Solar And Wind 4 Me

Following are some of the basic technical facts about solar energy.

• A photovoltaic module or solar panel is made up of about 40 photovoltaic cells.
• “Photovoltaic module” and “photovoltaic cell” are the “technical terms” for “solar panel” and “solar cell.”
• When a photovoltaic module is used to charge batteries it is commonly referred to as a “solar battery charger.”
• Several photovoltaic modules or panels arranged alongside each other are referred to as a “photovoltaic array” or a “solar array.” The usual setup for a system in the home consists of an array consisting of ten to twelve panels or photovoltaic modules.
• The color of the panels varies, depending on what material is used to make the cells inside the panel.
• Energy from the sun can be collected by hybrid chargers and used to recharge batteries, or to recharge cell phones and other gadgets directly.

Environmental Facts:

• All life on Earth is dependent upon solar energy. In fact, without it, there would be no life at all. Even the lowest life forms on Earth, such as plankton and microbes, need energy in the form of sunlight in order to survive.
• Solar power is completely environmental friendly, producing absolutely no carbon emissions or other harmful byproducts, whatsoever. It can be used successfully and cost-effectively in just about any location on the planet. You do not need to live in a tropical or desert climate in order to benefit from its use. It has been used successfully in many cold climates, and even in the polar regions.
• Every area of the United States of America receives enough sunlight to benefit from and make use of solar technology.
• Currently, the cheapest and most effective way of using solar power in your home is through the use of solar hot water heating systems. In fact, these systems have been commercially available in the United States for over a 100 years.
• The sun’s energy can be used for heating homes effectively in cold climates, as well as in warm climates. In fact, this form of heating has been in use many cold-climate northern European countries for several decades now.
• Solar energy technology has advanced far enough that it can be a viable and cost-effective replacement for regular grid-electricity. It is rapidly increasing in popularity - so much so that the demand for solar-powered gadgets is currently greater than the supply.

There is no shortage of energy on Earth and no need to use damaging fossil fuels. It is simply a matter of advancing and utilizing alternative energy technologies for a cleaner future.

Anna

I’m wondering if I can connect about 15 or 20 low voltage, 1 inch by 1 inch solar panels directly to a home 120V power circuit without any inverters or extra equipment?

A great new way to harness the energy of the sun is by using roof shingles.  This will generate electricity that will power your home.  Almost everyone lives in a home where the rooftop shingles just sit there.  That was great for the past, but the future is now.  It’s time to make those shingles work generating renewable energy for your home. 

There is a new technology available, where thin photovoltaic cells are being used as roof shingles. This is a new building material that shows a lot of promise.  Solar panels on a rooftop are bulky, and can be damaged in a storm.  With solar roof shingles, you avoid these problems, but still get all the benefits of solar power in your home.

If you didn’t already know, photovoltaics are extremely clean and do not pollute the environment at all.  They don’t require any fuel, and they run quietly.  All you need is sunshine to run these power generators.  As long as you’ve got sunlight, this technology will keep generating renewable energy. 

Believe it or not, solar roof shingles can save you nearly sixty percent on your home energy costs each month.  If you’ve got a small business, this technology can work in this context as well.  It will work wherever you’ve got a roof to install on.

There are a lot of advantages to using solar roof shingles.  Of course, you get the same protection and durability as you would be standard asphalt shingles.  Aside from this, they are aesthetically appealing.  You can design your product to go with your roof and the rest of your house. 

It’s possible to completely replace the old roofing material on your home, and install photovoltaic cells that will start generating natural energy from solar power.  If you are hesitant to consider doing this, don’t worry.  The costs to install such a system are surprisingly low, and the material is lightweight so there’s no possibility of damage to your roof or the rest of your home.

If you have a roof that receives a large amount of sunlight each day, your property is ideal for solar roof shingles.  Best of all, there are a bunch of options for financing such a project.  The Department of Energy is willing to participate in offsetting the costs of solar power for homes in America.

There may be various incentives available to you if you decide to install solar shingles.  Do more research online for further information or visit our website at Metal Roofing to learn more.

Chris Smitts
http://www.articlesbase.com/remodeling-articles/save-money-try-solar-roof-shingles-777957.html

Imagine if your house could get all of its energy for heating, cooling, and cooking from batteries that never require changing. Imagine, then that these batteries were cheap and as reliable as the sun. Well, thanks to advances in technology, and the use of photovoltaic solar panels, its not a dream - it really can be done. It is possible to build a system that not only utilised the suns energy but can even work when there is no sun. By converting some of the suns energy to hydrogen, the element that makes up 75 % of the sun’s composition, its possible to then store this hydrogen for use in cloudy weather.

