One of the answers to the energy crisis is to apply solar power. Solar power is the energy source of the most powerful and freely available to us now. That is why production of solar energy kits more abundant.
Solar energy kits is slowly taking place in most of the different houses in the world. Householders feel easy, convenient and effective to obtain energy from the sunlight.
Executive Summary about Sun Power by Richard Chapo
Generating electricity from the sun is all about converting sunlight into power. The technology behind solar systems is known as photovoltaic technology. Essentially, this technology involves using sunlight to create a chemical reaction. This process creates a direct current of electricity. The electricity is then converted to usable alternating current electricity and stored in a battery or fed into a utility grid system.
Executive Summary about Solar Fan by Peter I. Wilson
Solar power fans are very easy to install, and also completely free to run. The majority of solar powered fans have a built in solar panel. Why Should I use Solar Power Fans in my Attic?
The solar powered fans do not require any extra power which would make your electricity bill more expensive. The other really good feature about solar powered fans is that they’re really easy to install. Newer homes are including these solar powered fans as standard, however if you own an older style home then you should consider installing these fans. You can buy fans suitable for fitting into older style homes.
What’s the real truth behind all those ads?
Just searching around online for information about solar power, solar energy, and installing solar panels on your own home, you’ve probably run across many claims which say you can earn money from solar power. So is it true? Yes… sort of.
A fantastic way of generating electricity today is by way of wind power. There is a great deal of interest in home made energy all over the world today due to the costs of installation being so low and how effective home made energy is.
For another fantastic article, I would highly recommend see: How Does Wind Power Work
Adventures in microsolar supported by microelectronics and MEMS techniques
Representative thin crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells – these are from 14 to 20 micrometers thick and 0.25 to 1 millimeter across.
Sandia National Laboratories scientists have developed tiny glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.
The tiny cells could turn a person into a walking solar battery charger if they were fastened to flexible substrates molded around unusual shapes, such as clothing.
The solar particles, fabricated of crystalline silicon, hold the potential for a variety of new applications. They are expected eventually to be less expensive and have greater efficiencies than current photovoltaic collectors that are pieced together with 6-inch- square solar wafers.
The cells are fabricated using microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) techniques common to today’s electronic foundries.
Sandia lead investigator Greg Nielson said the research team has identified more than 20 benefits of scale for its microphotovoltaic cells. These include new applications, improved performance, potential for reduced costs and higher efficiencies.
“Eventually units could be mass-produced and wrapped around unusual shapes for building-integrated solar, tents and maybe even clothing,” he said. This would make it possible for hunters, hikers or military personnel in the field to recharge batteries for phones, cameras and other electronic devices as they walk or rest.
Sandia project lead Greg Nielson holds a solar cell test prototype with a microscale lens array fastened above it. Together, the cell and lens help create a concentrated photovoltaic unit.
Even better, such microengineered panels could have circuits imprinted that would help perform other functions customarily left to large-scale construction with its attendant need for field construction design and permits.
Said Sandia field engineer Vipin Gupta, “Photovoltaic modules made from these microsized cells for the rooftops of homes and warehouses could have intelligent controls, inverters and even storage built in at the chip level. Such an integrated module could greatly simplify the cumbersome design, bid, permit and grid integration process that our solar technical assistance teams see in the field all the time.”
For large-scale power generation, said Sandia researcher Murat Okandan, “One of the biggest scale benefits is a significant reduction in manufacturing and installation costs compared with current PV techniques.”
Part of the potential cost reduction comes about because microcells require relatively little material to form well-controlled and highly efficient devices.
From 14 to 20 micrometers thick (a human hair is approximately 70 micrometers thick), they are 10 times thinner than conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch brick-sized cells, yet perform at about the same efficiency.
100 times less silicon generates same amount of electricity
“So they use 100 times less silicon to generate the same amount of electricity,” said Okandan. “Since they are much smaller and have fewer mechanical deformations for a given environment than the conventional cells, they may also be more reliable over the long term.”
