal, and nuclear energy sources, which are harmful, or potentially harmful to the environment. The use of solar energy also proportionally decreases the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. Widespread adoption of solar technology has the power to ebb the effects of global warming.

9. The Negatives

There are drawbacks to using solar energy however, as the amount of exploitable solar energy is based daily on cloud cover and how high in the sky the sun is, and monthly and annually the amount of available solar energy is dependent on location. Residents closer to the equator will generally benefit more from using solar energy. There are also definite benefits for those closer to the poles, however the energy yield will inevitably be smaller.

Check Out This Video Of A Home Running On Solar & Hydrogen Energy

What Is Solar Power and How Can It Be Used?

For those of you out there who actually read instruction manuals, and need to know how a technology operates before you invest, or maybe you’re just curious, here are the basic ins and outs of how solar power works.

Every day energy from the sun travels to Earth in the form of electromagnetic radiation, kind of like radio waves but on a different frequency. After it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, where some of that radiation is absorbed, on a clear day there is typically 1000 W/m2 available on our surface. That may sound confusing because it seems like an immeasurable thing, but usually the amount of available solar power is expressed in units of energy per time per area unit, so how much solar energy is available to be converted into electricity on a meter of surface every minute, hour, etc. This amount obviously will differ depending on where on Earth you are. For example, you’re definitely not going to get as much power at the South Pole as you would near the equator, and not all of the solar energy that hits our surface can be converted to electricity.

It’s the same heat you feel on your feet when you walk on the beach in the summer that can be harnessed to heat the floors of your bathroom, or your bathwater, or to power your appliances. Solar power is the conversion of energy from the sun into usable heat or electricity for daily human consumption. This power can be used most effectively for heating/cooling buildings, electricity production, and chemical processes. Currently, solar power is most commonly used for water and space heating. The idea seems simple enough, but how is solar energy converted? There is more than one way to capture solar power, and they may seem complicated, but they are generally no more complicated than current technologies. Right now, the most popular conversion methods take place with the application of solar panels (photovoltaic cells) and thermal-electric collector technologies, although other uses for solar energy are emerging and may become more popular as they become more viable.

solar energy picture

Just by having a simple array of solar panels like this picture above, you can power many devices in your home, as well as save yourself money over time.