Aug
21
2011
Solar energy is one of the best forms of renewable energy. But why don’t we rely on it? The answer is simply that there are advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.
Advantages of Solar Energy
The pros of using solar energy is that the system is easy to install, there are no energy costs once it is set up, there are no emissions like air pollutants or greenhouse gas and the sun is widely available.
A solar energy system is composed of the solar panels, the inverter, battery, charge controller, wires and support structure. For you to produce a kilowatt of power, you will need 10 to 12 solar panels that will occupy an area of 100 square feet. If you are worried that this will cause damage to your roof, don’t because it is made of light weight materials.
When you call a contractor, it will usually take a day or two to install and cost around $10,000. Not that many people will have cash on hand to pay for it so they can avail of a home equity loan to pay for it.
If you use a kilowatt of solar energy, you can save 170 lbs. of coal from being burned, about 300lbs of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere or 105 gallons of water that most homeowners use up every month.
Disadvantages of Solar Power
The cons are solar cells are expensive, the rays can only be collected during the day time, the weather and where you are located will play a factor in how much sunlight you can get and you will need a big area to collect the power.
But some experts believe that price of these cells and its ability to collect power will improve in the future.
Right now, a kilowatt of solar energy can only produce 1,600 kilowatts of hours per year in sunny climate. That means you will receive 5.5 hours of electricity per day. If you produce about 750 kilowatts of power, you will only get 2.5 hours of power per day.
Other Considerations
Solar panels come in various colors and usually have a 5 year warranty. Since manufacturers are aware that solar energy can only work when the sun is out, they have installed batteries so you get more than 5 hours of power even during cloudy days and nights. This is because the batteries are designed to absorb, insulate, transmit and reflect rays coming from the sun.
But solar energy can be applied to other things and not just powering our homes. It can be used to power small devices like calculators to bigger things like planes, satellites and cars. Since these are easy to maintain, you don’t have to worry about anything.
There is a huge growth of solar energy usage in the recent months. Even IGCC series Onsite renewable energy encourages solar panels.
Here are few examples:
US Solar Energy Industry Grew by Sixty-Seven Percent in 2010
Croda installs solar panels in NJ
Harvesting Light with Nanostructures: New Crops for Silicon Devices
Now that you know the pros and cons of solar energy, the question remains, should people get into it or not? If you look at it, the answer is definitely yes because is a renewable source of energy that does not cause any harm to the environment. It will also greatly reduce our need for oil which has become a very hot issue especially when the price per barrel went up to the sky.
Aug
14
2011
You can have your entire home powered by solar energy. This article will show you how to do it.
Do you like to live in a home that is energy efficient? The good news is you can given there are technologies these days that can make that happen and one good example happens to be solar energy.
Solar energy is the process of using the sun’s radiant rays to power your home. For this to work, you will need to get some solar panels and then have this install by a contractor.
Ideally, you will need a flat area measuring about a hundred square feet. This is good to install between 10 to 12 solar panels that can produce about a kilowatt of power. You can either buy solar panels or build your own.
If you think 1 kilowatt is small, think again because this is equivalent to 1,600 kilowatts of hours per year. That translates to 5.5 hours of electricity per day if you are using it to the max. Otherwise, excess power will be stored in the battery which will help bring electricity to the house during a blackout or at night.
Aside from the solar panels, you will also need the inverter, battery, charge controller, wires and support structure. Each of these parts are important since the system will not work without the other so whoever you choose as a contractor should have everything ready prior to installation.
Once everything is set up, you can already enjoy your solar powered home. Since it requires minimal maintenance, it can last up to 20 years before you have to replace anything.
If you have a larger area to work with, why not invest in a solar thermal roof? The difference between this and the first one mentioned is that you convert the entire roof into a giant collector. It is quite expensive and takes a couple of days to complete but worth every penny.
The only reason why not that many people invest in such a system is because most roofs are not oriented towards the south with the steep pitch needed to maximize solar energy especially during the winter. You will have to do some major construction work to make this happen.
