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anim8er2 asked in Environment · 1 decade ago

Has anyone combined two different solar panels into one?

I have seen two types of solar panels made. Photo voltaic and water heating. Has anyone combined the two? Silicon cells are not 100% efficient, so why not capture the leftover heat as well? It may take a little engineering to do, but it should be pretty simple. That way, more of the sun's energy could be captured for a given surface area.

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    I don't see why not . Solar cells do create allot of heat maybe place them on some kind of corrugated plastic sheeting with a 12 volt pump to circulate the water at a set temperature. Being that the sheeting is in the back of the cells you wouldn't lose any sun light . You wouldn't wont to put any pressure in it just just gravity fed that would be ample for taking a shower or clothes washing . Maybe you should design it and put it on ebey .I would buy it .

  • 1 decade ago

    The one downside to doing this is that most of the energy will be absorbed by the water, and very little (if any) radiation will be generated. Also, I assume you will need to coat the silicon, because the dissolved gases in the water will wreak havoc on a photovoltaic cell.

    That being said, if there is a need to cool the photovoltaic cell, you could use water, and draw the heated water off for other use. There will still be two things to consider though. First, you have to be sure that dissolved solids that might come from a leak that could spring up in the hybrid solar panel will not be too toxic, and second, you need to be sure that the protective coating you use does not absorb too much light itself, which would obviously reduce efficiency of the photovoltaic component of the cell. Also, trying to do water and electricity at the same time also presents a hazard if a leak causes an electrical shock to be delivered to someone taking a shower.

    If you get over these hurdles, you could create a hybrid energy system for your house where you hook the solar components to an electric line and a conventional water heater. I think the overall idea is a good one.

  • 4 years ago

    Guide To Solar Power - http://solarpower.siopu.com/?quv

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    they have all forms of turbines and particular some are sufficiently vast to tun the completed living house,,,, no image voltaic panels mandatory!!! despite if, you may undergo in strategies the value of gas would be severe,, they run on petrol, diesel, butane

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