Solar Power

Solar power is very popular these days, lots of advice gets thrown around, the professionals immediately start talking about kilowatts because that's what pays their wages, but the amateur bottom end seems to me to be badly served. So I thought I'd write these pages as my take on solar power for the little people. This isn't about being grid tied, that's professional territory and quite rightly to. I also don't like high voltages, so that's avoided where I can. There aren't any advertisements or hobby horses, just as much simple factual information as I can put down, but there will be hand offs to more expert webpages for anyone who wants to 'deep dive'.

To break it down by section, not all of which will be finished yet. 

Solar Cells

Just the basics of where solar power originates 

Solar Panels

A step up from just the one cell

Simple Solar Systems

Some basic solar power systems that work 

Energy Storage and batteries

A bit about batteries because solar only generates when there is sufficient light and not always when you need power.

Grid Tied

Eeeek, I said I wouldn't, but this is just to explain what happens in a lot of small installations

PWM or Pulse Width Modulation

A little bit about what this is and what it's doing

MPPT or Maximum Power Point Tracking

A piece about this snake oil technology and help avoid some of the pitfalls of this abbreviation. Really it can be quite neat, or it can be frustratingly expensive.