Photovoltaic solar panels and a stored hydrogen system can easily be retrofitted to an existing home, and many people believe that this will become a model for most modern homes in the near future. The system requires solar panels, storage batteries, hydrogen electrolyzer, generator, and tanks. Now this all sounds expensive and complex but it’s not, and it’s worth remembering that the end product is free electricity .. for life!

The system basically works like this. The photovoltaic solar panels absorb sunlight, converting its energy into electricity. During the sunny months, this electricity heats, cools, powers appliances, fills the hot water tank, and provides energy to cook. At the same time, though, 60 % of the electricity is diverted to an electrolyzer that pulls hydrogen from water. This hydrogen is stored in tanks, and when energy from the stored hydrogen is needed, the hydrogen flows to a fuel cell where it is converted back into electricity. Clean, simple, and very efficient.

Dave Simpson

How much do solar panels for homes cost? How many would you need to power the average two-story house?

Solar Panels cost between $9-11 on Average per watt. The Average home uses 930 Watts per hour.

Most homes aren’t fully solar power, the ones that are run in economy mode - no AC or other hi-power electronics.

Your other costs are installation to the power grid, batteries, inverters.

Approximately $20k and will pay itself off in 8 years and last 20-25 years.

Once you start house hunting there is no doubt one of your first stops will be at a new homes website or community to see what they have to offer in the area you would like to live in. In fact, new homes have stepped up to win the hearts and minds of homebuyers for the better part of the past decade where we’ve seen an unprecedented explosion in new home construction and buying. What was once considered a luxury reserved for the rich and famous, new construction has opened the door to all price ranges and styles including luxury high-rise condominiums, townhouses, active adult communities and single-family homes.

There are a tremendous number of benefits to owning a new home including the ability to customize the home to your liking, meeting all the new neighbors as they move in and substantial savings in utility costs with new homes now being built to a higher, more energy efficient and green standard.

It’s your house. No, REALLY your house. - When you buy a resale home you are purchasing a home that someone else crafted to suit his or her lifestyle. Sometimes it’s just perfect and exactly what you are looking for but more often than not there are a few “Why did they do that?” issues with a home that you will have to renovate or remove when you move in to fit your lifestyle. When you build a new home you will be able to choose exactly what you want and where you want it so you can move in and not have to touch a thing.

Everyone else is new too! - Resale communities are great because you can see the neighborhood, how people care for their homes and everything is already established but those same benefits can prove to be cons when you are the only new neighbor on the block. Moving into a new home grants you the privilege of meeting the neighbors when they are also looking to meet new people and settle into the community. There won’t be any pre-established social circles to work your way into and you will be discovering new things about your neighborhood at the same time everyone else does.

Newer homes are more attractive when you resell. - Life happens. You might have to relocate or you make a lifestyle change a couple short years after you move in. The good news is that newer homes are more attractive to prospective homebuyers because it’s their opportunity to buy a newer home without the price premium associated with new construction. Better yet, you’ve already purchased all the appliances and upgrades for the home and many parts of the home are still under warranty making the home a great inclusive value. This will compare favorably to older resale homes that may require renovation or updating to make it livable for the modern homebuyer.

Location, Location, Location! YOU choose! - When you shop for resale homes the homes you find are obviously fixed to their current location. How many times have you seen a great resale that would be absolutely perfect if it were a little closer to the community clubhouse or offered a larger back yard for the kids to play? New homebuilders typically offer a range of model homes to choose from and you can usually place that model on a lot of your choice. Now you can have the home of your dreams in the cul-de-sac you’ve always dreamed of!

In the current market new homes may be a better deal than resale homes. - That’s right, the market shift has turned the tables. Now buyers have the market in the palm of their hands and can get some really outstanding deals on homes but you have to know where to look. Resale home owners may be willing to deal but in the past thirty days I have been able to successfully negotiate $69,117 off the asking price of a new home for a client and then shortly after located a home for another client and negotiated $91,000 off the asking price and we are still in negotiations to get even more from the builder. By the way, these home prices included upgrades! I have never met homeowners who were willing to accept a substantial reduction on the price of their home to the tune of more than $60,000. As a matter of fact, many homeowners have overpriced their homes on the market because they owe more than the home is worth and they cannot afford to go lower in price.

Buying Tip: To score a new home deal you can’t walk in and offer builders $400,000 under what they are asking for the home. Fantastic deals can be found however if you find the right buyer’s agent who specializes in new homes because their experience, relationships with builders and negotiating ability will help you save thousands of dollars.

