Solar Power Energy
It has become a reliable alternative to regular power sources in remote areas. It has even been used in outer space. Solar power is used in homes, lighting, architectural projects, and cooking.
It has become even more popular as the cost of fossil fuel continues to rise. Solar panels are designed to collect the power from the sun.
Once solar energy is collected by the solar panels it has to be converted into energy. This can be done by a process called solar thermal application.
It involves using the energy from the sun to directly heat air or liquids. The process of photoelectric application involves the use of photovoltaic cells to change the energy into electricity.
Solar power poses no harm to the environment. However, other threats to the environment may affect the ability to use solar power in the future. Global dimming is the result of pollution. It allows less sunlight to reach the surface of the Earth.
A recent concern is global dimming, an effect of pollution that is allowing less sunlight to reach the Earth's surface. Global dimming is caused by pollution particles and global warming.
The Solar Electric Power Association is an organization of electric utility companies and the solar industry. They joined together to find solutions to meet our energy needs.
SEPA is a network of more than one hundred companies. Fifty are utility companies, twenty five are solar companies, and the rest are various types of businesses. They share experiences, knowledge, and information about solar programs, They also discuss policies and technology relating to their field.
Is solar energy right for you? There are advantages to using this as a safe alternative to fossil fuel. Solar energy is free. It can be used in areas where electricity can't be set up easily.
The sun is not a resource that is going to be depleted. Disadvantages are that it doesn't work at night. The cost of creating solar power stations to store such energy is very expensive. In some area of the world, solar energy just isn't an option because the climate does not receive enough sun light.
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The Uses of Solar Energy
The earth receives more energy from the sun in one hour than the power requirement of the world for the whole year.Solar energy is free, renewable, clean and sustainable. We know how to harness it and we know where to use it best. Below are the different uses of solar energy.
Grid-Tied Residential Homes
Solar energy can be used hand in hand with your current electricity provider. This is ideal to those who live in places where sunlight does not shine year round, to those who live in areas where electricity is cheap and to those who just want to use solar energy as a backup to their existing source of power. The idea is that if you have 2 sources of power, you can get uninterrupted power supply all the time.
One of the benefits of having a grid-tied solar energy system at home is that you can turn your electric meter backwards. This happens when you produce more energy than you use. The excess power that your system generates is sent out to the grid, which will be used by other households. As a result, your electric meter turns backwards and your electric provider will pay you for the amount of energy your system has produced.
Homeowners can use solar energy in producing electricity to power security lights around the house's perimeter. Since these types of lights consume as much as 5 times more power than the household's daily energy requirement, opting for solar energy system is very reasonable.
Solar power system may not be used to answer the entire power requirement of the household. Sometimes it is used to power particular equipment such as lighting, water pumping, cooking and water heating or other equipments that consume the most amount of energy.
Corporate Buildings
To save on electric bills, many companies and building owners install PV cells on their atria. On large industrial buildings, PV cells can be installed on rooftops. While the initial cash out is expensive, the amount of savings the system produces over the years will pay for itself.
Off-Grid Homes
If you have a cabin house or a farm house located far from the power grids, a solar power system can be your best source of electricity. Also, it is ideal if you need to power stand-alone sensing equipment and remote telemetry. Holiday homes that receive a substantial amount of sunlight can also benefit on this system.
Community halls, schools, clinics and other buildings that are not connected to any grid lines can use PV cells to generate power from the sun.
Signs and Street lights
Lights to brighten our street and street signs consume large amount of energy. This energy is drawn from electric providers that use conventional fossil fuels. To reduce the demand for this type of energy source, signs and street light can be installed with solar power systems that store power during the day and use it to light the streets at night. Many cities have solar panels attached to their street lights to save money and reduce fossil fuel burning.
Other Recreational Application
RVs and marine vehicles require small amount of power which are drawn from its engine. This consumes fuel and emits greenhouse gases. To reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases emission, owners prefer charging their batteries with solar panels.
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The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence through Solar, Wind, Biomass and Hydropower (Mother Earth News Wiser Living)
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Product Description
Solar Power is not just a buzzword anymore. It is a viable way for you to save time and money, while at the same time make a conscious effort to save the environment and the planet.
