Solar panels or photovoltaic panels? Which solution to choose?

Solar panels or photovoltaic panels? Which solution to choose?

Solar panels or photovoltaic panels? Which solution to choose?

Solar panels and photovoltaic cells are very often confused, although the principle of their operation is quite different. What they have in common is that they are used to capture solar energy and convert it into a useful form for us (heat or electricity). From a practical point of view, this results in some very important similarities.

Energy from the sun – the common part.

The amount of energy we get from a solar system depends on several factors. These are common to both systems built with solar panels and photovoltaic panels.

The area of the collectors or panels.

Having more collectors or panels, we use the sun’s radiation falling on a larger area. Of course we get more energy. However, increasing the collector area does not always make sense. Firstly, it increases costs. Secondly, an oversized installation with liquid collectors causes problems in the summer, if we have no way to use the large amount of heat produced then. Thirdly, a large installation means higher investment costs. Oversizing may “kill” the economic sense of solar energy.