Solar energy is just one way for you to stop relying on power coming from the grid. When the sun isn’t shining, you have to be ready by preparing other ways to generate electricity. One example that can be used at home is wind energy.
Here, you use fans to collect the wind’s kinetic energy similar to windmills that you see in the farm. The only difference is that the blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity.
You just have to do some research to find out if solar energy is feasible for your home. You should know how much power you consume on a monthly basis and also where exactly is your house located. Should your study show it is possible to live on solar energy, it is best to apply for a home equity loan to pay for the installation costs because you will surely get a return on your investment later on in the form of tax credit and a utility bill that won’t exceed $10.
Now you know how to have your home powered by solar energy. So what are you waiting for? If you don’t want to rely on power from the electric company, go ahead and invest in solar energy.
Aug
11
2011
Recollecting the history of solar energy brings us back to the 1970s energy crisis and oil embargo which caused long lines in gasoline stations, high gasoline prices, and even caused panic among consumers and investors alike in the United States. Knowledge about oil being a non-renewable resource has been around since the 1800s. But it was only during and after the 70s energy crisis that people really began to realize the consequences of depending too much on an already depleting energy resource.
However, utilizing the sun’s energy is not really a recent development. It has been used by ancient civilizations for warmth, for food and crop preparations and various agricultural purposes. What’s new are the technologies involved in harnessing this energy and utilizing it for man’s daily use.
The technology began in the 1830’s when Edmund Becquerel made public his studies on how solar light can be harnessed into usable energy. However, nobody followed up on this idea nor explore any practical use. The next breakthrough on solar power came after thirty years Becquerel published his works.
In 1860s, the French Monarch commissioned Augusted Mouchout to find other sources of energy. And Mouchout looked up in the sky for inspiration. His series of solar powered contractions were quite impressive back then. His inventions included a motor that run on solar energy, a steam engine that uses the sun’s light, and an ice maker that fully rely on solar power.
After Mouchout, there were several other notable achievements in the line of solar power. Among these is the works of William Adams in the 1870s which utilized mirrors to channel the power of the sun to make a steam engine run. Adams’ power tower design concept is still in use today. Another notable work is by Charles Fritz in the early 1880s. His studies were attuned on turning sunlight into electricity, which he later accomplished.
But one of the most significant development in modern solar energy occurred in the 1950s. Early in the decade, R.S. Ohl discovered that sunlight produces large numbers of free electrons when it strikes silicon. Then in the mid-1950s Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chaplin was able to capture those free electrons and convert them in electricity. Today, silicon cells are used to make solar cells and solar panels for harnessing the sun’s energy.
Immediately these solar cells were made into good use and the first among to use them was the field of space aeronautics. These silicon based solar cells were used to power satellites that orbit the earth. The satellite Vanguard I was the first one launched out to space which rely on solar cells for power. More satellites followed.
Nowadays, more and more research and studies are being conducted on how best to utilize the sun’s energy. Especially today where it is said that about 30-50 years from the now, the world oil reserves will be totally depleted. Thus, the search for alternative sources of energy continuous. The sun is expected to die out in a couple of thousand of years, it’s to long to worry about and man can have all the sun’s energy until that day.
The challenge today is creating solar energy power in more efficient and cost effective e way. Admittedly, the costs of those photo cells are not that cheap to be accessible by most of the ordinary consumers. The movement today in the science and technology committee is to be able to provide cheap alternative source of energy.
Now you know the history of solar energy. Do you know how to use solar energy at home? If not visit this website.
Aug
4
2011
Everybody relies on the sun for its benefits. Did you know that the earth gets 174 petawatts of insolation or the incoming radiation from the sun? This happens at the upper part of the atmosphere. Almost 30% gets reflected back to the space. The rest of the percentage is being absorbed by the clouds, land masses and oceans.
The Agricultural Sector
If you can think of one industry that won’t survive without the energy coming from the sun, what will be the first thing on your mind? There may be many sectors that must rely on the sun’s benefits. But the agricultural and horticulture industry will not thrive without it. They have no other options. If the sun will be gone, these sectors will die.
