Sunday, September 20, 2009

Getting Juiced While the Sun Shines

They say you can find just about anything on the internet, including, as it turns out, an aerial view of the photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the roof of my house.



It's not a great photo, I'll admit.  But still, it's cool and only slightly eerie that it's out there, and so easy to find (another photo showed my car parked out in front!).

You can see the seven PV panels quite clearly, though, facing due south, soaking up the sun, and making electricity.  Solar power on a household scale!  Not a huge amount...about enough on a sunny day to run the fridge, my computers, a few light bulbs.   Any more than that, though, and we start needing the electric company to help out.

Speaking of the electric company (Pepco, in my neck of the woods), we actually provide them with a bit of electricity now and then, when we make more electricity than we're using.  Gets us a bit of a credit on the electric bill.

This blog is about photovoltaics, that is, making electricity directly from the sun.  I suppose I'll have a bit now and then about our own solar system (ha!).  I hope to talk about funding, too, since about half the cost of our solar panels were paid for by alternative energy grants and tax breaks.

But mostly, it will be whatever comes to mind, and whatever sort of interesting stuff is going on in the world of solar power.

Stay tuned....

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