Solar Power
Innovative Power Systems (IPS Solar) has listed the following uses for solar heating in a residential setting:

     - Hot water
     - Washers & Dryers
     - Furnace / Boilers
     - Floor Heating
     - Indoor Swimming Pool
     - Hot tub or Jacuzzi
Uses of Solar Heating
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Solar Electric System
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IPS (2006) suggests that solar panels be located toward the most southern side of the building, because "the sun is always in the south sky" in the United States and the sun is higher in the sky during the summer.  IPS (2006) posted that "a residential sized system can require anywhere from 300 to 1,000 square feet of roof space to mount the collectors." 
The Sun's Yearly Path versus Solar Panel Location
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Photovoltaic (PV): technical term referring to solar electric, with "photo" meaning "light" and voltaic meaning "electric"


When exposed to light, silicon emits a number of electrons proportional to the intensity of the light (i.e. the element releases a larger number of electrons when it is exposed to a greater (brighter) intensity light) (IPS, 2006).  Silicon is the element contained within a PV cell and the element is packed into a metal grid which forms a path for the electrons to travel, each cell producing roughly 1.5 watts of electricity. A module, also referred to as a solar panel, can be thought of as a type of energy quilt, which is composed of numerous patches of silicon cells. An array is a parallel compilation of modules.
The diagram below displays this "PV network".
Solar Cells
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