The sun is need by the agricultural and horticulture departments to be able to grow their produce. The latter is needed by people as well as animals. These sectors’ productivity will depend on the amount of energy that they are getting from the sun. It must be balanced in all ways. It can never too little. And it must also not be so much.
If it is too little, the plans may not be able to grow accordingly. The farmers won’t achieve the required harvests in order to feed the population. And if it is too much, this will damage the crops. This will also cause bad effects on people’s health. But if the latter is the case, people can think of ways in order to achieve the needed produce by manually trying to reduce the amount of heat that can be directed on the plants. But if the situation becomes unbearable, it might lead to drought and deaths.
Farmers must know when the sun will be up, when sunny days will be long and factors like that so that they can settle for what kinds of plants they must plant to survive the kind of weather condition. Here are only some of the things that they resort to in order to optimize the full benefits of the energy coming from the sun.
• Timed planting cycles
• Different heights of plants in between rows
• Tailored row orientation
• Mixing different varieties of crops to improve the yields
Do you ever wonder what farmers did in times like the Little Ice Age? It is said that English and French farmers resorted to fruit walls. These fruit walls help in maximizing the collection of the energy from the sun. These serve as the thermal masses. These walls help in keeping the plants warm to speed up the process of growing and ripening of produce.
The sun’s energy is also being utilized in these sectors in vital activities such as drying the crops, pumping of water, drying animals’ manure, brooding of chicks and a lot more.
It is hard to imagine the agriculture and horticulture sectors to survive without the solar energy. If there are anybody who knows the importance of the sun, these people are the first in line.
Feb
19
2011
As an ordinary person who lives according to what the day brings, have you ever thought about how to conserve solar energy? Do you even care? You may think you are an ordinary worker, or a simple wife or mother. Should you even care about such things? The answer is yes.
You must bear in mind that you are part of a whole spectrum of nature. Whatever you do will affect all the things around you. Everything must be conserved, including solar energy. Here are some suggestions to throw in your little efforts to achieve this goal.
1. Plant trees. Nature works wonders. Every element around us affects everything else. By planting trees, you will be able to maximize the energy coming from the sun. This will be directed to help the plants grow and produce harvests. With healthy plants and trees rooted to the soil, the soil will be firm. This will be able to hold its structure even in times of natural disasters.
2. Limit your use of the energy coming from the sun. With today’s innovations, there are lots of things that are being developed to use solar energy as a power source. The source may be free. But to be able to turn it to such power source, there are things that are utilized for this reason. If you will abuse the use of such technology, the crash of the materials used to put this up will be fast. This will take a toll on you especially if you rely a lot on this advancement.
3. Teach kids about the importance of solar energy. You can gain knowledge through research and through your everyday interaction with other people about this thing called the solar energy. You must tell your kids about its importance, they must be educated about it at an early age. They are the future of the nation. What you teach them now will be instilled to them until they grow old. At such a young age, they must know about how they can contribute to conserve energy.
4. Take good care of nature. This is the most important thing that you can do to help advance such cause. The sun can cause damage to people and nature if people won’t do the necessary steps to care for nature in the first place. There are lots of things that you get from the environment. It wouldn’t hurt to look back every now and then and see what you can do to give back to what it has already given to you.
The idea here is that everything in this life must be conserved. You cannot abuse the power that you posses to gain so much without even thinking how your actions affect the world around you. It is all right to go with the flow of the continuing advancement of the technology.
Look at the options available to you nowadays with regards to solar energy. This can be used to power homes and vehicles. This can give light, heat water and cook your food. This can give you satellite television and phones for supreme entertainment and communications enjoyment. This can give you luxuries like spas and warm water at pools.
You must learn everything on how to conserve solar energy so that you can do your part in making sure that such resource will be available as long as you live.
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31
2011
Are you familiar with the World Solar Challenge? It is a race specifically for solar cars. Solar cars basically have arrays of photovoltaic cells which converts the sun’s rays into usable electrical energy. The purpose of the race is to raise awareness on the use of the sun’s energy on transportation and the development of other alternative forms of energy particularly the solar cells.