That brown carpet and tiny kitchen? Soooooo 1970s! - Kitchen big enough for one? Small closets, shower only bathrooms and carpet everywhere? Not for today’s homebuyer! The modern lifestyle is drastically different from what it was even ten years ago and resale homes often lack the oomph and space to satisfy. Today’s homebuyer wants a bright, open kitchen with breakfast bar and high-end appliances. We now do most of our living in the kitchen! Soaking tubs in the master suite and walk-in closets are now considered standard staples of the modern home. New homes often feature these amenities as a part of their standard offering and are even starting to prepare homes for the future including the addition of whole house networking and walk-out basements that can be finished as future living space.

New homes save money with efficiency and green building techniques. - Many new homes are taking advantage of the Energy Star standard which sets forth a number of requirements that products like windows and doors must adhere to in order to achieve an Energy Star rating. In addition to Energy Star many builders are now offering green building and living options like the installation of solar panels on the roof of a home to harness the sun’s energy and convert it to electricity. If you install enough solar panels you may just have the electric company paying you for the electricity you are producing! These features are often very costly to retrofit a resale home with if it wasn’t initially built to these standards.

The next time you start searching for homes be sure to consider all of your options including new construction. When buying new construction you should take into account the fact that most new homes take approximately four to six months to build. You will also devote more of your personal time to building the home as you will need to choose home upgrades and work with your agent through the inspection and financing processes.

Happy hunting!

Joshua Ferris
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/seven-advantages-of-new-homes-over-resale-homes-686507.html

Solar panels hold a wealth of benefits, both for individuals and for the world at large. Economically, solar panels promise to lower the cost of electrical power. Environmentally, solar panels can give us cleaner power, sustainable power that will not require further damage to the environment. Solar power can reach remote areas. It can carry education, or urgently needed medical information.

The effects of clouds on a solar panel, though, might diminish those and other promising benefits.

The effects of clouds on a solar panel might make it far less efficient in certain parts of the world and at certain seasons.

For that reason, people who are considering solar panels for their homes are often heard to ask: will clouds affect my solar panels?

Will Clouds Affect My Solar Panels?

Clouds do affect solar panels. The amount of power your solar panels can produce is directly dependent on the level of light they receive.

In full, bright sunlight, solar panels receive maximum levels of light. During those “peak” sunlight hours, your solar panels will produce power at their maximum capacity.

When clouds cover the sun, light levels are reduced. This does not shut down power production, however. If there is enough light to cast a shadow, in spite of the clouds, your solar panels should operate at about half of their full capacity. Thicker cloud cover will reduce operations further. Eventually, with heavy cloud cover, solar panels will produce very little useful power.

The Good News!

The effects of clouds on a solar panel can be surprising good, however. Incredibly, your solar panels will put out their ultimate amount of peak power during cloudy weather!

As the sun moves into a hole between the clouds, your solar panels will see something wonderful. They will see full direct sunlight “plus” reflected light from the clouds! They will drink in more energy than they could on a cloudless day!

The effects of clouds on a solar panel could then produce peaks at or above 50 percent more than its direct-sun output!

Meeting the Challenge

There are ways to meet the cloud challenge.

1. If you often have clouds in the afternoon, but mornings are clear, aim your solar panels slightly toward the east.

2. Be sure you use a large enough battery system to maximize the amount of power stored for use when the clouds arrive.

3. Make sure your controller has plenty of headroom over the rated panel output power so that it can absorb the surges when the sun reflects off the clouds.

Those tricks and more are practiced in cloudy regions of the world where people have sprinted far ahead of the United States in their use of solar panel energy.

Effects of Clouds on a Solar Panel in Germany

Germany is typically a very cloudy country. Read about the climate of Germany, and you will find that it is “temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind” according to Nation Master’s website.

In spite of its cloudy climate, though, Germany is by far the world’s biggest user of solar panels. If you lived in Germany, you could sell back to the main power grid all of the excess electricity produced by your solar panels. Why would I even care in such a cloudy climate? If clouds affect my solar panels too much, I would not worry about selling back to the main grid.

In 2006, Germany opened the largest solar park in the world. Germany also has Europe’s most modern solar housing project - a solar village of 50 solar houses that produce more energy than they use!

Will clouds affect my solar panels? Even if I lived in Germany, the effect would not be enough to forego solar power.

Tip: There are few places that are so consistently cloudy that solar power is out of the question. Improvements are being made constantly, and even solar panels small enough to fold into a briefcase can produce helpful amounts of power.

Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/effects-of-clouds-on-a-solar-panel-136546.html

People have been aware that the sun’s energy can be harnessed to power various devices and machines for years, but it is not until recently that the technology and the motivation has pushed people to seriously consider solar energy as a viable power source.

