Very simply put, ‘Solar energy’ is energy that is derived from the sun. Our sun is an abundant source of energy; it gives of heat and light. The sun’s been revered by several cultures of the past and even by a few cultures still present today. The ancient Egyptians even worshiped the sun as a God.
All said and done, it was not misplaced respect; the sun certainly is an abundant and limitless source of power, at least for several generations to come; the merits for using its solar energy are numerous.
It’s free
Every morning with each dawn, the solar energy released by the sun comes filtered through our atmosphere providing light and helping to radiate heat. This has been happening for millions of years yet it is only recently that we have begun to capitalize on this abundant source of almost infinite power.
In the past the Greeks and the Egyptians have been known to harness the power of the sun to heat whatever they wished to by concentrating its radiation.
It’s non-polluting
The energy from the sun is clean and free of any pollutants; unlike various sources of energy present today like petroleum or organic fuels that leave back residues and often leave back harmful gases when utilized to create energy.
Extremely reliable
The sun has been burning for roughly four and a half billion years now and is likely to burn on for another four to five billion years to come. That’s definitely more than our lifetimes and certainly more than several generations of the future. Every morning it promptly shows up and vanishes for the evening while it lights up another portion of the globe.
The saying “as sure as day” did not come about for nothing; assuming the sun is shining brightly, depending on which part of the globe you are you can harness the energy of the sun to either store it away or utilize its energy in a different way.
Limitless
There is no restriction on how much energy we can use from the sun. Apparently, the amount of energy that comes from the sun every few minutes if successfully harnessed can power the entire United States of America for a whole year. If we were only able to harness the immense energy of the sun we would be able to solve all the worlds’ energy problems.
Why
Ever wonder why no one thought about this earlier? How come if there’s so much energy just lying around, we simply cannot seem to efficiently harness it? How it that so much of the sun energy seems to go totally unnoticed and is ultimately wasted?
Well one of the reasons that this wonderful power reserve is generally wasted is the fact that the sunlight that we actually receive is so thinly dissipated across the earth to be able to contribute substantially enough if we try to harness it.
For us to be able to actually harness the power of the sun we have to be able to manipulate, focus and store the sun’s energy. While this may seem simple it is easier said than done; So far we have only managed to develop three partially successful means of collecting solar energy.
The Reflection Method – Mirrors / Parabola
The reflection method is based on the concentration of the sun’s rays through a single or a set of mirrors onto one point and then utilizing the concentrated heat energy that is produced for out need. A parabolic mirror much like a dish antenna can be used to capture the sun’s rays and focus them on a single point.
The radiation method
This is the principle behind the solar water heaters. Painted black pipes sandwiched between two layers of glass, have water inside them that is heated thanks to the rays of the sun.
Solar panels
A more recent invention the ‘solar cell’ is composed of treated silicon crystals, which when hit by the rays of the sun knock electrons out of their orbits and thereby create a void that needs to be filled by electrons from the other silicon crystals, this creates an imbalance of electrons and hence a flow of current which can be either immediately utilized or else stored away in a rechargeable battery.
What’s stopping us?
Despite the apparent benefits of using solar power it is most unfortunate that there are very few solar power plants around the world. Sadly, with today’s level of technology, cost and reliability are two major factors that are still hurdles in the way of mass usage of solar energy.
Technological limitations dictate that the most efficient solar cells created today are still not capable of generating enough power to be commercially viable without occupying huge surface areas. Furthermore, reliance exclusively on solar cells in not yet practical, for if there were to be a cloudy day it could reduce the amount of electricity generated and that would be disastrous for those people completely reliant on that energy.
On the bright side, constant innovation and research on solar energy is resulting in much more efficient solar cells that are a fraction of the size of existing cells and churn out much more power. For now they are still expensive, but not far is the day when they will be affordable and available to the common man.
Tags: Great, Harness, Power, Reasons, Solar
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Friday, August 27th, 2010
Solar power is becoming quite popular in many countries across the planet as it utilizes the energy of the sun. A solar-powered vehicle is basically an electric automobile that is powered by this renewable energy. The power is gained by the use of solar panels that are usually placed on the roof of the car. Photovoltaic (PV) cells then convert the energy from the sun straight into electrical energy. It is all a very simple process. While solar vehicles have been made, they are not considered to be practical in daily transportation use at this point in time. Most solar-powered cars are basically used as demonstration vehicles as well as research projects. However, that is not to say they will not be more popular in the future.
