Posts Tagged ‘green’

Do Not Purchase Solar Panel Kits Until You Know Your Options

February 27th, 2010

For lots of years, the only types of solar panels commercially obtainable have been crystalline solar panels put in a rectangular frame and placed on a roof. That is why most people, when they consider solar power for their house, envision this as their single choice. Below are a few recent advancements in solar power and mounting options you may well have never heard of before.

Thin Film Solar Panels – Man Is This Thin!

Think of the solar panel you have in a solar calculator. That is a thin film solar panel. Thin film solar panels are used extensively in satellites. Thin film technology is at the present being extended into residential and commercial use and was named one of the greatest inventions of 2008 by TIME magazine.

Thin film solar panels are flexible, nothing like polysilicon cells found in traditional crystalline solar panels. These thin film solar panels are being labeled as second generation solar power technology.

Thin film solar panels are more resilient to hailstones, dust, and so forth. If part of a crystalline solar panel is broken, the entire solar panel will stop functioning whereas a thin film solar panel will continue to function.

Thin film panels can also be bendable and tailored to numerous surfaces. They can be applied in places conventional crystalline solar panels cannot be mounted on. I have even witnessed a thin film panel sewed onto a jacket that powered a MP3 player.

The downside to thin film panels is that they do not take up as much energy because they are so skinny. These panels are not nearly as efficient as traditional photovoltaic panels but they cost less. Thin film solar panels are printed onto the rolled backing, eliminating many of the high energy and chemical intensive methods that are standard in conventional PV manufacturing.

Thin film solar panels are low wattage and have need of more room than traditional solar panels and they are more prone to degradation. In an attempt to counter a few of these competitive disadvantages they have against conventional solar panels, manufacturers give better warranties for thin film panels.

The biggest thin film solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the United States is the Blythe plant located 200 miles east of Los Angeles, California. The 21-megawatt solar power plant uses thin film solar cells built out of cadmium telluride. At full power, the plant will produce enough electricity to power an expected 17,000 homes.

Now let’s look at traditional solar panels and a few of the mounting options that are offered you may well have never heard of before.

Mounting Selections For Conventional Solar Panels – It’s All In the Mount

Solar panel mounts come in three main types: pole mounts, roof-ground mounts, and flush mounts. Using these mounts, you can install your solar panel on your roof, onto an RV, on top of or against the side of a pole, or even install them as a free-standing unit.

Pole Mounts – No This Isn’t Something Santa Claus Needs For His Sled

Pole mounts, specially top-of-pole, have been well-liked for a long time. Top-of-pole mounts are essentially a steel or aluminum rack and railing system bolted or welded to a large sleeve that sets on top of a pole with set-bolts to keep it stationary. Side-of-pole mounts are frequently used when you must mount to the side of a communications tower or telephone pole. Tracking mounts are similar to top-of-pole mounts, but they also have a system of automatically aiming the mount to track the sun.

Top of pole mounts (including sun trackers) are one of the simplest mounts to install. They basically only need one steel pole set in the ground (normally in concrete), and the mount slips onto the top of the pole. Most ordinary sizes use a 2-inch to 8-inch pole, usually around 11 to 13 feet in length. They can go higher if you want to get the panel up higher to get out of shading from nearby shrubs.

Common Roof-Ground Mounts

Roof-ground systems can be mounted onto a roof or ground without much reworking in setup. They are usually created from stainless steel in a grid-like system of supports. Roof-mounted panels for smaller systems are the easiest to install, using small flush-mount brackets which raise the panels to the most excellent position for solar collection.

Ground mounts, as the name implies, are solar panel mounts that are installed on the ground (as opposed to a pole mount or roof mount). They have supporting, changeable legs that allow you to optimize their vertical orientation for solar exposure. Ground mounting systems usually entail plenty of steel supports, concrete foundations, and galvanized footings, which can be troubling, when you are trying to keep your system low cost. Ground mounted systems require structural strength to avert load bearing failure.