With the current state of the economy and with the growing move toward a more environmentally responsible lifestyle, many people are considering various forms of renewable energy and “green living” principals. Solar power is usually at the top of the list when it comes to renewable energy sources. Solar power has been used for years by the government and various businesses, but it has only recently come into the mainstream for the everyday average household.

In almost any area of the country it is possible to dramatically cut one’s electric bill by installing and maintaining solar panels. Some people are even able to go entirely off the grid and power their homes completely independently of the traditional local electric company, all by solar power. While going off the grid may be an intimidating prospect for some, there is absolutely no reason why a household cannot install solar panels on the roof and greatly reduce the monthly electric bills.

Until recently, the cost to buy and install residential solar panels has been prohibitively high, and not everyone has the technical know how to do it themselves. However, with the shift toward renewable energy, many companies have seen this as an opportunity in an untapped industry and have started offering solar panels at much more competitive and affordable prices. The installation and upkeep of the solar panels is very easy and affordable. Many households find that they can pay for the solar panels in less than a year through the reduced electric bills they produce.

Obviously, once the panels are installed, the solar power is completely free and produces absolutely no harmful emissions, unlike traditional fossil fuels. As the technology becomes more mainstream, manufacturers and builders are constantly refining their techniques to make the solar panels more efficient, durable and innovative.

Recently, some builders have started to integrate solar power into their overall design by including solar panels as standard features on top of garages and in other unobtrusive places such as the roofs of gazebos, tops of pool houses, and on every available foot of roof space in general. Some pool decks are being built with embedded solar cells. As the renewable energy movement continues, more and more builders will find it necessary to integrate a solar power plan into their overall building plan in order to stay competitive with all the other builders who are doing the same.

Solar power is one of the easiest and best solutions to not only help the environment and climate, but to save significant amounts of money in electric bills as well. With solar power components being more affordable now than ever before, every homeowner should at least consider installing solar panels.

David J Hughes
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/renewable-energy-lesson-2-solar-power-754985.html

How long would take to install solar panels from start to finish?

Due to design, permits, inspections etc. it took me almost a full month from start to finish, good luck!

To truly understand the benefits of green solar energy, you must first understand how solar energy is harnessed. There are two types of green solar energy-thermal and light. Thermal energy is considered passive solar. This type of green solar energy is harnessed through the design and materials used to construct a building. By integrating south facing windows and materials that retain heat, like brick and stone, you can lower your energy needs and build an energy efficient structure. The thermal energy produced by green solar energy is also used to heat water for solar hot water systems. The rays of the sun also produce light and radiation that can be captured by solar panels to create electricity.

The most popular use of green solar energy is for saving money. Although green solar energy systems can come with a large initial investment, they generally pay for themselves in a few years by providing either supplemental electricity or all of the electricity to your home or business. Building your own solar panels, participating in government refunds and net metering, in which you sell unused electricity back to the power company, can reduce the cost of implementing a green solar energy system. In addition, green solar energy systems require little to no maintenance after installation, as most have no moving parts.

The most important benefit of utilizing green solar energy is completely environmental. With polar ice caps dwindling away and climate changes creating tragic storms world wide, it is increasingly obvious that steps must be taken to decrease global warming and our dependence on fossil fuels. Green solar energy provides a clean energy alternative as it creates little pollution and does not contribute to global warming.

Solar energy panels have become more affordable in recent years making it a viable alternative energy option for savvy home owners looking for savings on their monthly utility bills and the environmentally conscious who also enjoy the financial advantage, but focus more on the benefits solar energy panels have on global warming and independence from fossil fuels.

If you are a beginner to the solar electric world, then you may be wondering what exactly solar energy panels are? It is really simple and yet fascinatingly complicated. Solar energy panels are also known as photovoltaic panels; photovoltaic meaning electricity from the sun. Solar energy panels work by collecting protons from the sun, which displace neutrons, and create a flow of electrons or electricity. An inverter converts the power generated by the solar energy panels from an AC current to a DC current making it usable in homes as a direct electricity supply.

You can use solar energy panels to heat your pool, workshop tools, greenhouse lights and fans or depending on you personal electric usage, your entire home or business. Most solar energy panels are designed to last 30-40 years and require little to no maintenance. Over the life-span of solar energy panels, the energy savings realized by the owner is enough to justify the initial cost of the system and prices are dropping more and more as a larger number of consumers express interest and make the change to solar energy panels or other renewable resources.

Solar energy panels for small applications can be purchased at your local hardware stores. These small versions are ideal for outdoor lighting, small water pumps and other outdoor tools. If you are purchasing a home size or business size system of solar energy panels it would be best to seek out a local retailer of solar energy panels or a green energy retailer in your area. There is also plenty of information available online about different solar energy panel providers.

Corrado Vinci
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/benefits-of-green-solar-energy-679319.html