Solar Energy Guide

What kind of tax benefits will my company receive if we install solar panels/wind turbines on our land?

I am interested in the possibility of installing solar panels onto our business's buildings and I am wondering what kind of government aide/funding or tax incentives we may receive if we were to utilize solar/Wind Energy?

Some states have way better incentives than others so check out what your state offers here: http://www.dsireusa.org/ DSIRE is a database of all the incentives offered on the federal, state, and local levels.

If you don't want to sift through the DSIRE database I would recommend visiting http://www.globalsolarcenter.com/

If you visit Global Solar Center's site they will provide yo with a free solar quote and give you all the information you need regarding which incentives you will be eligible to receive, your estimated annual savings, your payback period, a cash-flow analysis, and your expected IRR. They helped me a lot when I was pursuing solar for my home as they were very informative and in the end directed me towards the smartest decision. They also offer multiple financing options to help ease the burden of the usually large upfront costs involved with solar installation.
Good Luck!

Energy Utilization Theory?

Alright, so soon I'm going to go into my Energy Utilization class. I just hand an idea while I was driving home though. On History Channel they showed Jay Leno's own power generating windmill, only it was round so it spun in a circle (Hard to describe, look it up) Well what if you put these in the bottom of an airplane? While it was high in the air it will have generated enough power to practically fly the plane itself! Along with solar panels on the top of the plane it would be perfect since at the altitude of a regular flight the sun would be much more concentrated.
Now, I know one of the big problems is weight along with ways to convert that electrical energy into usable energy for the plane, but hell, this is all just speculation.
Leave any thoughts you may have behind! I want ideas.

Any windmill draws kinetic energy out of the air to turn it into electricity.

If you stick it on a plane, the energy to push the blades through the air is provided by the engines (ie the windmill causes extra drag). Energy is conserved; this is the first law of thermodynamics.

The second law of thermodynamics is that no process is 100% efficient at doing work (eg spinning the blades to make electricity), so you'd lose some energy as heat.

By attaching the windmill, you'd add drag to the plane and generate less power than it takes to overcome the drag. Your plane would be less efficient!

Solar panels are sensible though, since they don't add drag, they just utilise the energy of the photons.

What are the best examples of renewable energy being put to good use in the real world?

I'm writing a report for school on the future of renewable energy (including wind, water, solar, geothermal, and bio fuel), and want to give some real world examples of how renewable energy is being used effectively today. What strikes you as some of the best real world examples you've seen or heard of?

Geothermal energy used in Iceland. Iceland's many geysers and hot springs make it an excellent location for geothermal energy.

Niagara Falls and Hoover Dam, provide a ton of electrical power.

The PEW Bloomberg 2009 report "was released last week throwing up a major surprise. In clean energy investments it was again China all the way, leapfrogging US and other G20 nations to the pole position. Whereas Chinese investment in clean energy jumped by 50% from $23.1 billion to $32 billion, American investment in renewable energy fell by 42% to $18.6 billion due to recessionary pressure.

In terms of comparative growth as a percentage of GDP, Spain led from the front investing five times as much in renewable energy, while China and UK invested almost three times more than US. Though China and U.S. are now neck to neck in leadership race in installed capacity, Spain is rapidly catching up and should be the world leaders in two years time, way ahead of the bigger nations.

China's growth in renewable energy has been based largely on wind farms, and to some extent biomass and solar energy, while the Spanish growth has been spectacular due to the advances made in Solar energy. Several large projects in solar power are on the verge of being commissioned, which is expected to propel Spain up the ladder to the top spot before 2012.
However the big additions to alternate energy as per Bloomberg New Energy Finance is expected to be made after 2010. Clean energy investments across the world, is expected to jump by 25% to over $200 billion, as per Bloomberg forecasts and almost 40% will be made by emerging economies. One of the reasons for this investment is the rising price and high volatility of conventional energy, especially oil in the international markets.

After the failure of the Copenhagen conference, it has become apparent that no nation would wait for the political leaderships to provide initiative in clean energy technologies. Instead of waiting for any agreement like the Kyoto pact, the manufacturers of renewable energy products from the G7 are on their own moving to the energy deficient, cash rich emerging economies and snapping up large deals. So Abengoa of Spain, Sharp of Japan and First Solar of the US, Vestas and Gamesa wind turbines from Europe have already struck up alliances in China and India for future markets, whose effects will be visible in times to come.

Posted on 10-Jul-2011

The importance and advantages of solar energy and its uses were not even declined in prehistoric times. Sunlight helps plants to generate food for them during the process of photosynthesis. Solar power energy free of cost energy source helped people store their food for longer when refrigerators were not in use, people used it for killing germs in clothes and most importantly this useful star provides us vitamin D to support healthy growth of our bones. Nowadays the practices of using solar energy are changing as it has been identified as an inexpensive way to produce electricity.

