Buying solar panels can be a smart move. Solar power is a “green” and renewable power and doesn’t emit harmful carbon dioxide, which means it’s a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. Every home solar power system could save around 30 tons of CO2 over its lifetime -- 2650 lbs per year. “The next industrial revolution will be based on these clean green technologies,” -- Tony Juniper, director, Friends of the Earth.

Solar panels are large flat structures, rectangular in shape, available in various sizes. Energy collectors, called solar cells, covered with a sheet of protective glass make up the solar panel. A solar cell is usually octagonal and blue-black in color, about the size of your palm. Solar cells are designed to create electricity, in a similar way to battery cells. The difference is, although a battery cell creates electricity from chemicals, solar cells convert sunlight into electricity.

Photovoltaic technology is what allows solar power to work. Photovoltaic is another name for solar cells -- the word “photo” meaning “of light”, and “voltaic” describing the process of making electricity -- named after electricity pioneer, Alessandro Volta.

Solar power is a way to lower your electricity bills over time, even though you’ll have an initial outlay. Even though installation costs for regular solar power systems can be high, government incentives are available on both a federal and state level. A solar power tax credit can be obtained from the federal government, and in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 two ways are provided for receiving this credit.

There are many more incentives provided by state governments, and solar power rebates are offered by more than half of US states. If you can find wholesale solar power options, you can obviously get an even better deal.

Many people want to know how solar power works before investing in solar panels. When the sun shines onto a solar panel, each cell in the panel receives a steady supply of photons -- or light particles. The power from these photons is carried down through the cell.

Electrons in the decrease your carbon emissions layer of the solar cell receive the power as the photon transfers it. The electrons are then able to jump into the upper layer, using that energy, and exit into the circuit. Our lights and appliances are powered by these electrons flowing around the circuit.

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