The sun is the ultimate source of solar energy. It is proven in many scientific researches that the sun is the most abundant source of energy to the earth and it has benefited the entire world. How much does it cost? It’s free!

Solar energy has many uses that can be very useful in everyday living.

1. We use it to light our homes- In particular rural areas where electricity isn’t available, the use of solar energy is very effective. Solar kits can light up homes and power household appliances. It can be also an effective fuel in cooking instead of wood fuel hence deforestation can be minimized.

2. We use it in boiling water – Hot water from the sun is free. It is one of the well known benefits from solar energy. Furthermore because of the discovery of what we can do with solar energy in our daily household chores, the electricity bill will drastically reduce and the amount paid in electric bill can be added to other household needs.

3. We use it in water pumping – It helps lessen your water bills and will be your lifesaver in times of turmoil, such as natural disasters, because of the lack of water supply.

4. Schools, community halls and clinics use it as their source of power. Television, video, telephone and other refrigeration equipment can be powered by the sun’s energy. It benefits the community because it is free and has unlimited source.

5. Solar energy for recreation – Solar Power is used in consumer product applications that need small amount of energy like calculators and recreation vehicles that use rechargeable battery.

All of the benefits that the world enjoys today is due to our sun, our ultimate source of free unlimited power. We should realize how lucky we are. All what we need to survive in this world is there and the only thing we need to do is to use it and take care of it.

The technology to derive substantial electrical current using light from the sun has been around since the mid 1950′s when the first solar cell was created by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson at Bell Labs – they developed the first solar cell capable of generating enough power from the sun to run everyday electrical equipment. A silicon solar cell was produced that was 6% efficient. They were later able to increase efficiency to eleven percent.

Anyone who is aware of the ability to harness sunlight into electrical energy just has to recall from Jr. High School Science Class that Electricity produced by a solar cell is only good if the sun is shining directly onto the a photovoltaic solar cell.

With basic knowledge that solar cells product Direct (un-fluctuating) current, it stands to reason that there are two, very costly obstacles that stand in the way of practical solar power: 1) how to convert the current from direct current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) so that it can be used in the common household and 2) how to practically store the energy for use when needed after the sun had set or gone behind the clouds.

By the time solar technology had developed and become less expensive to produce, our nation’s infrastructure had already established and built around the standard of AC at 110 volts and 15 amperes. A big expense to the use of solar cells is the requirement for use expensive power inverters to convert it from DC to AC.

With help from Exxon Corporation in 1970, a significantly less costly solar cell was designed by Dr. Elliot Berman. His design decreased the price of solar generated power from $100 per watt to $20 per watt. Although, still costly, this was a giant leap into the feasibility of the use of practical solar power

In 1976, the NASA Lewis Research Center began to install the first of many photovoltaic systems on every continent in the world with the exception of Australia. Those systems provided power for vaccine refrigeration, room lighting, medical clinic lighting, telecommunications, water pumping, grain milling, and classroom television. The project took place from 1976 to 1985, and then again from 1992 to its completion in 1995. By time the project was completed, 83 stand-alone systems were in place. These areas where systems were installed were obviously devoid of practical on-grid systems.

In July of the same year, the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration which was the predecessor to the U.S. Department of Energy launched the Solar Energy Research Institute. And in 1977, total photovoltaic manufacturing production exceeded 500 kw (kilowatts). This was only enough power to light 5,000, 100-watt light bulbs.

In 1982, the first megawatt-scale PV (photovoltaic) power station went on line in Hisperia, California. The systems capacity was 1-megawatts and was developed by ARCO Solar. The U.S. Department of Energy and an industry consortium began operating Solar One, a 10-megawatt central-receiver demonstration project in California which established the feasibility of power-tower systems. During this same time, an Australian named Hans Tholstrup drove the first solar-powered car – the Quiet Achiever – almost 2,800 miles between Sydney and Perth in 20 days. This was 10 days faster than the first gasoline powered car. Tholstrup is now the founder of a world-class solar car race, Australia’s World Solar Challenge.

Two other significant from 1982 which shaped the history of solar energy; Volkswagen of Germany began testing photovoltaic arrays mounted on the roofs of Dasher station wagons which generated 160 watts of electricity for use in the ignition system; and the Florida Solar Energy Center’s Southeast Residential Experiment Station began supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s photovoltaics program in the application of systems engineering. Worldwide, photovoltaic production then exceeded 9.3 megawatts.

In 1986 the world’s largest solar thermal facility was commissioned in Kramer Junction, California. The solar field contains rows of mirrors that concentrate the sun’s energy onto a system of pipes circulating a heat transfer fluid. The heat transfer fluid, used to produce steam, powers a conventional turbine to generate electricity. While

Researchers at the University of South Florida developed a 15.9% efficient thin-film photovoltaic cell made of cadmium telluride, breaking the 15% barrier for this technology, a 7.5-kilowatt prototype dish system that includes an advanced stretched-membrane concentrator began operating in Florida.