The future of using solar energy on transportation services may still be a little hazy given the practical difficulties involve in converting ordinary cars into solar cars but the idea is here to stay and hopefully develops into something promising and useful.
At this point, solar cars have been built to join solar car races. Very few have been constructed for practical and commercial purposes. There are several reasons why the solar car remains on the background.
The design of a solar car relies on the electrical system of the vehicle. The system controls the electricity the flows from the photovoltaic cells to the batteries, to the wheels, and to the controls. The electric motor that moves the vehicle is powered purely by the electricity produced by the solar cells. The solar cells, depending on the number installed on the vehicle, can produce more or less 1000 watts of power from the sun’s rays. To give you an idea, 1000 watts is just enough electricity to power an electric iron or even a toaster.
And since the sun will most likely be covered by clouds at one time or the other, or the car goes through a tunnel or something, solar cars are equipped with batteries to serve as backup power supply for the motor. The battery packs are charged by the solar cells. However, the batteries are not charge while driving the solar car unless you intend to go very slow.
Just like a gas pedal in conventional motors, a motor controller regulates the amount of electricity that enters the motor to speed up or slow down the vehicle whenever needed. Solar cars are not that slow as perceived by almost everyone. These cars can go to as fast as 80-85 mph.
With this, you can see why solar cars are not yet into commercial production. Nowadays, solar cells can harness more than 21% of the sun’s energy that hit the surface.
If the time comes that the cells can actually get more energy from the sun then maybe we can see solar cars on the streets. But at this time, it is quite difficult to make a commercial production model of a solar car.
Nevertheless, there are companies who have already created some concept solar cars and are testing how road worthy they are. There’s even a scooter that is street legal and runs from batteries charged from photovoltaic cells. Other possible application of solar car technologies is on golf carts which runs pretty slow in the first place and can be appreciated by golfers as well.
The future of solar energy on transportation is still not that clear. The application of solar energy on homes and buildings has been moving forward in recent years so hopefully we can find new ways of converting the sun’s energy into usable electricity. And this time something that can be economically and efficiently installed in conventional cars.
Jan
13
2011
Today in center stage is a battle for the ages. On the right corner, packing a hurricane punch yet is known to move softly as a breeze is wind power. On the left corner, with a scorching hot aura, moves in a speed of light, is solar energy. Wind power versus solar energy, which one is going to be declared the champion of the alternative energy movement?! Let’s get ready to rumble!
Or something like that. I apologize for that intro but I just can’t help. I figured that if I was going to match one alternative energy resource against the other, then I’ll make some extravagant introduction. Just imagine the drum rolls.
Actually, there is an existing debate among environmentalists and even scientists on which energy resource should be developed first given their advantages and drawbacks. Staying away from the personal biases, numerous studies have shown that overall, wind power is more cost effective than harnessing the sun’s energy. Let’s see the reasons behind that conclusion.
Harnessing the sun’s energy can be done by a number of ways. But probably the simplest way which can be applied in a small home is by using photovoltaic cells or PV or solar cells. What happens is that sunlight hit the surface of a photovoltaic (PV) panel which responds by creating free electrons which is channeled to generate an electric current.
Wind power on the other hand utilizes a propeller and a shaft system which has a magnet wrapped by a coil of wire inside. As the wind turns the propeller and the magnet inside, the electrons in the wire are forced to move along the wire producing an electrical current.
Both ways are quite simple but the complexities now lies on the costs of producing the necessary equipment especially the mechanisms that will maximize the power output. When costs of production of photovoltaic cells and wind turbine are compared, the latter is much cheaper to produce. Although, manufacturers of photovoltaic cells stress that as the demand on PV cells increase, the costs of production decreases. So its just a matter of time before PV cells become price competitive.
Other problems include the logistics of placing the equipment. A solar panel requires quite a large space plus, your location on the globe will affect the amount of sunlight you receive and consequently the amount of power you produce. The further away from the equator you are, the less amount of sunlight you can harness. Also, on the average, the PV cells have a 15-20% efficiency rate.