Solar power has been revolutionized and new technology is allowing it to not only power your home, but to power personal devices such as cell phones, personal entertainment systems, and other electronic devices that you could use in virtually any situation. In this e-book you will learn how to make, and how you can put this type of technology in your life to save not only the environment but money.
Solar Energy - New Discoveries
The day may not be far off when the use of solar energy becomes a norm.There is now a deep conviction among experts that given a few years time, solar power will be in high demand that the cost will go down, inexpensive enough to undercut the prices of oil-generated electricity.
Previous predictions that it will still happen in a decade may no longer be true. The anger generated by the recent prices in oil and its vulnerability to market forces and other events may have already been enough to polarized people, governments and scientific communities into seriously considering a reliable alternative energy source.
You can not get a source more reliable than the sun. Even today homes that uses its power does not only benefit from the silent, energy generating, inexhaustible power of the sun, it also spikes up the prices of their homes. Those that have solar powered homes are even reimbursed for the surplus power that they supply to the power grid.
Presently, heliostats, photovoltaic cells and plate collectors are being used to collect the energy by focusing these panels towards the sun or constructing and installing the panel's on spots where the sun shines most. Development in technology as we all know often has a snowball effect. It never stops rediscovering and reinventing that the speed of development could often be surprisingly fast.
Today, a polymer foil, thin as a sheet of paper and lighter by 200 times when compared to the regular glass collecting plates, are being developed. Chances are, these new inventions and discoveries could very well have a great potential for mass production. Previously, the glass-based materials used for heat collection need expensive substrates and require additional support for mounting due to its weight. The polymer foil, being very light could now be attached even to the walls of a structure.
So confident are scientists in the development of this technology that while the polymer foil is being developed, a plastic solar cell, based on nano technology is gaining breakthroughs. This plastic material can collect the power of the sun even on a cloudy day through harnessing the infrared rays is believed to be five times more efficient than the current technology.
While plastic materials for harnessing the power of the sun are not new, it is only recently that this plastic composite could harvest the infrared portion. Previously, only the visible rays are generated, the infrared part, which is half of the power of the sun, is invisible.
Currently, the best plastic solar cells could only harness 6% of the suns energy, with further study and development, this new plastic solar cells are expected to harness 30% of the suns solar power.
Scientists and researchers alike agree that ultimately, solar farms will be harnessing all our energy requirements and costs of power will drop. Today the price of solar powered energy is about 3 to 4 times per kilowatt hour compared with conventional electricity. That could change dramatically though the development of the existing technology and recent discoveries.
The roller pressed flexible plastic materials and the polymer foil are only two of the best hopes in arriving at a cleaner, greener and safer environment that could ultimately free the planet from its dependency on the depleting supply of oil.
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Saving Energy with Proper House Insulation
Why is efficient home insulation good for saving energy?Almost half of your electric bill goes to regulating the temperature of your home. Thus if you want to save on your electric bills, the best place to start is your home's insulation system.
Insulation is important to minimize or eliminate the heat exchange/loss inside your house. Good insulation keeps the interior warm during winter and cold during hot summer days. A well-insulated house allows your heating and cooling systems to effectively work as needed. Proper insulation can save as much as 10% of your monthly electric bill.
Meanwhile, if your house has leaks or if it has insufficient insulation, air will pass through; and heat exchange will occur on areas where insulation is inadequate. This results to heat loss. And because a house with leaks and insufficient insulation requires more power to regulate its temperature, energy consumption will likely increase.
Where to insulate?
Areas of the house including the switches, power outlets, plumbing fixtures, walls, windows, doors, ceilings, floors, basement, crawl spaces and attic should be properly insulated.
Insulation Tips
Make sure that you consider factors such as building design, budget and climate when selecting the R-values of the insulation materials. Use the proper R-values insulating materials for particular parts of the house.
Consider parts of your house such as the attic, floors, kitchen, bathroom, windows, walls, door and other parts where heat loss are more likely to happen. Use the required insulation materials on these parts to effectively control the temperature.
Sunk-lights can be a source of heat loss but you need to be careful on how close you place the insulation next to these fixtures. Check with your local building codes for reference.
