Facilities

Solar power in Louisiana

Solar power plant of 35 kW on the roof of an industrial warehouse in Louisiana

Fixed panels installed on the roof of an industrial whse. and oriented towards the sun´s path.

The installation was conducted in 2008 and covers an area of 432 m2 with 162 aligned photovoltaic modules.

There are various terms used to describe solar panels, although, there are differences. Plates and panels are synonymous and may be applied to both, thermal plates (heat generating) and photovoltaic plates (electricity generating). However, modules are always photovoltaic and collectors, always thermal.

Then, there are solar concentrators, though these no longer have the form of a plate, instead, have a parabolic or semicilindrical shape. Concentrators that produce both, electricity and heat, are a recent innovation and hardly used, even, in the domestic arena. Thermoelectric concentrators are already used in power generating plants, although, they are still scarce.