The problem with wind power on the other hand is that not all areas will have winds favorable for a turbine. And if you do locate a place where winds are strong and the turbine can be maximized, you’ll find that the area (more often than not) is inhabited by various species of birds. You don’t want to kill birds with your turbine, do you?
Now going back to our wind power vs. solar energy match-up, indeed we do have to agree that wind power is more cost efficient. However, both alternative energy resource will play a big role in our future.
It is, therefore, in my humble opinion that we both develop the two technologies simultaneously for each one has their advantages and disadvantages and each one can be properly utilized for specific areas.
Jan
2
2011
There are a few disadvantages of solar power. Between you and me, we know that solar energy is a good renewable energy resource and that we should start to utilize it more especially when the Earth’s fossil fuel reserves are slowly dwindling and will run out in 30 to 50 years. We better look at the various alternative energies and begin a fast tracking of development to hasten our independence on non-renewable fossil fuels. And solar energy is as good as any other alternative energy resource out there. However, several arguments against solar energy have been raised through the years. But probably the most convincing argument is the high costs of solar energy utilization.
The problem with solar energy is that you can only harness it during the daytime. And even when the sun is up, the sunlight will be interrupted by occasional cloud covers, rains, fog, and even smog. So in order to harness the sun’s energy we need equipment that can get as much solar power as possible at a given time and we need some way of storing that energy so we can use them without any interruptions.
We do have the technology to harness the sun’s energy, convert it into usable electricity, and store them for future use. And that technology itself is the primary reason why solar power has not caught on even today. The process of making solar panels as well as the technology for storing that harnessed power remains to be quite expensive.
The good thing about this fact today is that due to the recent increase in the costs of fuel and gas, solar power is no longer a far fetched alternative. The gap between the costs has gone down considerably and hopefully in the near future, the costs of solar energy production will be quite competitive.
Furthermore, the costs of photovoltaic cells are indeed quite expensive that contemporary oil and gas equipment. But one of the flaws of the argument of costs is that people tend to limit their perspective of solar energy as to only referring to photovoltaic cells. There are other means of harnessing solar energy and not all of them are as expensive as PV cell manufacturing.
One way of getting the sun’s energy and converting it into usable electricity is the concept of solar thermal plants. In solar thermal technology, various solar collectors are utilized to generate heat which can be applied from the simplest heating and ventilation of houses to the production of massive amounts of electricity. The use of mirrors or lenses to reflect sunlight to towers equipped with liquids that heat up and produce steam. The steam then turns turbines which in turn generates the electricity needed.
The process adds another step compared to photovoltaics which converts solar energy directly into electricity. Nevertheless, solar thermal systems of power production is cheaper that the production of PV cells. For a larger consumer market, it seems that solar thermal energy is the way to go.
Regardless, the point here really is to emphasize that solar energy has more to offer. The cost of production is a valid argument against solar energy but still there are ways around it. Costs can be minimized by using other techniques of harnessing solar energy or future developments in the field of science and technology will produce products that are more cost efficient that what are available today.
Dec
28
2010
Solar energy is a form of renewable energy as it utilizes the radiant energy coming from the sun. This is done by converting sunlight into electricity using solar cells.
Solar cells or photovoltaics were invented in the 1880’s by Charles Fritts. Although it did not convert a lot of sunlight into electricity at the time, this started a revolution that continued on to the 20th century. The greatest example is perhaps the Vanguard 1 which was a satellite fitted with solar cells that enabled it to transmit back to earth after its chemical battery was exhausted.
It success prompted NASA and its Russian counterpart to the same with other satellites including Telstar which continues to serve as the backbone of the telecommunications structure today.
The most significant event that stimulated the demand for solar energy was the 1973 oil crisis. Early on, power companies would charge the consumer a hundred dollars per watt. In the 1980’s, it became only $7 per watt. Unfortunately, the lack of government funding did not sustain its growth so the growth of solar energy was only 15% annually from 1984 to 1996.