Even though module mounting systems are offered for ground and roof installation, roof mount installation is the most popular and cost effective method. The roof mounted panels are attached to a mounting system usually consisting of an aluminum or steel support structure that attaches the panels to the roof.

The Smack Down On Flush Mounts

Flush Mounts are economical and simple to install – these are perfect for single panel installations and smaller solar arrays. Flush mounts are put onto a level exterior such as a rooftop, the top of a boat, or the top of a recreational vehicle and are not used for ground installations. These mounts serve to separate the solar panel from the mounting surface and permit airflow to go beneath and cool the solar panel for smooth operation. Flush Mounts are normally used with small solar arrays on roof tops and RVs, because the structural design of a flush mount cannot hold big solar panels.

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Warming Up to the Concept of solar power

January 15th, 2010

There’s excellent news for those that claim there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to saving on energy bills. Gurus say new benefits and current conditions are making solar electricity systems a practical fact for a rising number of owners.

With increasing power costs and concerns for the environment and about nationwide security, owners are having a look at solar power options. A new Fed. tax break, and some state and local motivations, inspires adopting solar systems. The governing body offers a tax subsidy for thirty % of the price of a solar electrical or solar heating system. There’s no cap for entrepreneurs ; house owners receive a maximum $2,000 credit for each system installed.

These credits make solar energy systems a feasible solution for hot water heating and electricity production for many building owners. Many homeowners already benefit from solar heating for their pools and spas without government incentives.

“As awareness grows, with summer air-conditioning bills, we expect thousands more to think about their solar options,” announces Brad Collins, executive director of the North American Solar Energy Society, based in Stone , Colorado. “With continued rising energy costs, buyer interest in clean, replenish-able energy from secure U.S. Sources of energy, and Fed. tax inducements, we suspect more householders and entrepreneurs will have a look for sustainable alternatives,” he adds.

In most states, another benefit of solar electrical systems ( also called photovoltaic or PV ) is the choice to send excess energy back to your localized utility grid. As an example, if you’re a home client, your system may generate more electrical energy than you want during the moment when your folks are away at work and in school. Net metering permits you to send this excess electricity to the grid, spinning your meter backwards, and reducing or balancing the electricity you use at other times.

Today, solar electricity gear is top quality and trustworthy ; it is backed by guaranties from massive, credible firms and installed by experienced contractors. There also are many resources to find out more about solar power.

“FindSolar.com is a great starting place to learn more about solar energy and to assess the options for your own particular home or building,” says Julia Judd, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Solar Electric Power Association. “With minimal inputs, including your state, county, utility, and typical monthly energy bill, the site provides you with estimates of system size, costs, savings and other benefits.

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Solar Energy Is Popular

January 15th, 2010

Doubtless you are heard lots about solar energy but always thought it was too costly, apart from minor uses in the now well-liked garden lighting systems. However, with fuel costs climbing and solar cells getting more reasonable, adding solar electricity to your house is a great, long-term solution to high energy bills.

That isn’t to say they are cheap. Before rebates, it typically takes 12 or more years for a homeowner to make their investment in solar panels back. That’s much longer than the average person is willing to wait. However, many states now offer rebates, so the final cost to the homeowner is much less than it use to be. The rebates vary from state to state, so it’s impossible to say how much of an impact they have overall. There may also be federal incentives.

Solar panels are also continuously getting more efficient. They produce more energy than they used to. They need comparatively small upkeep, plenty of which you could be ready to do yourself. This helps to make them extraordinarily cheap.

Solar energy isn’t just for making electricity. You can use it heat the water for your swimming pool or heat your home. There are many options available for those who are interesting in building an energy efficient home without sacrificing comfort.

Solar power is much less expensive than it used to be, as costs have fallen by ninety percent since the 1970s. That doesn’t make it cheaply – yet! – to install enough photovoltaic cells to power a place, but in some areas the motivations given to install solar cells cuts the general cost to the house owner about in half.

To decide if solar energy is right for you, take some basic figures into consideration.

