Thermal vs Photovoltaic Solar

There are 2 different ways of harnessing the Sun’s energy – Thermal & Photovoltaics (PV)

Thermal technology is used for harnessing the heat radiation power of the sun. Typical applications include water heating & cooling, cooking and household/building heating.

Photovoltaics is technology that harnesses the energy of the sun and converts it into electricity and as such lends itself to many more applications – any electrical device, transport, stand alone systems etc.

Thermal systems are currently far more effective than their PV counterparts. PV efficiency rarely reaches above 15% where as thermal systems typically runs at around 80% efficiency. In fact a recent lab in the U.S. has produced PV cells that operate at around 25% – but at $10,000 per square centimeter no one will buy it.

That is why at Urban Solar all our systems are Thermal – the system is far more effective and the water in our geysers have been known to reach above 100 degress centigrade !!!! – VISIT OUR SITE

So when choosing a Solar System ensure that you know what functions you need it to perform and choose accordingly.

Have a Solar Day!

www.urban-solar.co.za