First would be how much you are willing to spend. Panels are rated according to how much electricity they can generate at the sunniest point of the day. For example, the standard system of 1kWh panels is about $4000 with the government rebates. While if you are willing to spend just $500 more, you’ll get a bigger system of 1.5kWh. That’s a half more of electricity generated compared to what you would have been getting on the $4000 system. Not to mention, the more feed-in tariffs you have, the faster the system gets paid off.

And a second factor would be the amount of electricity used in your home or office. More appliances mean more electricity used. Try to measure the amount of power used in your home to determine which system would cover all appliances used at home if you are depending solely on solar power.

The beautiful sun shining on the land down under does more than just brighten up the day. One of the most effective sources of renewable energy is solar power. Tapping into this energy source can generate electricity that’s just as good as traditional methods of acquiring power but has just about zero waste. With ever-advancing technology as well, solar power systems are becoming more and more accessible to the general public.

The heat in the air generated by the sun’s heat may also be used. Some solar energy systems have the ability to capture this heat to make hot water. That would save up to 75% of heating costs for a single home.

This renewable source of energy also comes free! The solar power system is a one-time purchase and install. These come with great rebates given by the government since it is all for promoting a cleaner and more efficient way of producing electricity. Once the system is in place you can even get paid for giving back the energy not used through feed-in tariffs.

You’ll make a great impact on giving your wallet a break on electric bills and making your carbon footprint smaller. It’s a win-win decision that you can have now!

Solar power:

• Helps to beat rising energy costs.
• Offers immediate savings on your electricity bill.
• Allows you to become energy neutral and never pay an electricity bill again.
• Reduces your carbon footprint and helps to save the environment.
• Requires no fuel.
• Has no moving parts.
• Produces NO emissions.
• Generates NO waste.
• Minimised impact on land use and ecology.
• Reduces dependence on coal and oil – conserving fossil fuels.
• Requires low maintenance.
• Reduces your carbon footprint.
• Saves carbon emissions — solar power alone can reduce approximately 8.5 tons of CO₂ per household per year which equates to taking 3 cars off the road.

Some think of these as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of solar panels. They are the oldest technology, and the most expensive to make, but they have the highest efficiency.

These can get 10-12% efficiency in the real world.

They are made from wine-bottle sized single silicon crystals and sliced up like salami to make the individual wafers. Each circular wafer has its sides cut square and the solar panel is made up of a matrix of these wafers laid flat like tiles on your bathroom floor.

They are the most tried and trusted technology and have very slow degradation – typically losing 0.25 – 0.5% per year.

Here’s what they look like.

2. Poly Crystalline (also called multi crystalline)

These panels are also sliced from long cylinders of silicon, but the silicon used is multi-crystalline which is easier to make. You can clearly see the crystals which are about 10cm diameter.

The are very similar to single-crystalline in performance and degradation, except they are slightly less efficient, typically 10-11%.

3. String Ribbon

This is a relatively new technique that uses less energy than the 2 above. They drag a pair of metal strings through a thin film of molten silicon and it creates a ribbon of silicon that doesn’t need to be sliced or diced any further.

Efficiency is 8-9%, and degradation performance is as the poly and mono-crystalline panels. The lower efficiency means a panel that is approx 30% bigger though.

4. Thin Film or Amorphous

This production technique sprays the silicon onto a base as a thin film. It is a very new technique, so its 20 year performance can only be estimated! One company guarantees less than 20% degradation over 20 years, which compares with 10% for the above 3 types of panel.

The production process is more energy efficient than any of the other panel types, so the cells are typically cheaper for the same rated power. But they are only 5-7% efficient so they are typically nearly twice the size, so you need a biggish roof!

Being in Australia and in the climate we are in every house will only benefit from Panel 1. Single Crystalline (also called mono crystalline). These Panels have the highest efficiency. All Solar Fever Packages come with high quality Sunny Roo Mono Crystalline Panels and are as “tough as nails”.