Check your energy usage. You have to know how enormous a system you’ll need to power your home. Ensure you think about your greatest consumption levels and the chance that it’ll grow rather.

Find out how much a photovoltaic system to meet your need will cost. The size will rely both on your energy need and on the available daylight ( solar resource ) in your neighborhood.

Find out what repayments and inducements are available to you to help reduce your costs.

Consider whether your system will be on the grid or off. On the grid has the benefit that you can sell when you have an excess and buy electricity when you do not have enough, while with an off the grid system you’ve a battery to store your excess.

Consider what the ecological benefits are worth to you. This is a private factor instead of a direct commercial one. It will not save you cash, but understanding that you are contributing less to pollution might change how you are feeling about the cost.

Choosing to use solar power in your home is an investment you can appreciate on many levels. Over a number of years it will save you money as you generate environmentally friendly energy. It’s not cheap to get started, but when you combine the environmental benefits with decreasing your reliance on fuel costs you can certainly appreciate the possibilities.

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Teach Yourself To Produce Power By Yourself With Home Built Solar Panels

January 10th, 2010

Home built solar panels are meant to save sufficient amount of your hard earned money that you spend on your monthly electricity charges. Well if you think that they are hard to construct then you are completely wrong as they can be easily constructed. Easy construction reduces the overall costs and they can be manufactured inside your home. The solar panels are cheap and they do not cause any environmental pollution. Environmental pollution is the biggest drawback of conventional resources of power. Such sources of power are expensive compared to solar power.

Solar panels require a large and open space for installation. Home built solar panels kits cannot be installed properly if you don’t have proper space where sunlight comes directly. If the solar panels are not facing the sunlight directly they will not be able to utilize full solar energy into usable power. It is easy to install.

Certain important things are to be kept in mind. The solar panels must face the sunlight directly otherwise they will not be able to utilize the full solar energy into usable power. Apart from that certain mathematical calculations have to be kept in mind which will help it to be properly installed. Installation is easy once the kit has been installed.

A proper guide is necessary to take you through the entire installation procedure of home built solar panels. A step by step instruction list is given with the kits which can be assembled in your home. The work has to be done with patience otherwise the procedure will not be successful.

The material for building solar panels is also important. Good material is a little expensive. Always go for best one while installing solar panels because replacement of solar panels might be expensive for you. The material used should be heat absorbent too. The heat absorbent panels are long lasting. Really pocket friendly solar panels are easy to use and maintain. They are the best renewable source of energy. Try one for your house and see the difference.

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Solar Wind Renewable Energy: Is It Worth It?

January 2nd, 2010

When it comes to solar power, there are some pretty galvanizing benefits that are offered here. There’s no better time than now for you and everybody that you know to start using solar wind replenish-able energy and doing what you can not only for yourself except for others and the environment also. This way if you’d like you can begin using solar wind clean energy for yourself which is actually what you should be doing.

There are one or two tips that are going to be significant for anyone that plans on starting their own solar wind clean energy system to be conscious of, if they need to make efforts to get the best results.

Getting Things Going

The largest problem for most people is they aren’t conscious of how it is possible to get things going, of what they have to do to start and it can begin to feel a bit overpowering. Well there’s zip to be anxious about here, and the 1st step that you can take is to test out some different shops that offer the solar wind clean energy kit, so you can see what different pieces you’re going to require and also so you can get a better concept of what costs you should expect to pay.

It is a really good idea to get this done first because then you have a much better idea on things here and are not going to be totally clueless. Then you will want to get to work on figuring out just what parts of your home you want to utilize the solar energy for. Maybe you just want to start off small and see what it is like, and want to only do the lighting in your backyard with solar energy, or you are interested in going all out right from the get go and want to change to solar wind renewable energy for all the lighting and heating in your home.

Whatever the case might be naturally usually the more that you need to switch over, the bigger first cost but then the more that you’re going to be saving in the final analysis and so you have got to remember this. There are lots of people nervous to put out money when they already shell out hundreds in electricity bills but you won’t have to do that when you switch over.