The way Solar Energy is Stored

Producing electricity from sun is also termed as a renewable solar energy source. Renewable energy source refers to all those energy sources other than traditional biofuels. Solar energy is of many uses. When the process of generating electricity was under consideration, the major challenge was to store solar energy to be used later in night, storms and rains. Hence useful devices like solar panels, solar heating systems and solar cells supported this immense challenge. Solar energy can be used unless we have sun. Hence all the solar power applications can help us utilize solar energy rays to produce electricity for supporting personal, domestic and industrial applications. Now it is possible to store solar energy in batteries which are attached to the solar powers panels. The electricity generated through solar energy process can be used with or without traditional utility grids. Another experiment carried at the red sea demonstrated that solar energy can also be stored in the beds of salt to support solar heating systems.

Cost Effective Solar Power Plants

Another crucial advantage of solar power energy is the production of electricity in a very cost effective way. Cost effective solar plants are considered low cost because they provide quick and efficient way to generate electricity in few hours. To produce electricity from solar energy has to deploy a solar panel with a back up battery set hence the solar power system is ready to provide you electricity for power supported devices. Solar power energy is considered cost effective because it has replaced the most expensive energy sources like oil and natural gas. Solar energy is free and it is abundant therefore there is no need to buy solar energy. Hence even domestic user's can operate and make their own solar power houses deploying in house solar power energy systems. Also there is no maintenance cost attached to these solar power houses. There is an array of solar power applications which enables you to fulfill your power needs. These applications include solar cells, photovoltaic and many more.

Other Advantages of Solar Power
The solar power is environment friendly and so as the solar power houses has their own advantages. Other applications like solar cars, solar cells and even solar generators do not pollute the environment at all. Solar power plants neither release harmful gases nor the noise into the environment. The use of solar cookers has helped the people to decreases the widespread cutting of trees for the purpose of fuel. Solar energy is free and is not the property of any one. Solar power plants are easy to install and maintain. Solar energy source is inexhaustible unlike other sources of energy and solar power energy can support unlimited applications from power house to simple calculators. Solar heating systems help to generate steam for industrial uses. Solar rays are used to purify water from impurities. Solar power energy can be used alone or with other renewable energy sources to generate electricity. Solar power energy can be combined with wind mills and hydroelectric power plants. The threat of global warming and pollution has forced us to switch to renewable energy sources because they are environment friendly and abundant. The scarcity and cost of non renewable energy sources like oil can be brought down only if we emphasize on the energy alternatives like solar power.

Solar Power Energy Disadvantages
Posted on 14-July-2011

Sun is present only in the day time. Hence the energy of sun can be best utilized in day only. All the storage devices like batteries and updraft towers work well in day. However as the sun sets the photons (packets containing sunlight) start to disappear and the working of the solar panels plus the batteries start to decline. All the solar power storage devices need steady and consistent flow of solar light and heat in order to work efficiently. Therefore still it is difficult to store solar power energy for electricity generation in night. The inefficacy of solar power systems in night has narrowed its use. Hence when there is no sun there is no power supply.

Expensive Solar Power Projects
The solar power projects are initially very uneconomical. Solar panels are expensive and so is the back up storage systems. This is the reason why solar power energy is disadvantageous for domestic users to make use of solar energy. The major disadvantage of using solar power is associated with the absence of sun in night. However in order to overcome this challenge satellite are sent into the orbit which can utilize solar energy at any time of day irrespective of the day night and whether changes. No matter this can resolve the problem of interrupted energy supply but this satellite is really very expensive. This system can only be deployed only if it becomes common and inexpensive to use. Moreover the battery life of solar devices is very low. Single solar panel does not generate enough electricity to support power usage. An array of photovoltaic power systems is required to support this system. Hence it is not feasible for small or medium businesses only large industrial unit's can make use of it. Hence the cost advantages offered by solar panels are practically useful only to industry so far. Solar energy panels are used in bulk to fulfill the energy needs of any specific applications.

Posted on 16-July-2011

When we build solar panels there are many technical considerations involved. First of all the solar panel is made up of combination of two or more than two conductive materials. Only an expert who has the skill and knowledge to combine phosphorous, copper and silicone can make the panel. Another technical consideration is that while we install this solar panel it should be installed in an angle to sun, so that it can receive sunlight directly.

Solar panels also require some protective shield like glass so that factors other than photon cannot destroy it ability to perform. However the reality is that sun rays do not only possess heat and light energy but also harmful ultraviolet rays. The ultraviolet rays and other seasonal changes reduce the efficiency of the solar panels to work properly. Solar energy systems are always dependent upon some back up support system. In most cases solar power systems are dependent on batteries and on windmills.

The use of solar panels is limited to due to initial cost associated with its equipment. The rapid development on solar energy technologies would make this cost a minor consideration when deploying this system at home. Solar energy power systems can be deployed to areas where there is enough barren land to install solar panels. The large cities where usually there is no free land this system is hard to implant. The use of solar energy would become common only if the equipment become inexpensive and more efficient to use.