There have been a decline in the demand for solar energy in the US but this increased in Japan and Germany. From 31.2 megawatts of power in 1994, this increased to 318 megawatts in 1999 and world wide production growth increased by 30% towards the end of the 20th century.
Next to these two countries, Spain is the third largest user of solar energy followed by France, Italy and South Korea.
There are three basic approaches to get the most out of solar energy. It is namely passive, active and solar photovoltaic systems.
1. In passive, it has to do a lot with the building design. This will enable the building to avoid heat loss so people inside will feel a great degree of comfort with the help of controlled ventilation and day lighting. Homes that apply this will greatly reduce their heating requirements by as much as 80% with minimal cost.
2. Active solar heating is used to convert sunlight into heat which provides space or water heating. Used extensively in Europe, getting the right size will cover 50% to 60% of your hot water heating requirements.
3. Lastly is photovoltaic which converts solar radiation into electricity. This is done by installing solar cells in the ground and the greater the intensity of the light, the greater the flow of electricity. These are available in different sizes and some are installed in consumer devices like calculators and watches.
Some vehicles are now powered using solar energy. Cars although not yet produced commercially compete in the World Solar Challenge which invites competitors from around the world to compete in this annual event in Australia. There are also unmanned aerial vehicles and balloons. To date, solar energy has only been successful in passenger boats.
Many of us take the sun for granted and if we are really serious about preserving the environment and reducing our demand for oil, solar energy is just one of the options we have on the table. We have to lobby and convince our government leaders to do more because it is the cheapest means of providing our home with electricity compared to rechargeable batteries, kerosene or candles.
Dec
22
2010
There are lots of interesting facts about solar energy. Educating yourself about this will prove to be beneficial in the long run. You can share the information to your loved ones. You can teach them of ways on how they can help to conserve the energy. You can also do your share to help this method to advance if you are a genius in the field. But if you are an ordinary citizen who only wants to enjoy, then feast on. But remember that you also have responsibilities to the environment that you must accomplish in order to do your part in the whole scheme of things.
The Facts that Matter
1. Solar radiation makes it possible for the energy coming from the sun to be used as power source and energy that can in turn be used for many purposes. The technology on this aspect is characterized in two ways. They can either be passive or active. This will depend on the methods that are used to get, convert and allocate sunlight.
What are active solar techniques? These utilize pumps, photovoltaic panels and fans to renovate sunlight into useful resources. These aim to increase the energy supply that is why these can also be referred as supply side technologies. The passive solar techniques, on the other hand, use only selected resources with constructive thermal properties, utilize the kind of spaces that can circulate air naturally and apply the position of buildings and structures towards the sun. These will lessen the need for other sources and can also be referred as the demand side technology.
2. Solar energy has influenced many factors that surround people. This can be referred in planning and designing buildings. This process can be rooted back at the early days of the architectural history. The Greeks and the Chinese first used such factor in building and constructing their architectural pieces and on their planning methods.
3. Solar energy is also being utilized by the agricultural sector because they rely heavily on its benefits in order to gain more harvest. They developed ways in order to plant the kind of crops that will grow according to the amount of sun that they will be getting for the season. This can also be used to dry the crops, pump water, brooding of chicks and to dry animal manures that can later be used as fertilizers.
4. On seasons like the Little Ice Age, fruit walls were used by French and Chinese farmers to be able to collect and store solar energy to help them keep the plants warm and to speedy up the process of ripening of fruits. These walls serve as the thermal masses. The fruit walls that were first developed were perpendicular to the ground and faced the south direction. Over time, innovations were done and slopping walls were used to gain more advantage from the sun.
5. To convert the solar light into heat, people have developed greenhouses. These enable the production and cultivation of specialty crops all year round. Such innovation made it possible for crops to be produced in untimely seasons and in places where you think that those plants won’t grow. And these are only some of the interesting facts about solar energy. These give you a good peek at how wonderful nature is and how people have developed ways to use it to advance in many aspects of their lives.
