Making Electricity with Solar Energy

Electricity can be made directly from the sun using photovoltaic solar panels that are made from a very pure grade of silicon. This technology has improved and come down in price.

Electricity is a premium fuel source that has a high environmental cost as well as a high price.

It is our opinion that electricity should not be used for simple tasks that require heat, such as space heating or the production of domestic hot water. These uses require a lot of energy and they should be done with solar thermal collectors or other energy sources. Electricity should be reserved for those uses where the high quality of electricity is truly needed and where its high cost is justified.

A plan whereby solar thermal collectors make heat energy for space heating and domestic hot water while photovoltaic solar collectors make electricity for computers, illumination and small electric motors generally works out best.

Radiantec does not currently work with solar generated electricity, but we would highly recommend Solar Works, Inc. for these projects. They have offices in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In addition, they have worked all over the world.