Solar Cells (Photovoltaics)
Panels
For Science Fair Projects
& Experiments

Choose the Best Solar Panels for Your Experiments

5 Volt Solar Panel Highest Quality Guaranteed 3" x by 5' or 82mm x 128mm Can product up to 1 watt.

PicoTurbine Suntracker Experiments Kit Experiment with two powerful solar panels and experience the sun's solar power.

A little bit about solar panels...

Solar panels are something of a catchphrase in the green movement... a recent phenomenom in this decade.

Estimates indicate that there is 4Xs as much wind energy available for our use as the species uses every year. Solar power is even more dramatic, the sun showers the planet with more energy every day than we use in a year. So the difficulty has never been the availability of sun and wind, they are readily available.

Up until recently solar and wind power were only able to tap 1% of the energy resources due to the inefficiency of power transfer. There is plenty of energy hitting the earth in the form of solar radiation to meet power needs of the people living on our planet. It is one thing to say that the sun showers us with mega terawatts of power every day and another thing to have that power work for us.

In today's modern world electricity is our main source of power. Therefore, we need to convert the radiant solar energy to usable electric current. This presents a technological hurdle because for most of our history, our electric conversion has been turbine based. Solar panels however, don’t utilize a turbine at all. Instead sunlight striking silicon crystals creates electric potential. If those crystals are backed by an array, this potential can be harnessed to create a current.

Currently, solar panels have become a viable alternative energy source, both environmentally and economically. Grid-tie systems allow you to put up solar panels, and feed excess power back into the power grid. Another advantage of staying connected to the grid is that you won’t have to have an elaborate in-home battery system to store energy for nights and cloudy days. You can draw on grid power during those times, and the power will be subtracted from the amount you put into the system.

There are also off-grid and mobile solar power options. If a home is equipped with a battery charging system and sufficient solar panels, it can cut ties completely with the power grid and become self sufficient. Home wind turbines can make a useful augmentation to solar panels in an off grid system, since cloudy days accompany storm fronts, which create wind. This ensures that one of your power sources is always functioning at optimal capacity, keeping your power on. Going off-grid is an especially appealing notion for RV owners, because it greatly enhances the range and camping ability of their RVs.

Local and federal rebate incentives make solar power more affordable than ever today.