Yes we can see a rise in solar panel sales in 2012 said a local company and a drop in the cost of solar power.

It's a given with the rise in fuel prices and the prices of oil staying the same if not going lower. People

are growing tired of being hosed at the gas pumps and their monthly energy bills. Things have to change, each

year more incentives are coming out for renewable energy, making it more realistic for the end user to buy he said.

Last year we installed 15 large systems of solar and wind where the customer wanted to generate their own power

saying goodbye to the utility company. In relation with our online sales at http://www.yourpowershop.com we

are doing very good with this business. The product sells itself, all we have to do is provide it for the customer.

Actually we have some of the most cost effective Grade A panels available on the market today, for monocrystalline

type we have prices as low as $2.25 per watt. The cost of solar panels are becoming more popular these days, especially

since they are becoming more mainstream. You can use them as a power backup as well removing the need to use a gas

generator when the power goes out.

Solar panels can also be used for on grid homes as well. The methods of control can utilize

every cent from solar power before it flips over to the grid. It's simple really, the sun is converted into

solar dc electricity and stored in batteries. There is then an inverter to bump it up to house power for consumption.

The trick is using a photo sunlight cell to shut a relay in series with the utility side power when there is

sunlight present. So when the sun is out you will run from solar power. At night the photo cell pulls the grid relay

shut and runs your off grid power and at the same time recharges the batteries in the event of a power outage

eliminating the need for a gas generator. During daylight hours if there is not enough sun to keep up with the solar

then a second relay is used to override the photo cell relay to top up the batteries off the grid.

This is done with a battery voltage sensor. When the batteries drop to a certain point the voltage sensor triggers

a relay tricking the larger relay into thinking its nighttime and goes to "grid mode". You can have this on a preset

timer to ensure that the system does not stay in that mode and returns to the solar. The interesting feature of

this control method is that the last cycle of solar that day will stay in solar mode until the batteries are drained.

After dark when the system flips back to grid mode to recharge the batteries it will remain in that mode until the next

morning giving the batteries a rest and leaving them fully charged in the event of a power outage.

The cycle then repeats the next day.

So as you can see the solar power takes priority over everything else in the system. It also will increase the life

cycle of your batteries. I know it sounds a bit confusing but this control method gives your solar energy home an

advantage above the rest because you are using it for multi purpose and do not have to touch a thing. The cost for

parts of this control method are approximately $500.00, if you can install it yourself and a worthwhile investment

or addition to your solar project considering what it does.