Solar panels can be used to change the vast power from the sun to another kind of usable energy. In general the energy that results will be in the form of heat (to heat water for example) or electricity that might be used to power anything from a battery to a whole neighborhood.In this commentary we are going to write about the bigger residential and commercial panels that are designed to generate power for the whole home or business, where these solar panels are typically placed on the top of the roof or close to the home if space allows. We are also going to focus our discussion on the kind of panels that generate electrical power known as Photovoltaic panels.Solar panels are a terrific way to reduce electricity costs and to cut your carbon footprint, and to become more self-sufficient. They are now becoming very popular in dense urban areas where clean power advocates and law makers are creating incentives for this green and quiet alternative energy source. The state of New York, for example, has been offering large rebates on the up-front expense in acquiring and implementing a residential solar system.Once the system is up and running, power from the unit is used to energize the residence, or, when power is being made in excess of demand, diverted back to the grid, where it is bought back by the electrical power company. There may actually be situations where you are actually making money from your system. With rebates factored into the initial cost it will generally take from sixteen to twenty-four years to recoup the initial investment, at which time you will essentially be generating power from sunlight at no cost.One little-known fact, however, is that solar systems are initially contributory to carbon emissions due to the fact that it actually requires an input of energy to construct a solar panel, that this energy is most often carbon-based, and front-end loaded, and therefore there is a time period during which the panel has actually contributed to greenhouse gas emissions rather than detracted from them. Until the solar panel has produced electricity equivalent to the energy used to manufacture it (its fossil-emission payback period) it is actually a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This fossil-emission payback period is generally considered to be 5 to nine years.Low power solar panels are normally available in 12 v or 14 v configurations, while high power solar panels are only available in 24 v. As solar panels are Direct Current, you will generally need a power inverter that converts the voltage from one-voltage as Direct Current into high-voltage AC to make it the same as the power that enters the home and the power grid.Conventional solar panels are manufactured using two sheets of silicon, doped with phosphorus and boron particles. Amorphous silicon solar cells are a powerful, emerging line of photovoltaics that differ in output, structure, and manufacture than traditional photovoltaics which use crystalline silicon. Another type, H-AS solar cells are manufactured in a similar way, but they are just one micrometer in depth by laying down polymorphous silicon at very intense pressures and temperatures. Solar panels are generally maintenance free and many manufacturers will supply a warranty of electrical output sometimes for as long as 30 years.Solar panels are invariably installed on whichever side of your house that gets the maximum solar exposure. In locations south of the equator this would be the north-facing side, and in places north of the equator its the south-facing side.