Another manufacturing convenience is that the cells, because they are only hundreds of micrometers in diameter, can be fabricated from commercial wafers of any size, including today’s 300-millimeter (12-inch) diameter wafers and future 450-millimeter (18-inch) wafers. Further, if one cell proves defective in manufacture, the rest still can be harvested, while if a brick-sized unit goes bad, the entire wafer may be unusable. Also, brick-sized units fabricated larger than the conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch cross section to take advantage of larger wafer size would require thicker power lines to harvest the increased power, creating more cost and possibly shading the wafer. That problem does not exist with the small-cell approach and its individualized wiring.
From left to right, Sandia researchers Murat OKandan, Greg Nielson, and Jose Luis Cruz-Campa, hold samples containing arrays of microsolar cells.
Other unique features are available because the cells are so small. “The shade tolerance of our units to overhead obstructions is better than conventional PV panels,” said Nielson, “because portions of our units not in shade will keep sending out electricity where a partially shaded conventional panel may turn off entirely.”
Because flexible substrates can be easily fabricated, high-efficiency PV for ubiquitous solar power becomes more feasible, said Okandan.
A commercial move to microscale PV cells would be a dramatic change from conventional silicon PV modules composed of arrays of 6-inch-by-6-inch wafers. However, by bringing in techniques normally used in MEMS, electronics and the light-emitting diode (LED) industries (for additional work involving gallium arsenide instead of silicon), the change to small cells should be relatively straightforward, Gupta said.
Each cell is formed on silicon wafers, etched and then released inexpensively in hexagonal shapes, with electrical contacts prefabricated on each piece, by borrowing techniques from integrated circuits and MEMS.
Offering a run for their money to conventional large wafers of crystalline silicon, electricity presently can be harvested from the Sandia-created cells with 14.9 percent efficiency. Off-the-shelf commercial modules range from 13 to 20 percent efficient.
A widely used commercial tool called a pick-and-place machine — the current standard for the mass assembly of electronics — can place up to 130,000 pieces of glitter per hour at electrical contact points preestablished on the substrate; the placement takes place at cooler temperatures. The cost is approximately one-tenth of a cent per piece with the number of cells per module determined by the level of optical concentration and the size of the die, likely to be in the 10,000 to 50,000 cell per square meter range. An alternate technology, still at the lab-bench stage, involves self-assembly of the parts at even lower costs.
Solar concentrators — low-cost, prefabricated, optically efficient microlens arrays — can be placed directly over each glitter-sized cell to increase the number of photons arriving to be converted via the photovoltaic effect into electrons. The small cell size means that cheaper and more efficient short focal length microlens arrays can be fabricated for this purpose.
High-voltage output is possible directly from the modules because of the large number of cells in the array. This should reduce costs associated with wiring, due to reduced resistive losses at higher voltages.
Other possible applications for the technology include satellites and remote sensing.
The project combines expertise from Sandia’s Microsystems Center; Photovoltaics and Grid Integration Group; the Materials, Devices, and Energy Technologies Group; and the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Concentrating Photovoltaics Group.
Involved in the process, in addition to Nielson, Okandan and Gupta, are Jose Luis Cruz-Campa, Paul Resnick, Tammy Pluym, Peggy Clews, Carlos Sanchez, Bill Sweatt, Tony Lentine, Anton Filatov, Mike Sinclair, Mark Overberg, Jeff Nelson, Jennifer Granata, Craig Carmignani, Rick Kemp, Connie Stewart, Jonathan Wierer,
George Wang, Jerry Simmons, Jason Strauch, Judith Lavin and Mark Wanlass (NREL).
The work is supported by DOE’s Solar Energy Technology Program and Sandia’s Laboratory Directed Research & Development program, and has been presented at four technical conferences this year.
The ability of light to produce electrons, and thus electricity, has been known for more than a hundred years.
Solar technologies is now highly developed, with some progress is being developed to be used every day.
Below 10 Solar Technologies to note:
How much are you paying for your electricity or gas bill? Would you like to save on the costs of using this energy? Then read through the following article and get an idea of what you could possibly do.
In this write up we will cover the following subjects, DIY Solar Electricity UK, making your own solar panels and Building Solar Panels instruction.
Building your own solar panels is really a sensible choice to make. Why: because firstly the price of electricity is increasing and the prices of solar panels are increasing too. So you would start saving money the minute you decide you will do this yourself unlike purchasing one. It’s not difficult building a panel its actually fun.
