Photovoltaic or solar panels turn the suns rays into direct current electricity. With the assistance of an alternating current converter, this electricity can power your home. Solar panel efficiency ranges from 10 to 19 percent. Increasing this efficiency is the goal of all panel manufactures as they work to reduce the payback period and make them more competitive with other electricity providers like coal and wind.
Sanyo HIT Power N Series
Sanyo has been refining their solar technologies since the middle of the 1970s. Their HIT Power series were the most efficient residential panels available in 2011. The cell efficiency is 19.8 percent and a power output is 220 watts. If you have a limited amount of space and want to produce the most amount of power these are the panels you want. Their 220-watt panel only consumes 13 1/2 square feet with a footprint of 31 1/2-by-62-inch. They are American-made and come with a guarantee for the rated power at the time of purchase.
SunPower E19 Solar Panel
SunPower E19 uses an all-back contact moncrystalline design. Its cell efficiency is rated at 19.5 percent. A single panel produces a maximum of 318 watts at 5.82 amps. It comes with a 10-year limited product warranty and a 25-year limited power warranty. Its surface is built to resist 1-inch hail and 52 mph winds. The panel can operate in temperatures as low as -40 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. It has a footprint of 61 by 41.2 inches and is only 1 4/5 inches thick.
Sharp 235 Watt
Sharp's 235 watt residential panel has a module efficiency of 14.4 percent. It designers gave it an all black frame and back-sheet to provide superior aesthetics on your roof. This panel incorporates an advanced cell texturing process to improve efficiency. It can operate from -40 to 198 degrees Fahrenheit and has a dimensions of 39-by-64 1/2 inches and a thickness of 1 4/5 inches. Sharp has been researching solar energy since the 1960s and it has incorporated everything it has learned into this panel.
Kyocera KD 200-60 P
Kyocera has been building solar modules since 1975. The surface treatment minimizes the surface reflection and maximizes output and Kyocera panels achieved a conversion efficiency of 16 percent, as of 2011. It deploys a polycrystalline module that can produce up to 235 watts. The panel has dimensions of 39 by 65 2/5 inches and is supported by all the major mounting structure manufactures.
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