Solar Electric Blog

Off-the-grid early adopters weren’t as fortunate as today’s homeowners. Solar panels are so common and widely used that they are no longer considered a risky investment. In fact, take a closer look at your community. Chances are more neighbors have solar panels than you realize!

Clean Energy Pays in North Texas - Learn Its Benefits

Light energy harvested from the Sun – also referred to as solar energy – provides a clean, low-cost form of electricity for residents in sun-rich areas of the country, like North Texas. Solar panels convert sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity that is then routed to a device called an inverter. The inverter converts DC electricity into alternating current (AC) electricity.

SOLAR MYTH #1

“Solar panels may create a negative impact on the U.S. economy.”

FALSE
The solar industry employed around 50,000 Americans in 2009, which has now grown to over 100,000. At the third quarter of 2011, the U.S. solar energy market grew 140%, thus making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy.

Solar power has gained popularity over the past two years so much, that installations of new panels and systems have outpaced the combined installs of the previous three decades.

Solar Power is generally defined as the conversion of energy from sunlight into usable electrical power. It includes direct technologies such as photovoltaics (PV) and indirect technologies such as concentrated solar power (CSP).

As Texas grows, so does its consumption of power and electricity. Federal and state environmental regulations have required the winding down or closure of a previous generation of power sources. Solar electricity can meet the needs of a growing Texas economy.

Solar Panel Technology can sound quite Technical

The technology behind successfully harnessing the energy from the sun has been improved dramatically over the last decade. For an in-depth technical explanation of how it works, we recommend our favorite expert in all things solar, NASA.