Solar Power Kits | Solar Energy Use in RV, Boat, Campers & Homes

Solar power kits ... Now that more and more people are becoming aware of the advantages and capabilities solar power, many are deciding to "go solar". In the last few years a number of companies have introduced solar power kits onto the market. These kits are tailor made for different power requirements and it is a prerequisite to know exactly what your power needs is going to be. You will also have to find out just how much Sun power falls to Earth per square meter in the area where you live. This is known as the insolation. With these two figures it is possible to work out what power kit to go for. Kits are available not only for houses, but also for campers, boats etc. A starting point when contemplating the purchase of a solar power kit should always be the careful listing of all appliances you are likely to be using on the system.

But what exactly is a solar power kit? What does it consist of? There are several different parts to a kit, and each one is essential but by itself is useless. There is no point in trying to drive a car with no wheels or with no gas in the tank. Let me go through the different parts of the system that you would expect to see.

Firstly there are the solar panels. The solar panels consist of a number of photovoltaic cells joined in series so as to produce an electric current when pointed at the Sun. Panels may be joined together in series or parallel in order to give a greater voltage or current or both, depending on your requirements. The next important part of the system is the DC Controller - this controls how much of the DC current produced by the solar panels is sent to the batteries. It will also switch power into the Grid (if necessary) when there is a surplus as well as switching off the charging at night thus preventing a current being fed back to the panels and by doing so damaging them.

I have mentioned the batteries, and these are the next important part of the whole system. The batteries send DC current to an inverter which converts the current to 120-volts AC suitable for home use. Finally there is a distribution box, which contains circuit breakers and distributes the AC around the house.  Most solar power kits come fully certified so that they are acceptable by the local authorities.