There is always the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you were able to do it on your own If you are good at it you might even try it as a weekend money generating project. Yes; that’s how long it normally takes about a weekend’s length and you have your own power.
This is one of the simplest tasks that you could undertake if you’re interested in saving power costs. You don’t have to worry about building your own solar panels as many of the systems are quite user friendly. They come with complete DIY guides. These guides have step by step pictures of how you can go about setting up your own panel. Most even come with instructional videos of methods.
To reduce some of the concerns you might probably have you should select a solar panel system that has a support center or toll free line you can make use of when you get to those finer details that need consulting. They should be able to tell you where and how you can find the components that are required and the prices that you should expect.
Did you also know that when you decide to undertake building your own solar panels and install them in your home you increase the value of your house by thousands? Isn’t that a great incentive to build panels in your house? If you choose to go green as they say, remember safety is important.
In general, energy sources are categorized into two parts namely non-renewable energy and renewable energy. Fossil energy sources are among the first group that the bulk of activity in the world using these conventional energy.
It is no doubt that the solar photovoltaic is one source of environmentally friendly energy and is very promising in the future, because there is no pollution produced during the process of energy conversion, and more widely available source of energy in nature, namely the sun.
Fundamental issues in solar cell technology is a very low efficiency in turning solar energy into electrical energy, which to date the highest efficiency can be achieved no more than 20%, and even then in a laboratory scale.
For that in developed countries, research on solar cell is a very big concern, especially with the issue of environmental clean.
From light into electricity
In a simple solar photovoltaic consists of the p-type and n junction semiconductor material (pn junction semiconductor) that if by the sun there will be a flow of electrons, electron flow is well known as the electric current flow. While the structure of the solar cell is as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Structure of a thin layer of solar photovoltaic in general
The main part of the energy changes of sunlight to electricity is the absorber, however, each layer is also very influential on the efficiency of the solar cell. Sunlight consists of various types of electromagnetic waves in a spectrum can be seen in figure 2. Therefore here absorber is expected to absorb as much solar radiation derived from sunlight.
Figure 2. The spectrum of solar radiation
More detail can be explained that the sun consists of a photon-photon, if it happen to solar cell surface material (absorber), will be absorbed, reflected or simply passed (see Figure 3), and only photons with certain energy level that will liberate electrons from atomic bonds, so that electrical current flows. Energy levels is called band-gap energy which is defined as the amount of energy required to discharge electrons out of its covalent bond so that there electric current flow. To free electron from its covalent bond, photon energy (hc/v) must be slightly larger or above than the band-gap energy. If the photon energy is too much of the energy band-gap, then the extra energy will be converted in the form of heat in a solar cell. Therefore it is important to the solar cell to regulate the materials used, namely by modifying the molecular structure of the semiconductor used.
Figure 3. Radiative transition of solar photovoltaic
Of course, that the efficiency of solar cell can be high if the photons from sunlight to be absorbed that as much, then reduce reflection and increase recombination and conductivity of the material.
To be able to make that a photon is absorbed can be as much, then the absorber must have an energy band-gap with a wide range, making it possible to absorb sunlight so energy has a variety of these. One of the many materials being studied are known CuInSe2 is one of the direct semiconductor.
So many advantages of solar photovoltaic as described above was not a polemic and not just stop, saying there was a solar photovoltaic is true when the energy change process there is no pollution produced, but have we calculated how much pollution has been generated in the process manufacturing, small compared to the resulting efficiency. Now the challenge here is indeed how to increase efficiency, which would affect its economic value.
Article You May Be Interested In Reading: Solar Electric
Solar Power Plant is a system of clean energy and produce electricity from sunlight. Also support the issue of global warming. Because energy is widely used by State Electricity Enterprise is the energy that can not be renewable (fossil) fuel such as kerosene, gas, coal, etc. Whereas current cost of fuel has begun to become dearer. If using the sun is free energy available abundant.
Installation and Operation is very easy, enduring long and a very inexpensive investment option to be public at this time. Can be used to meet electricity needs anywhere, especially in rural areas or areas that do not (not yet) reached by State Electricity Enterprise network.
