PV Gap

Diane Said:

How much electricity does the average 1 meter square solar panel produce?

We Answered:

120 - 150 watts per square meter would be a good estimate, under the best sun conditions. That means it won't produce that power all the time the sun is shining on it, but only when the sun is more or less directly overhead, and when the air temperature is not too high.

How much energy you get out of the panel in a day depends on the location, and season, of course.

Naomi Said:

how do you build a solar Panel to generate electricity?

We Answered:

Hey Done it, the way you build a solar panel is to get enough solar cells to reach the voltage you want, then glue them down to a backing of some kind, wire them together and cover the completed array with glass or acrylic. The cells themself can be purchased, but you really can't build the cell at home. The process requires some pretty high tech manufacturing resources. In my experience, it's a better deal to take the time you might use building one and buying the cells, go make some money at a regular job, and save up to buy an already built panel. They are pretty easy to find and the cost has come down dramatically in the last 2 years as a result of the European Union cutting back on their solar mandates. You might find a 50 watt panel for example for under $200 if you look around. Getting enough cells and other parts to build that same panel would cost over $100, and then you run the risk that it might not work properly when it is done. The one you buy will have already been tested and certified, and is ready to hook up to the battery or charger controller as soon as you take it out of the box.

We live in a solar powered home today. Our home is small by many standards, only about 1200 square feet, and has efficient lighting and appliances. But we can run all our loads on a solar array of just 1600 watts. That array purchased today might cost around $5,000 USD, quite a bit less than we paid for it 10 years ago. The good news is our electric bill since we installed the array and other equipment has averaged less than $8 per month, and that our home has not been without electricity for even a minute in all that time. There are periodic power failures in our area, like most places. Generally we are not aware of them. The few times that we have been on utility power due to a shortage of solar power, and the power has gone out, we've always been able to cut back on usage a bit, put the batteries into reserve usage and wait for the solar array to catch up while it powers the home. It's hard to put a price tag on something like that.

If you are really a hobbyist and want to build a small solar panel yourself, try googling, "Build a solar panel instructions." There are several out there, and once you have your cells, it isn't hard work, it just takes time and parts, and some patience. If you want to learn more about solar power, I'll list some places below you can check into. Good luck, and take care, Rudydoo

Fred Said:

If i hook a battery up to a solar panel will it produse sunlight?

We Answered:

fjtesueteur

Beatrice Said:

Has the space program put at least one solar panel in space to see if electricity can be sent to earth?

We Answered:

No. And here is why. If you want to beam power from a solar station in space, that station has to remain above the receiving station. This means geosynchronous orbit. That is 36000 km (the space station, by contrast, orbits only at about 400 km altitude). So far, the only objects in geosynchronous orbit are telecommunication satellites, and getting there requires an additional rocket push.
Now, supposing that someone would have the cash to demonstrate this project, they would also have to build a receiving station, and because of the distance, a microwave beam would have diverged quite notably over 36000 km, and the receiving antenna would then have to be huge to collect the power (think like a kilometer in diameter). Again: huge cost.
And in order to have enough power to generate a microwave beam that can travel 36000 km and be collectable on a 1 km+ antenna farm, the emitting station would have to generate lost of power, i.e. it would also have to have huge solar panels. Such a power station would be several times the size of the space station, and see how much problem there is just to build this thing at only 400 km altitude?

So all we have is a pretty good understanding that it is feasible, with huge amount of resources, but no demo has been done. And apparently no one willing to finance such a demo.