Solar power roofing is one of the most exciting energy inventions of the past 100 years, providing a clean and renewable source of power for homes and businesses. Although many homeowners know about the benefits of solar panels, they aren’t always familiar with how they work.

Solar roofing operates on a process known as integrated photovoltaics, in which photovoltaic devices (solar panels) convert sunlight into electricity. The process occurs over several stages:

1. The sun releases photons, which strike the solar panel’s semiconductor material.

2. The material causes photons to ionize, or release their outer electrons.

3. The structure of the semiconductor guides the free electrons in a single direction, causing an electric current.

Because some of the sun’s rays – such as ultraviolet and infrared – are too weak or create the wrong type of energy to generate electricity, photovoltaics do not present owners with 100 percent efficiency. However, they remain one of the most efficient energy sources available in the world today.

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Since its original harnessing in 1954 by Bell Labs, solar power has been one of the most compelling discoveries of its time. To learn more about how to put it to work in your home or business, contact Century Roof and Solar, expert solar roofing installers committed to making this resource available to you.

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Have you been investigating integrated photovoltaics and solar power roofing? If so, you’ve been learning why solar solutions are a big deal. Here are some facts about solar power and the sun that will blow you away:

• The sun is about 1 million times bigger than the Earth; it’s located approximately 93 million miles away. Although the sun is relatively large for a star, it is dwarfed by other more gigantic species of stars. The largest types of stars would stretch all the way to the orbit of Saturn;
• The sun itself is utterly minuscule in comparison with the Milky Way. If the sun were shrunk into a small grain of sand, the Milky Way galaxy (where the sun resides) would be the size of the entire planet Earth.
• In less than an hour and a half, the sun bathes the Earth with enough energy to fuel the entire human race’s energy needs for a full year.
• The sun gets bigger and hotter as it consumes its fuel.
• If you install a 10 kilowatt solar panel, you can generate 17,000 kilowatt hours every year — the equivalent of burning over 27 barrels of oil.
• Integrated photovoltaics have a lot of applications in technology; they’re used in hot water heaters, PV panels, and concentrated solar power apps (for large scale tasks);
• It costs about $4 per watt of capacity to install a solar panel;
• Most panels are not ideally efficient – a common PV panel converts just 15% of the sun’s energy to usable electricity.
• PV applications have led to booming advances in semiconductor material sciences.

Contact the Team at Century Roof and Solar for More About Solar Power

For help creating highly productive solar solutions for your family or building, contact the team at Century Roof & Solar for a free estimate. We can help you with any and all of your solar roofing questions.