Hello dear friends,
Welcome back to our blog!
Today’s topic is addressed to all of you who want to deepen your knowledge in photovoltaic units aka Solar Panels. For to those of you who have just a vague idea of what the system provided by BTLP is about, here is a quick explanation.
Let us start by explaining what photovoltaic stands for. NASA states that “Photovoltaics is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level.” This is possible by the process of solar energy conversion. The largest object in the solar system, created by God himself in Genesis 1:16, the sun, releases myriads of photons that are transported by sunlight. When these electromagnetic waves hit the semi-conductor contained in a metal photovoltaic cell, electrons are released from the atom in the semiconductor. Electrical conductors must be attached to the positive and negative side of the semiconductor, which at the end gives birth to direct current electricity (see Fig.1) This direct current or popularly named DC electricity is used to power any kind of load that requires DC to function.
Basically, solar panels are made up of dozens or hundreds of photovoltaic cells connected either in parallel or series; these are mounted in a frame called photovoltaic module. It is important to realize that voltage, current and of course power generated by the solar panel is directly dependent to the number of photovoltaic cells, their connection type and of course the amount of sunlight that strikes the module.
The solar panel provided by BTL to the people of Nicaragua has a nominal voltage of 12V and a power of 25W. By Ohm’s law we can calculate the amount of current that the loads can demand to the system, which is circa 2 Amperes.
You can have detailed information about our product by clicking here: https://www.beyondthelightproject.org/our-product
It is very important to mention that the system provided by BTLP is an off-Grid DC system (see Fig.2) which basically integrates a solar panel, a charge controller, a battery and DC loads, such as DC light bulbs, DC fans and Micro-USB ports to charge cellular phones. Regular light bulbs, fans or TVs cannot be connected to the system, unless one uses an inverter. The use of an inverter is not a necessity to our system and evidently not affordable. Our approach is to develop a simple, affordable solar kit providing basic features that will address the challenges faced by the underserved.
I hope you guys enjoyed this informative blog. Please let us know if you would like to know more about electricity or any other question/concern regards our system.
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