Balcony solar panels — one-year results
Using renewable energy is a popular trend in the 21st century. But how it really works? The best way to get an answer is to build such a system and to test it on their own. I bought two 160 Watt panels and installed them on my balcony. Results and details you will see in this article.
Before we begin, an important note: I live in Europe, in the Netherlands. In other countries and continents, energy export laws (and also a city grid voltage) can vary. This article is presented for information purposes only. I would appreciate it if somebody will repeat similar experiments on their own, but please check your local laws and contact professionals, if needed, before doing any electrical work. The author shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this article.
General Information
As we know, there are two main principles of using solar power.
- Store the energy in batteries.
- Feed the energy directly to the power grid.
The first method is perfect when we need an autonomous energy source that can work without external electricity, i.e. when there is either no electricity at all, or it is irregularly supplied. In this case, solar energy is charging a large array of batteries. A special inverter is converting the DC battery voltage (usually 24 or 48V) to a “normal” 230/120V…