Various Benefits of Using Solar Power Plant:
Principles of Sun Power Plant
In the daylight the solar panel receives light (rays) of the sun and then converted into electricity through the Photovoltaic. Electricity generated by solar panels can be directly channeled to burden or stored in Electric Box System (EBS), before use to load, light, radio, TV etc.
At the night, where the solar panel does not generate electricity. Electricity that has been collected (stored) in a Electric Box System (EBS) will be used. To turn on electrical equipment, especially the lighting, etc.
Components of Solar Power Plant
1. Solar Panel:
Change the sunlight into electricity. Modular form of the solar panel provides the ease of the electricity needs for various scale of the needs.
2. Electric Box System (EBS):
The Design of Solar Power Plant – The Practical and Flexible
With a flexible design that can be possible to increase the capacity of electricity with solar panels only add (maximum 2 solar panel) for each package.
Installation HOW VERY EASY
Article You May Be Interested In Reading: Solar Fountain
Many people have started to install wind turbines, wishing to lower their bills for electricity, and in some way help make the environment safer while saving on non-renewable sources of energy. You need some knowledge before taking your various tools and purchasing your other needs for making a wind generator.
Whether you are installing a self-made or a commercial generator, you need to make sure you have the optimal location for it. You will need a place where trees and buildings are not obstructing the air flow.
If you happen to be living on a farm, obstacles probably aren’t a factor and the view of your neighbors is no concern. However when you live within the boundaries of a city, it can be a lot more difficult to install a wind generator.
The wind towers are so tall that they can be dangerous in storms and high winds, so this could impact the community. Consult not only your local authority but also your neighbors before putting one on your property. Of course you always need to consult for the county or city codes.
You have a few choices for the exact spot for your wind tower. The top of your house could be a great location or if you own enough land you can set the tower away from the house. In a small town, numerous wind generators can be installed in a common area for the whole community. So everyone can benefit from lower utility bills, and you do not have to worry about the towers getting blown over in a storm.
You could also look into other forms of renewable energy to run your house. If you have enough sun in your area, consider installing solar panels as a back up for your wind generator.
You can read more from Steven C. Jones on his blog about wind generators and renewable energy.
Article Source: EzineArticles
Article You May Be Interested In Reading: Solar Hot Water
Executive Summary about Solar Cooker by Detlef Warner
Cooking with a solar cooker is one more way that you too can go green!
A solar cooker, or solar oven, is mechanism that uses sunlight to cook food rather than electricity or gas. Solar cookers come in several different varieties: A box cooker, panel cooker, and a parabolic cooker. While a box cooker is a better choice when you’re looking to cook a large amount of food, a parabolic cooker is capable of cooking the food faster.
Solar cookers will take more time than a traditional oven, with the exception of a parabolic cooker, so you should plan on allowing approximately two times the regular cooking time. Solar cookers are readily available both online and in stores. You can construct a solar oven out of something as simple as cardboard and in a short amount of time be cooking your first solar meal!
How to Make a Solar Cooker? – Making a Homemade DIY Solar Cooker
Executive Summary about Solar Cooker by Dinna Bonevi
Isn’t it a wonderful idea to make a homemade DIY solar cooker, then cooking under the sun? Clues are: it’s energy source is free, environment friendly, comparable to latest cooker but with great discount, pocket friendly and absolutely can’t operate without the help from the mother sun. I’m talking of having a solar cooker, cooking under the sun project.
Will you spend some bucks or rather choose the pocket friendly unit? I guess all of us prefer money saving units. Absolutely it could, the sun continuously gives us the heat and solar energy more than we ever need. So, the solar cooker, cooking under the sun project is definitely durable when we speak of operational source of energy.
Let’s try to make use of readily available sources within the vicinity for our solar cooker.
Things needed:
- Foils or mirrors as reflectors
- Conductive Materials
- Stand (for the food)
The construction of a solar cooker is very easy. A solar cooker is usually a box style that’s made with conductive supplies. The longer it is exposed to the sun the hotter the unit gets. The reflectors help centralize the solar heat on the food that will be cooked.
The solar cooker could reach as high as 300 degrees temperature. Knowing on how to make a homemade DIY solar cooker project is another fun project for everyone. Enjoy the heat and let’s eat!