The first solar station to distribute electricity produced from solar collectors was Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in 1993, in Kerman, California. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (formerly the Solar Energy Research Institute) completed construction of its Solar Energy Research Facility and became recognized as the most energy-efficient of all U.S. government buildings in the world.

In 1994 the first solar dish generator to use a free-piston Stirling Engine is hooked up to a utility grid and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a solar cell made of gallium indium phosphide and gallium arsenide. This cell development was the first to achieve a conversion efficiency of above thirty percent.

Two years later, although not in the United States but worth mentioning, a solar-powered airplane, the Icare, flew over Germany. The wings and wings and tail surfaces were covered by 3,000 extremely efficient solar cells. Total surface area was 21 square meters.

The U.S. Department of Energy and an industry consortium begin operating Solar Two – an upgrade to Solar One’s concentrating solar power tower. Until the project’s end in 1999, Solar Two demonstrated how solar energy can be stored efficiently using molten salt economically so that power can be produced even when the sun isn’t shining; it also spurs commercial interest in Molten Salt Power Tower Technology [http://www.energylan.sandia.gov/sunlab/snapshot/stfuture.htm#tower]

On August 6, 1998, a solar-powered, remote-controlled aircraft, “Pathfinder,” set a record altitude of 80,000 feet after its 38th consecutive flight in Monrovia, California. This is higher than any prop-job to date.

The tallest Skyscraper in the city that was built in the ’90′s — 4 Times Square in New York — has more energy-efficient features than any other commercial skyscraper. The building includes integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels on the 37th through the 43rd floors on the south and west-facing facades to produce a portion of the building’s power.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Spectrolab, Inc. developed a 32.3% efficient solar cell. This highly efficient cell resulted from the combination of three layers of photovoltaic material into a single cell. This cell was most efficient and practical when used in devices with lenses or mirrors which concentrate the sunlight. These concentrator systems [http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/renewable/recp/pv/pubs/pv2.pdf] are mounted on trackers which always keep them pointed toward the sun. The NREL also produced a record breaking achievement in the niche of thin-film cells. It increased efficiency more than 1% to 18.8%.

Today, with the price of petroleum topping $126/bbl, more and more people are looking to alternative energy sources to fill their energy needs. From using cooking oil as fuel in diesel cars, to using wind and sun energy at the residential level, people everywhere realize they can no longer depend on the Middle East, or even their own governments to properly regulate energy.

Individuals will need to be proactive in their efforts to supply themselves with energy. Who knows, it may be possible one day we invent automobiles with remove and replace batteries, similar to warehouse forklifts. Spare batteries to be charged via solar panel during the day to replace the spent battery at night. Just in time for the next day’s commute to work.

Solar Power: What’s All The Hype About?

Solar energy and its benefits are not the easiest to understand initially. However it is true that the fossil fuels used currently will not last forever, and therefore new forms of energy generation are required. A method that has been around longest as a possibility is solar power. However just how do solar panels work and what makes them effective? This article is aimed at covering the answers to these questions.

Solar power is generated through the use of solar panels. These are silicon sheets placed together with electric wiring attached in order to siphon off the energy they generate. When direct sunlight hits the panel, the incoming photon from the sunlight knocks an electron from the panel loose. This can create a motion of electrons, or a current. In this way the panel is able to produce energy through sunlight.

The benefit of solar power is that it can function without producing excess waste such as carbon emissions. This means its carbon footprint is much smaller than, say, burning coal. This could be said of nuclear power as well, but nuclear power has its own issues with waste and has a much larger price tag associated with it.

This brings us to price. While solar power is not necessarily cheap, a large number of consumers are still able to invest in it for their own homes. This sets it apart in many ways from other green sources of energy such as wind power generation.

Because consumers can already benefit from solar energy, this makes it a very accessible way of providing extra power or supplementing power usage otherwise. This may be one reason why there has been significant talk about solar power in the past. Its potential for widespread usage is significant.

However that does not mean solar power has no improvements to look to. It may also wind up being replaced in the future by another form of energy generation. However at the moment it is typically seen as a good first step toward green energy production. Hopefully this has helped you better understand solar power and what it can do. Always use a Melbourne Electrician for installation.

There is no denying that for the past 110 years, electricity has been the key in providing the resources for the comprehensive developments and advancement achieved by mankind. Now, we look for systems that push forward renewable energy. Solar power home produced electricity is one energy source system.

Look all around us, and you will see that there are new technologies and inventions being developed with a dependence upon electricity. In addition, as the expansion of the world’s economy amplifies so does the huge requirement for electricity. This massive demand is being met by hydroelectric generators, nuclear stations, solar farms, wind systems and other conventional methods of producing electricity.