Solar cars are typically quite limited by energy that is input into the machine. The majority of solar cars at present have actually been manufactured for the reason of racing solar cars. However, there are some solar utility vehicles in use in various parts of the world. The cars are usually fitted with gauges that are used to indicate any possible problems. If there are not any gauges installed, the auto will probably have wireless telemetry. This lets a driver’s team monitor the energy consumption, the capture of energy as well as other parameters of the car while the driver can simply concentrate on doing the driving.
The PV cells of the cars can directly convert the light of the sun into electricity and are generally constructed of semiconductor materials including alloys of indium, nitrogen, gallium, as well as silicon. However, silicon is used most commonly used as it possesses an efficiency rate of 15 to 20 per cent.
As stated before, solar cars are generally restricted to racing and show. There are two very popular solar car races which are the North American Solar Challenge, and the World Solar Challenge. These are overland road rally-style races that are usually contested by corporate and university teams.
Racers from across the world gather in Australia to compete in the World Solar Challenge. The drivers race 3,000 kilometres across the continent. In the North American Solar Challenge, college and university teams dominate as they race in timed intervals in America and Canada, with the next event scheduled for the summer of 2010.
There is also a race for high school students that is held in America, called the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge. This is a yearly event that also attracts teams from around the world, but the majority are from the U.S. It originated in 1995. Other distance races are held, such as the Suzuka, Phaethon, which is an annual solar race that is held in Japan.
While solar power has been used to fuel motorcycles, bicycles, ships, and airplanes, it seems that cars would be the most popular form of transportation of a solar vehicle around the world and researchers are trying to develop one for everyday public use. The Solartaxi, which was the result of a project in Switzerland, has actually circumnavigated the world as it drove 50,000 kilometres in 18 and crossed 40 countries. It can travel 400 kilometres without recharging. And has a maximum speed of 90 kilometres per hour. While this is positive news, it seems a type of solar-powered hybrid car will be the next step. However, it has been reported that the 2010 Toyota Prius will have an option to erect solar panels on its roof and that Toyota is trying to develop an all-solar car.
Tags: Future, Powered, Solar, Vehicles
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Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Solar energy was used in ancient times for heating houses. It was after the discovery of the photoelectric effect and the invention of steam engine powered by solar energy that people started thinking about using solar power for running simple domestic machines, besides using it for heating purposes.
The need for using solar power for homes was seriously considered in the 20th century when it was realized that fossil fuels (coal, gas, and oil) were not inexhaustible and that electricity will be harder to generate inexpensively in future. Using solar power for homes also offers little serious impact on the environment.
Uses of Solar Power for Homes
Solar energy can be used at homes for serving various purposes. They are primarily used for running small, low-power appliances like radios, lightings, gadgets, small water pumps, and even children’s toys. Solar power can also be stored in batteries and used for lighting the house during an episode of power failure. And of course, solar power is increasingly being used for heating homes during winter.
How Home Solar Power Systems Work?
To use solar power for homes, photovoltaic (PV) panels are attached to the roof of a house such that their expanded surfaces face south for houses located in the northern hemisphere. For those in the southern hemisphere, the panels should face north to gather maximum solar energy.
The average power production of a solar cell is about 11 to 22 watt per square foot. The solar energy, when received by the panels, generates electric current in them. This current is stored in a large battery bank that is connected to the PV array through a charger controller. The DC current stored in the battery is converted to AC current (used in homes) by a DC-AC inverter for running home various appliances.
Odds against Using Solar Power for Homes
The major disadvantage that hampers the use of solar power for homes is their high cost of purchase and installation. Depending on the size of the home and the particular solar power system, it costs an average of $20,000 to $40,000 for installing a solar power system at home.
The high costs of setting up solar panels at home are due to the requirement of using pure silicon in their manufacture. Recently, however, solar-grade silicon has been derived from metallurgical silicon.
This innovation is expected to reduce the costs of installing solar power systems at home to about one-third of the current costs. Besides high costs, solar panels are not very useful in areas of little sunshine and also on cloudy days as well as after sunset.
Tags: Homes, Power, Solar, Using
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Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Solar energy was used in ancient times for heating houses. It was after the discovery of the photoelectric effect and the invention of steam engine powered by solar energy that people started thinking about using solar power for running simple domestic machines, besides using it for heating purposes.
