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SOLAR PANEL

A laundromat in California with solar hot water panels on the roof.
A laundromat in California with solar hot water panels on the roof.

The term solar panel may refer either to a photovoltaic array, a collection of solar cells used to generate electricity, or to a flat solar thermal collector, such as a solar hot water panel, used to generate solar hot water or otherwise collect solar thermal energy. In both cases, the panels are typically flat, and a few meters in height and width, and are ideally sized for easy installation, and are priced so that they find typical use in domestic or light industrial applications.

Solar thermal panels are more economically viable at the moment than solar photovoltaic panels. Recently there has been a resurgence in development towards large scale energy production in parts of the world with significantly high insolation levels; solar panels are the primary component of most solar power generating facilities.

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