Article You May Be Interested In Reading: Solar Garden Lights
Executive Summary about Solar Electric by Klaus H Hemsath
Promotion of solar power generation is booming. Why are solar farms built when financial data clearly show that solar power is still the most expensive electricity generation technology available?
Solar power plant developers and marketers obviously know that they need to lower costs. Cost reduction is, however, expensive and takes time. There are two major technologies for solar energy conversion. Electricity production with steam is a very mature technology. The other technology is the direct, photovoltaic conversion of sunlight into electricity. This technology will most likely become the dominant solar electric power generating technology – eventually. The concentrated sunshine creates very high surface temperatures on the solar panel. To save solar panel area and make the solar panel price competitive, one must cool the surface of the solar panel very efficiently to prevent it from melting and destruction.
Present production costs for generating electricity with solar panels are hovering around $0.50 per kWh. Right now, solar power does not yet make economical sense.
None of the available technologies using renewable energy can compete with the cost of electricity generation from coal.
The technologies for generating electricity with solar power, wind power, marine power, and geothermal power are very well understood. At present, a respectable number of windmill farms and solar panel farms are being installed. Solar power does not make economical sense, yet. A random sampling of recent announcements of solar farm installations reveals that system installation costs are in the $3000 to $7500 per kW installed capacity. These plant costs loosely translate into a cost of producing electric power at $0.30 to $0.60 per kWh. This very unfavorably compares to the cost of electricity generation by any other technology.
As long as solar power constitutes only a very small fraction of overall electric power generation, the additional costs of storing intermittently produced electric power are not yet of concern. If the US is going to depend significantly on the intermittent production of electricity from solar power and wind power, it must begin to develop storage technologies for huge amounts of electric energy. Intermittent, renewable energies and electric energy storage are inseparable.
The Solar Electric Panel – An Inexpensive Way to Generate Electricity
Executive Summary about Solar Electric by Dan A Swanson
The solar electric panels, generally called solar photovoltaic panels, are made of a set of treated silicon cells arranged in a series array. They produce electricity on being exposed to the sunlight. A small solar electric panel will lessen the energy bills considerably, while a big solar panel will in fact budge the meter backwards. The contemporary solar electric panels are simple to install and are modular. The solar electric panels transform the sunlight to DC (direct current) electricity. Buy any of these solar electric panels according to your requirements.
Solar electric panels are the perfect answer to our increasing electricity bills and ever increasing reliance on depleting conventional energy resources. Make a one time investment in solar panels and generate free electricity for years to come. Solar electric panels are the need of the hour.
Executive Summary about Solar Heater by Michelle Bery
A solar heater literally harnesses the energy of the sun. The sun’s core holds enormous energy in the form of radiation; the energy that reaches the earth is considered solar energy.
In the case of a solar heater, we literally “collect” the solar energy that makes its way to earth. Flat plate collectors are thin panels that trap, store, and convert solar energy. When the sun hits the flat plate collector the solar energy is contained inside and used to heat coils within the collector. Those larger structures that are using solar energy find this type of solar heater far more effective for their purposes.
Solar Water Heaters
Executive Summary about Solar Heater by Shweta Rai
Solar water heaters are extremely useful household appliance. These heaters provide ample warm water. Unlike other water heaters, these do not harm the environment. Researches too have proved that these water heaters are quite beneficial. Due to these advantages, solar water heaters are recommended every where.
How solar water heater works?:
These heaters come with storage tank and solar collector. The water is passed through the storage tank and it is heated due to sunlight. There are two pipes, which connect the solar water tank to water heater inside the house. Outlet pipe carries warm water from solar heater to standard heater. The second pipe carries the water in opposite direction. The water heater is painted black, to absorb a lot of light.
How to install these heaters?:
Consult the buyer before buying these water heaters. Make sure that these heaters are placed facing the sun.
What can be approximate cost of these heaters?
Solar water heater cost vary to a large extent.
What are major benefits of these water heaters?
These Water heaters have a number of advantages. They are environment friendly and do not cause any pollution. Secondly, they reduce your electricity expenditure to a large extent
Check out my other guide on Garden Lights