When constructing a home, check on some construction materials that provide both structural support and good insulation.
Follow the product instruction when installing the insulation. Product instructions are the best source of information on how to maximize the use the products.
More Energy Saving Tips
Reduce your light consumption. Some lights produce heat that affects the temperature of the house.
Keep your temperature sensor away from hot materials like stove, oven, lights and other appliances that emit heat to get accurate temperature reading for effective heat regulation.
If the temperature outside is comfortably warm or cold, turn off your heating or cooling system. During heat season, open the drapes of the south-facing windows to allow natural light to enter your home. Close it at night to prevent cool winds from coming in. During winter, keep the drapes and shades closed to help reduce heat loss.
Buy energy-efficient products that will help minimize heat loss and reduce power consumption. Find a reputable contractor and ask advice on good heating and cooling equipment to buy.
During winter, adjust your thermostat at the lowest comfortable level; during summer, highest comfortable level.
Minimize the use of heat generating appliances to reduce the use of cooling system and save on electric bill.
A well-insulated house is like a well-sealed refrigerator. Lesser heat loss means lesser power consumption; and more heat loss means the motor will work harder to maintain the desired interior temperature and thus more energy consumed.
Saving energy means saving money. Make sure that you routinely check your house for leaks and holes and replace or repair leaking parts as soon as you discover them.
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The Benefits of Solar Power Energy
Utilizing solar energy or the power coming from the sun's rays has many benefits. Let us take a closer look on each of them.*Solar energy saves money.
In 2006, we saw the highest jump on residential electric rate. In some areas of the country, as much as 60% increase was seen. Many experts agree that the trend will likely to continue in the years to come. This means that you have to pay larger sum of cash to sustain your monthly electric consumption. But if you produce your own power, you can prevent paying the high cost of energy - especially now when energy prices are very unstable.
On a larger scale, if American households switch to other types of alternative energy including solar energy, the nation's spending on imported oil will greatly decrease.
*Solar energy is environment-friendly.
The issue of global warming will not go away. So if you want to do your part to save this planet, drawing your power requirement from the sun will make a great difference.
Solar energy is sustainable and renewable unlike gas, coal and oil that most utility companies use. It does not produce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury or carbon dioxide as byproducts so it doesn't pollute the air. Since it doesn't emit greenhouse gases, it doesn't contribute to global warming.
Using solar energy reduces demand for fossil fuel and reduces the nation's dependence on foreign energy sources.
*Government gives incentives to those who use alternative form of energy.
Many are discouraged to install solar electric systems because of the initial cost of the project. But, some states like California offers federal tax credits as much as $2000 and up front rebate that covers 20% to 30% of the total system cost. These offers are relatively good considering the substantial increase of energy cost in recent years.
Note: Due to the increasing number of households who want to switch into alternative forms of energy, the incentive levels decline. Check with your state government the rates it offer if you are going to make a switch.
*Solar power systems are dependable and require little or no maintenance.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells that are used in solar power systems are capable of providing electricity for a very long time. Originally developed for space use, PV cells require little or no maintenance. The proof is, most satellites orbiting earth use PV cells that are in harsh environment, not maintained but are still working properly. The manufacturers of solar panels can give as much as 25-years warranty. Talk about quality and dependability.
*Solar energy helps improve the quality of life.
Saving the planet one watt at a time if done collectively will help reduce the effects of global warming. It will also reduce demand on coal, oil or gas power plants that emit harmful gases. In turn, using solar power helps clean the air and improves the quality of life of every individual.
*Solar energy can reduce demands for other non-biodegradable materials.
For utility companies to distribute power to every home, they need materials necessary in building these systems of power lines like electric cable and steel. These require energy to produce and contribute to greenhouse gases emissions. If we can cut the demand for power plant and switch into alternative energy, we can also reduce the demand for these materials and help the environment.
Solar Power Energy Bargains to check out
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Reader Feedback
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- HenryE HenryE Jun 13, 2009 @ 11:47 am
- It's nice to see other people trying to improve our energy situation. I am into geothermal energy but I know that solar is great, too. Best of luck to you!
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- alvinhan alvinhan Mar 10, 2009 @ 7:28 am
- Excellent lens! A lot of useful information.
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