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How The Solar Panel Works

January 2nd, 2010

Solar panel renewable energy and solar wind renewable energy as well for that matter are things that you should definitely concern yourself with if you have not already. Especially in the world we live in today where there are such urgent environmental issues that we are dealing with, there is really no better time than now to make the switch to solar energy and take advantage of all that solar panel renewable energy has to offer.

How They Work

To really be able to take advantage of all that solar panel renewable energy has to offer, the first step of course is to learn about the solar panels and what they really do, how they work to offer the solar panel renewable energy in the first place. This is a type of panel that contains photovoltaic cells, so it is able to basically capture the energy that is given off from the sun, even when the sun is not shining although there would not be as much of it in that case, and then you can use this energy with other equipment and transfer it into thermal or electrical energy so that you could use it to say, heat your pool or power your lights in the backyard.

There are a few different types of solar panels that you can get to use, and they vary in price as well. It really depends on what you are going to be using the solar panel for, and how large it needs to be.

You should take a little time to look around to see where you can get the top deal on solar energy panels, particularly if you’re planning on purchasing a few of them because then you’re not going to be splashing cash simply to get the gear you need. There are some great stores out there that you will find all of the solar power hardware you need, and there may be people there who are way more educated and who are going to be prepared to come in and hook the system up for you.

There are certainly some great advantages that solar panel renewable energy has to offer, and there is no better time than now to take advantage of it. Sure you are benefiting the environment and that is major, but you are also doing a huge advantage to yourself here by using solar energy.

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Solar And Other Renewable Energy

January 2nd, 2010

There are some important details that you are going to need to find out more about when it comes to the topic of solar and other green energy. When you’re mindful of solar energy panel replenish-able energy and all that it must offer, you are quickly going to see just why there are such a lot of people out there today who are ardent to make this change, and going to get the kit that they want like solar energy panels, to exploit this solar energy panel and other clean energy.

What is Solar Energy?

Of course the first step is going to be to learn what solar and other renewable energy even is to begin with. To put it as simply as possible, solar and other renewable energy is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. This energy can be used for all the same things, so for instance instead of heating your pool with regular electricity and having to cough up hundreds of dollars at the end of the month for your electricity bill, you can make the switch to solar energy and besides buying the equipment to get started you will not have to pay a dime.

Most people are just not sure about solar and other renewable energy because they are not sure what it is all about they don’t quite understand, and don’t see how you could have the electricity that you need but without paying a bill at the end of the month. Well this is definitely not something that anyone is going to complain about, and so it is really just a matter of taking that next step and putting in the effort to get your solar energy system up and running.

Get Your System Going

So to get your system going you’re going to need to chat to someone that knows their way around solar energy in order that they can let you know what you’re going to require, or at least take some time to do a bit more research so you really know what different items of equipment you’re going to want and ways to set it all up.

There are solar energy kits that you can get which make it as easy as pie and all you have to do pretty much is buy the kit and follow the instructions and you will be fine.

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What Active Solar Heating Is All About

January 2nd, 2010

The first way of heating a home home at present turns out to be to make full use of active solar heating at least so far as using solar electricity goes. Most applications which make use of active solar heating will get their heat from daylight which is then stored and typically used for heating domestic supply of water though it’s also helpful for heating purposes too.

Fans And Pumps

The term active implies that the solar heating system uses fans as well as pumps that help in transferring the heat that was captured from the rays of the sun to a place where it can either be used or stored for use later on.

An active solar heating system consists of collectors along with collector controls as well as a heat storage system and finally a system to distribute the heat. Solar collectors are commonly employed for applying solar energy for domestic heating purposes and it generally makes use of fluids or even air as the medium to absorb the rays from the sun.

It is also necessary to get the size of the collectors right so that the best use of solar energy is achieved which of course depends on the collector’s efficiency as well as on the local cost of energy as well as the heating requirements of the building. The more efficient collectors will need to be located at the right place, be properly oriented as well as its tilt angle too must be exactly right and of course its construction should be such that it is entirely insulated.