Electricity producing methods of fossil fuels like coal and oil so far have given us the basic assets to create electricity with the use of steam turbine generators in utility power facilities. However, these techniques have been confirmed to be dangerous to the living ecosystems on earth, and have been mathematically shown to be a limited source of energy. In other words, fossil fuels for generating electricity are not renewable.

You would have to agree, in our present world, we cannot live without electricity. Our demand for electricity power is increasing almost daily and we clamor that new research which will lead us to the creation and expansion of safer and cleaner energy sources. Just as mentioned earlier, solar power home produced electricity is one valuable energy source system.

Basically, in use today for harnessing solar power energy, the two methods of employing solar electricity systems are indirect and direct.

Direct methods

use photovoltaic cells, termed solar cells. made from wafer-thin slices of crystalline gallium arsenide, silicon, or other semiconductor materials which transfers solar radiation into a flow of electrons or electricity. solar cells are connected in large numbers into clear anodized aluminum alloy and glass flat panels. modern advancement of solar photovoltaic power cell panels has reduced cost of electricity to 20 – 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. solar technology has been used from the beginning of space exploration to provide electricity energy to satellites both that orbit the earth and travel out into far deep space. solar electricity systems provide a long-term and sustainable energy resource because there are no moving mechanical parts. solar cells have relatively low efficiency rating. solar power panels are dependent on the time of day, weather conditions and often seasonal changes. solar electricity systems need to have an inverter to switch the DC voltage into AC current in order to be consumed in commercial enterprises and in homes.

Indirect methods

concentrates solar radiation into a focus so that the energy heats to boiling liquids (often water) which in turn drives turbines to rotate in magnetic field and produces electricity employment of a parabolic trough that is made up of a linear parabolic reflector to concentrate solar energy into a receptor positioned on a focal line from the receiver; then, tubing connected to the turbine filled with liquid that takes in the heat generated through the application of the solar energy this type of solar electricity generating systems has a higher efficiency because the sun’s radiation is pinpointed utilized. other developed technologies extend the indirect power generating efficiency rating by using solar energy towers along with sun reflecting dishes

We have realized through experience that even though fossil fuels are power producing beneficial, they are used with long-term negative consequences.

These realizations of negative outcomes have moved us towards a trend of renewable, non-pollutant sustainable energy to help guarantee life on earth is continued.

Plant life has used solar energy since time immemorial, so why can’t we as intelligent human beings harness this solar power without negative consequences.

In many popular opinions, the big energy companies seem to be holding back progress, and in the intervening period, also are digging up the earth and polluting the oceans. It’s up all earthlings to start looking to the heavens.

Solar power and wind generated electricity systems provide the methods to achieve the goal of sustainable living.

Did you know that converting your home into an energy-efficient environment saves money on monthly service bills as well as taxes? If you renovated your home or are planning to do so, have a look at these energy tax credits! They will provide you with some tax relief, helping you to save plenty of money in more ways than one!

Windows, Doors, and Skylights
Do you want to change the windows in your house to save on heating and cooling costs? You can do so by making it energy efficient with a tax credit for 10 % of the total cost. This is $200 per window and $500 per door or skylight. It doesn’t matter how many you would like to be replaced. There is no labor charge included – only the price of the specific items. To claim the credit, they are required to be EnergyStar rated. Not only will you save on your monthly energy bills, you can get some tax relief as well!

Solar Energy Systems
Thankfully, the sun is there for us to use at no charge, which is a tremendous relief when nothing in the world is “free” these days. With the invention of solar energy systems, the price of energy has greatly decreased. Setting up a solar energy system in your home will permit you to obtain a credit of 30% of the price. In addition to that, the cost of the system set up is also incorporated in the 30%.

Insulation
Installing a spare insulation in your home is inexpensive, fast, and extremely efficient in reducing your cooling and heating bills. You can receive a tax credit for 10 % of the price of insulation, minus set up and labor costs, for up to $500!

Residential Wind Turbines
If you live in an area that experiences extremely strong winds, then a wind turbine would be appropriate for your home, as long as it is not on leased property. A wind turbine can be installed to generate electricity. The capacity however is required to be below 100 kilowatts in order for you for you to claim the credit. You can receive a tax credit of 30% of the parts, set up costs, and labor for the installation.

Fuel Cells
These systems transform stored fuel into heat or electricity. They play a major role in causing a major reduction in the sum of carbon dioxide emitted in your home. This in turn reduces your “carbon footprint” (a term that everyone is talking about these days). Fuel cells are costly to set up, but at least you can take a credit of 30% of the cost to help you make up for the price tag.

Who knew that conserving the environment can help you save money in more ways than one! If you choose to go down the road of energy-efficiency when upgrading your home, consult your merchant to ensure that you are buying the appropriate equipment that qualify for tax credits and be sure to keep your receipts for documentation supporting your claims!