What was once an incredibly exotic piece of technology has now become almost an afterthought. Let’s face it, to most of us as kids, we all thought that converting sunlight into electricity was one of the coolest things we had ever heard of. I mean, every science class had one, and it was like, can you believe this? Free power from the sun? Just plug something into a solar panel and go!
Of course, it was never that easy, what with wires and conversion kits and such, but it sure seemed that way when we found out about what a solar cell could really do.
What, you don’t believe The Green Guy? Go on, pull out that calculator of yours, I dare ya! Notice how it doesn’t run on batteries, unless you have a model from back in the Stone Age, that is. Notice the little black panel above all the buttons on top? That, my friends, is a solar panel, and it is the only thing feeding electrical current into your calculator. They are efficient enough to even work under regular lighting, which is something to be said about modern efficiency.
You want more? Small solar trickle chargers are everywhere, Attach them through a cigarette lighter or battery leads and leave then next to a window or on a dash board. For vehicles that are parked for long periods of time, it’s a free and easy way to keep your battery fresh.
I-pod chargers, cell phone chargers, MP3 chargers, they all come as solar cell panels where all you need to do is plug something into them and go! Hmmm, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
There are many more uses, of course, but just these applications alone will keep solar cells commonplace in everyday life.