Even in states like Alaska an active solar heating system though not necessarily completely cheap, has managed to supply the required source for heating domestic supply of water as well as to heat spaces inside buildings. These systems have helped in noticeably reducing our dependance on use of normal fuels particularly when active solar heating systems are used together with passive solar heating systems.

The main use of an active solar heating system is that may be the best choice in places where there isn’t any use power available. An active solar space heating system in fact, regularly uses the same sort of parts as are used for heating domestic supply of water though at the same time it must also tie up with a distribution system ( heating ) that uses hot liquids as its source for heat. These systems are quite inexpensive and so reasonably popular.

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Advice On How Solar Heating System Works

January 2nd, 2010

An intro to active solar heating and how an active solar heating system works is going to be exceedingly critical if this is something you have an interest in bringing in to your own life. Basically, active solar technologies are employed to convert solar energy into use able heat. It offers each one of us round the world some phenomenal benefits, which we should all be particularly aware of.

This is just one kind of solar power heating system and in reality there are many others that you might decide to use as well including the passive solar heating system.

Heating Your Own Home

If you would like to start heating your house with an active solar heating system, you must know this is commonly the best choice even over passive which is hot. That is as the active solar heating system will work fine even if your house is in a shaded area, which is critical. Of course, you do not need to go round having to cut back trees which is anti-environmental, and something that you definitely need to avoid here.

In terms of how much heat an active solar heating system should be providing, they are usually designed to provide about 40-50% of the home’s heating needs. It may not be everything, but this is a significant amount and you will notice the differences almost immediately. Bear in mind that it is going to be the size of the system that you have installed which is going to determine how much heat it is going to be able to provide.

The bigger the system itself is, the more heat it’s going to be providing to you and your house. This is necessary to take into account in the planning and preparation processes.

You are most probably going to have to have a back-up heating system for your active solar heating system, which is maybe not going to be used all that regularly but that will be beneficial when there are gray and cloudy skies outside and your system isn’t in a position to get any solar energy to work.

It can take some effort and time to get a solar energy system up and running in your house, but the advantages received will be incredible. You won’t only be benefiting yourself but as well others around you and the Earth itself. If you weren’t using solar electricity you’d be relying on perilous traditional fuels.

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Advantage Solar Power Renewable Energy

January 2nd, 2010

There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of solar power renewable energy because the solar renewable energy source is the sun, and it is going to always be there to get so we can always continue to harness the energy and turn it into thermal or electrical energy that we need. Solar power renewable energy has a great deal of benefits to offer, and you are really missing out if you are not aware of what they are.

When you see the advantages of solar electricity green energy, you are potentially going to question why you did not get started with this before and make the switch to solar power.

Cost-Savings

One of the most significant reasons that there are such a lot of people making the switch to solar energy energy is actually because it’s so inexpensive. While you’re going to put out some money at first to get the system active, as you’re going to require to buy the different pieces of kit to put together to harness the energy of the sun and change it into energy that you may use, this is going to over pay off inside as little as the initial few months.

After that you’re going to be saving exceedingly, and you will not have an electricity bill, or at least not one that made you faint.

Efficiency

The efficiency factor is another huge benefit of solar power renewable energy. Solar power is so efficient, and you can use it for everything, from lighting the pathway to your hot tub in the backyard, to heating the pool. There are so many different uses for solar energy, that you can pretty much switch from regular electricity for almost everything in your home and move to solar energy.

Environmental Benefits

One of the most crucial advantages of the solar energy clean energy that you should be mindful of is the ecological benefits that are offered. The electricity that we depend on now is polluting the air and causing the world to have issues like global warming. With solar electricity being fully natural and ecological, you now do not have to stress about this and know that you aren’t doing any more damage to the environment.

There are masses of other great reasons as well with regard to why we should all be using solar electricity, and the more that you know the more that you are going to need to make the switch yourself.

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