The need for using solar power for homes was seriously considered in the 20th century when it was realized that fossil fuels (coal, gas, and oil) were not inexhaustible and that electricity will be harder to generate inexpensively in future. Using solar power for homes also offers little serious impact on the environment.
Uses of Solar Power for Homes
Solar energy can be used at homes for serving various purposes. They are primarily used for running small, low-power appliances like radios, lightings, gadgets, small water pumps, and even children’s toys. Solar power can also be stored in batteries and used for lighting the house during an episode of power failure. And of course, solar power is increasingly being used for heating homes during winter.
How Home Solar Power Systems Work?
To use solar power for homes, photovoltaic (PV) panels are attached to the roof of a house such that their expanded surfaces face south for houses located in the northern hemisphere. For those in the southern hemisphere, the panels should face north to gather maximum solar energy.
The average power production of a solar cell is about 11 to 22 watt per square foot. The solar energy, when received by the panels, generates electric current in them. This current is stored in a large battery bank that is connected to the PV array through a charger controller. The DC current stored in the battery is converted to AC current (used in homes) by a DC-AC inverter for running home various appliances.
Odds against Using Solar Power for Homes
The major disadvantage that hampers the use of solar power for homes is their high cost of purchase and installation. Depending on the size of the home and the particular solar power system, it costs an average of $20,000 to $40,000 for installing a solar power system at home.
The high costs of setting up solar panels at home are due to the requirement of using pure silicon in their manufacture. Recently, however, solar-grade silicon has been derived from metallurgical silicon.
This innovation is expected to reduce the costs of installing solar power systems at home to about one-third of the current costs. Besides high costs, solar panels are not very useful in areas of little sunshine and also on cloudy days as well as after sunset.
Tags: Homes, Power, Solar, Using
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
Whether you choose to build your own or buy a solar power system, it is a good move to switch to a clean and environment friendly energy source. In fact, renewable energy is the future trend of energy source as the world is moving toward this direction. If you plan to buy the solar power, then here are a few tips on what you should consider when making the purchases:
1. Types of solar power
Solar power can be divided into two categories: Solar thermal and solar electricity or also known as Photovoltaics. The key different between these 2 categories are: solar thermal use the heat from the sun to generate energy, while the Photovoltaics uses the light energy from the sun to generate electricity. Solar thermal is generally built into a house to reduce the use of commercial heating and cooling in order to cut down the cost.
Another common uses of solar thermal is in the hot water system, where it generates heat from the sun either in passive or active mode. The only different between the passive and active hot water system is the passive version uses convection to circulate the water; whereas, the active water heater involves a pump to circulate the water. There are many commercial companies selling hot water systems for households, but the prices can be varied in a wide range depending on it specifications. Therefore, you have to know if adding solar thermal water heating system is worth and cost effective in your situation.
2. Types of Solar Panels
Another way to use the energy from the sun is converting the sunlight into electricity to power home appliances. The conversion of light into electricity is done by a device called Photovaltaics. The Phtovaltaices are arranged into an array, called solar panel to input the sunlight and generate electricity. There are at least two types of solar panels commercially available in the market. One of them is called amorphous silicon or better known as thin film panels; another type of solar panel is made from crystalline silicon. Both types generate power from the sunlight, but crystalline silicon has 14% efficiency while amorphous silicon just has 6% of efficiency.
3. Types of solar electric system
The basic two types of solar electric systems are: stand-alone and grid-connected versions. The stand-alone solar electric system is usually being used in remote home, cabins, RVs and telecommunication systems. The system can be either operated with AC and DC power. Most home appliances operate in AC and telecommunication is run under DC mode. Different from the stand-alone system, grid-connected solar electric systems are always operated in AC. The system may or may not use batteries, but it will need to use a sine wave inverter if the incoming current is from batteries. However, solar electricity is still very expensive to average households in term of set-up and installation costs. But, fortunately there are many DIY guides available to teach those who are interested in building one by themselves on how to build a solar power system easily and with the minimum costs.
Summary
There are different solar power types that you should know if you plan to use it for any purpose. The above tips are about the differences on various types of solar power that you should take into consideration when deciding the right type for your needs.
Tags: Differences, Power, Solar, Their, Types
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