Some Facts About Solar Energy As the raining season comes upon us again certain conditions are peculiar to our society. Amongst them are frequent outage of power coupled with the ever increasing cost of fuel, an independent source of power is becoming more appealing despite the cost involved. It might surprise you to know solar electricity has been around since 1839. Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect, this is the ability to create an electric current from the sun’s rays. Then, Russell Ohl invented the first solar panel cell in 1941 and the first commercial panel was put out by Bell Laboratories in 1954. Between 1839 and now the efficiencies of solar panels has obviously increased producing power without direct sunlight even if the sun’s not directly beaming on the panels and cloudy days. However, the direction you place your panels matters, and shade from trees and buildings should should be taken into consideration before installation. Solar energy can power an entire home from 0.8KVA all the way to 50KVA and beyond. Today, most installed systems are designed to match your daily energy consumption needs including a/c, washing machine, fridge and deep freezer. Through Net metering you'll have access to the energy you need. You can add battery of various capacity to your system and have your own personal backup supply of solar energy.