Solar energy is the most important renewable source of energy. It is produced from the sun’s radiation. Nowadays this renewable energy is used for a wide variety of purposes. The non-renewable energy sources are depleting day by day. So different solar technologies such as solar architecture, solar heating, solar thermal electricity and solar photovoltaic are used to solve the most of the urgent energy problems in the world. Solar technologies are divided into active solar and passive solar technologies. This classification is based on the method by which solar radiations are captured and converted as energy. In active solar techniques, solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels are used for the harnessing of energy. A passive solar technique involves the placing of building towards the sun, capture the radiation and produce the energy.
The main advantages of solar energy are cost effectiveness and sustainability and it is used for many purposes. It is mainly used for residential purposes. The important solar equipment used for household purposes are solar heater, solar lights, photovoltaic cells etc. Photovoltaic cells installed on the roofs of the houses will capture solar radiation. The energy from the radiation is turned into electricity and this is used for the working of household equipment. Batteries will capture energy in the day time, store it and supply electric power during night. The usage of solar heaters and solar lights has many advantages. They help to reduce energy expenditure to a great extent. Solar energy is also used for industrial and commercial purposes. They are used to power the TV, radio stations, lighthouse, aircrafts etc. They are widely used in industry, warehouses and offices for power generation. This energy source is very much reliable, affordable and often need less maintenance.
There are different advantages of solar energy. For producing energy from the sun, only initial investment is required. We don’t have to afford additional expenditure. Solar equipment reduces the electricity bills. Solar energy reduces the demand of fuel. This kind of energy is very much environmentally friendly. Most of the conventional forms of energy produce harmful pollutants during their combustion. But solar energy does not release toxin like mercury, carbon dioxide, and sulphur oxide or nitrogen oxide during their combustion. Thus it prevents the environment from getting polluted. So it does not cause acid rain, global warming and smog. It helps to decrease the emission of harmful greenhouse gases. Solar power will continuously supply electricity to your homes and offices during power outage.
A solar power system does not require connection to a power grid and so such systems can be installed even in remote locations. This is the more cost effective and practical approach of providing power to the remote areas. Less maintenance is required for the solar energy systems. There is no recurring cost for this system. In spite of all these advantages there are some demerits for solar energy. The initial cost this system is very high as compared with other conventional energy producing systems. For the installation of solar panels large area is needed. Also the production of solar power depends on the presence of pollution and clouds in the air.
“Mrs Foster and her son, Ken Harcombe, have built a house at Whangateau, near Leigh, which is completely self-sufficient in energy with a windmill, four photovoltaic solar energy panels, a solar water heater and a woodburning stove. The house cost only $200,000. But the windmill cost just over $2000, the four solar panels cost $2000 each plus $4000 for an “inverter”, which allows them to run normal appliances, the solar water heater cost more than $3000 and the wood stove, $12,000.”
Utilizing the power of the Sun to provide energy for homes has developed into a fine art. This month, Energy Awareness Month, the American Solar Energy Society is coordinating the opening of hundreds of private homes across the country for public viewing.
Whenever settlement of the outer solar system is discussed in this ng, it’s always assumed that it will be done using fusion power to provide energy, with an “edge of sunlight”, beyond which solar photovoltaics which cannot be used, around 3 A.U.
Solar hydrogen fuel dream will soon be a reality Australian scientists predict that a revolutionary new way to harness the power of the sun to extract clean and almost unlimited energy supplies from water will be a reality within seven years. Using special titanium oxide ceramics that harvest sunlight and split water to produce hydrogen fuel, the researchers say it will then be a simple engineering exercise to make an energy-harvesting device with no moving parts and emitting no greenhouse gases or pollutants. It would be the cheapest, cleanest and most abundant energy source ever developed: the main by-products would be oxygen and water. “This is potentially huge, with a market the size of all the existing markets for coal, oil and gas combined,” says Professor Janusz Nowotny, who with Professor Chris Sorrell is leading a solar hydrogen research project at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Centre for Materials and Energy Conversion. The team is thought to be the most advanced in developing the cheap, light-sensitive materials that will be the basis of the technology. “Based on our research results, we know we are on the right track and with the right support we now estimate that we can deliver a new material within seven years,” says Nowotny. Sorrell says Australia is ideally placed to take advantage of the enormous potential of this new technology: “We have abundant sunlight, huge reserves of titanium and we’re close to the burgeoning energy markets of the Asia-Pacific region. But this technology could be used anywhere in the world. It’s been the dream of many people for a long time to develop it and it’s exciting to know that it is now within such close reach.”
1) With solar electricity, the price is only investment. You must pay 100% of your next 30 years electricity bill before you get the very first kWh. As soon as your system is installed – and paid – the power is free. Even if were profitable on such a long time compared to classic power, many people would still prefer to pay as they use it (inertia, upfront capital…)
Almost anything will burn if you get it hot enough; but asside from fission, fusion, and water power, most of the energy we use these days comes from easily combustible matter such as wood, coal, or petroleum products. Through the years we’ve learned to safely control and direct this combustion with external combustion steam engines and internal combution gas; diesel, jet and rocket engines.
An opportunity to offer your hands, heart, and a unique gift: Solar Energy to a rural community in Nicaragua!
Back about 1981 I was working for a lrge corporation. My fellow workers and myself through the years would discuss many different subjects. But, that year the most frequently discussed subject was solar energy. Practically anyone in the place was eager to discus the subject. Then there came those socalled “solar energy specials” on T. V. Now I feel it’s important to to take note of who the sponsors of these “solar energy specials” were. It was always a major oil company and or the federal government. So, at the time I was doing some research on energy in general in The U. S. One of the things I found out was that from the beginning up until that time most of the people in congress especially the senators had their personal investments in oil. now, if you know much about cycology you know that sometimes something implied can be more effective than something said openly. So, what they did on those “solar energy specials” was to demonstrate using an engineer with a whole wall full of degrees the most complicated system possible. By doing this they implied that solar energy was too complex for the aveage viewer to understand. They couldn’t afford to come right out and say it because that would have insulted the audience. But, they could imply it and get with it. Then, they come right out and said that it was too expensive to be practical at the present time.
