Solar energy education

Solar power is clean electricity that is created from sunlight or from heat from the sun. Installing solar electricity in your home usually means setting up a solar photovoltaic system on your roof. Discover more in our solar energy education sections ahead. Solar energy is a renewable source of energy that is sustainable and totally inexhaustible, unlike fossil fuels which are finite and only expected to last for another fifty years. It is also a non-polluting source of energy and it does not emit any greenhouse gases when producing electricity. The solar electricity that is produced can supply your entire or partial energy consumption.

Solar energy education for kids and teens

We’ve put together a solar energy education page geared more towards older primary school and secondary school age children covering the basics of solar power; plus a basic calculator so kids can see how many solar panels would be needed to power their home. 

How a solar panel is made

A solar panel, while rugged and durable in its finished form, uses a complex and technical process in its production. In traditional solar modules (polycrystalline and monocrystalline), silicon wafers are impregnated with impurities to create a semiconductor that transmutes sunlight into electric current. Then Electrical contacts are created to combine one solar cell with another. As silicon reflects sunlight, an anti-reflective coating is placed on top of the silicon wafers, usually titanium dioxide or silicon oxide.

The solar cells are placed between a superstrate layer on the top and a back sheet layer on the bottom. The superstrate is normally glass, and the back sheet is plastic. This is then placed inside an aluminum frame to create a finished solar panel

In thin-film solar panels, it’s a different procedure. It begins with a thin layer of the flexible substrate such as coated glass, stainless steel or plastic, and metal contact, and the solar cell is then built up in a series of layers. An oxide layer is then applied at the end to make the electrical contact of the cell. The cell is then laminated with a weather resistant superstrate material.

Using solar power means reducing your energy bills and saving money.

Installing solar panels adds value to your home. They are low maintenance and unobtrusive. Read our tips for getting a solar power system, or tips for choosing solar panels.

How does a solar panel work?

As touched on earlier, solar panels use what’s known as the photovoltaic effect to generate power. This is the process by which light is converted to energy at the atomic level.

Stated simply; when the light hits a solar cell, electrons are knocked loose from a solar cell’s semiconductor material atoms. Positive and negative electrical conductors from each solar cell form a circuit that captures this energy in the form of an electrical current.

The electricity grid

Electricity travels from a power plant to your house via a power grid.  If you are not connected to the grid it means that the power lines do not reach your home or business, usually because you live in a remote area. The power that is supplied to the grid is most often produced by coal-fired power plants, which pollute the environment by releasing tons of greenhouse gases.

Grid-connected solar power systems

Solar systems generate energy from sunlight during the day. This energy goes into a grid-connected inverter which converts the DC current into AC power, similar to that of the grid. This solar electricity current can then power all the appliances in your home, such as cooking appliances, phones, computers, lights, radios, etc… Power can be drawn directly from the solar inverter and any leftover electricity can then be fed back into the grid.

Educated consumers choose solar for many reasons!

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