Solar Power Secrets

Everything you need to know about harnessing solar power to save money…and the planet Solar Power Secrets

The Solar Powered Home

In the 1970s many homes began to use solar technologies to receive a bit of electricity or to supply the family with hot water. Today, solar powered homes can do far more than create electricity while the sun shines. They can charge entire banks of batteries that can operate refrigerators, solar lights and other devices entirely “off the grid”, they can have specially designed openings for incredible daytime lighting and they can have a range of exterior lighting options powered strictly and entirely by the sun.

The majority of modern, solar powered homes will have banks of collectors positioned to receive and absorb optimal solar radiation. While some homes remain on the grid, and subsequently feed the public utilities as they charge their own batteries, there are others that aim to live entirely free of the utility companies all together. Incredibly this is entirely possible as long as the home or structure has been optimized for such a design, and if it is in a geographic location that is not prone to cloud cover or lengthy periods of overcast weather. For example, though areas of New England do have solar powered homes and buildings, these tend to remain on the grid as the colder months can see many days without the type of brilliant sun required for solar power.

Any modern home with solar power is also going to have to consider the types of appliances installed in the building as well. Not only will they need to be energy efficient, but they may need to be designed especially to meet the capabilities of solar electricity. Are such items very difficult to acquire? Interestingly they are quite easy to find, and the major home improvement stores make many available.

The exterior of many homes can also be outfitted with a huge array of solar fixtures as well, and these are a far cry from the earliest days of solar lighting. Today’s solar fixtures come as solar lamp posts, wall-mounted units, motion sensor spot or flood lights and even as highly decorative lamps that can be easily moved from one area to another. There are also many styles of solar path lights, which are hugely popular, and used for gardens as well as walkways and are often installed for security as well as beauty.

It is exciting to imagine where solar technologies will be within the next thirty years, especially when one considers just how quickly the technology has advanced and then been implemented in many day to day ways in our modern era.

Self Made Solar Energy

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Diy Solar Panels Installation © – Read This Immediately!

It is considered as one of the most cost-effective ways to cut your electricity-bills – nowadays Diy Solar Panels Installation is finally affordable and accessible to anyone. Many users already found out that this technique takes no more than just few days to be completed. Need more information? start reading this article and hear more about how this technology can help you to significantly cut your expenses.

Overview

Your first step with this Diy Solar Panels Installation is following one of these user-friendly guides that explain in details how to assemble Solar-Cells at home. Some guides can be really useful while others miss their target; check whether it offers the following: clear information, detailed diagrams, video tutorials, and technical support. Anyway, here are just a few advantage & advices that can help you to know a little more about this topic.

Quick benefits and advantages

This solution quickly provides clear and immediate benefits:

* Can produce 1000 Watts +.
* It is portable and you can take it with you (camping for example).
* Saves hundreds month-after-month.
* Helps on reducing the amounts of carbon dioxide in the air.
* Requires no more than a weekend to be installed.

Quick tip

Using a printed guidebook isn’t recommended – technology keeps changing and online guides usually get auto-updated with the latest information.

On the bottom line

The main reason that makes it so popular among many home-makers is the fact that Diy Solar Panels Installation requires minimal effort/cost in order to get outstanding results. One thing is clear – there are many other advantages provided by this exceptional invention, simply because it is innovative. It is advised to evaluate it and experience how it takes just days to start enjoying from its benefits.

Solar Lights – Different Ways to Enhance Your Backyard

Let’s say you just invested a substantial amount of money to improve your backyard. It looks beautiful but you think it still needs a little more. You’d like to view it after dark. You may have features you would look great by adding some lighting to it. But, you are thinking in order to have it lit up you will have to hire an electrician to run wires through the yard. In order to not see the wires you would have to dig up some of the yard to put them under ground. Then after all is said and done, what happens if the lighting just doesn’t work out? All would be for naught.

However, there still is a way to accomplish what you want by adding solar lighting. With solar lights, there would be no need to run wires. You can easily move them around to light just the areas you want. They would be so much more convenient than the hard-wired kind and would cost a fraction of the cost. Further, you would not have to dig up your landscaping.

Solar lights come in many different shapes, sizes, material and types. Some are made of plastic, some are copper, and some are stainless steel. They come in styles that would be suited for lighting pathways, highlighting rock gardens, extenuating ponds, and some even come in animal shapes likes frogs, turtles, dogs, birds, and squirrels. There are even ones that are seasonal shapes like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

In selecting which lights would be appropriate, you would need to look at the lay of the land and determine what you would like to light up and what you would like to just have lights around. If you have a walkway, perhaps solar pathway lights would be in order. There are also solar stepping stone lights that you could install as part of your pathway or along side of it. If you have a rock garden, placing some solar rock lightswould add that special something to that area. If you have a special shrub or plant that you want highlighted, a solar spotlight would allow you to light that up. You may have other areas that you want something a little different; adding a solar frog, solar dog or solar squirrel light might really add to the area. You may even want to outline your deck with some solar deck lights.

All in all, there are solar lights for almost any application. You just have to use your imagination and select some. The beauty of solar lights is that you can easily move around till you find that right lighting.

The one caveat you will need to consider in solar lighting is that they should be placed in a sunny area. Rechargeable batteries that are re-charged during the light of day power solar lights. Fully charged batteries will usually allow about 8 hours of lighting.

Solar lights can really add a lot to your landscaping projects. They can make your yard standout from the crowds. They can make your yard useable after dark.

“how To: Solar Panels House” System © – it Works. Period!

Do you also think that you are paying too much to the Power-Company each month? Well, “How To: Solar Panels House” System seems to be the ultimate answer for that problem. The first impression may not reveal that, but this technique takes no more than just few days to be completed. Read the following article to hear more about how we can all benefit from it.

Short overview

This “How To: Solar Panels House” System isn’t something that you go and buy in a store – you need to have one of these recommended guides that explain how to assemble Solar-Panels without having to be an expert. Before choosing a guide verify that it answers your needs; verify that it is written in simple language and that others already reported that it worked for them. Anyway, here are few key-benefits and & quick advices to help you better understand this topic.

Important advantages

This solution quickly provides clear and immediate benefits:

* Can work for anyone, no matter where he/she lives on the globe.
* Cuts down on the usage of non-renewable enr. resources.
* Provides an unlimited energy-source.
* Uses natural and clean resources.
* Helps on reducing the amounts of carbon dioxide in the air.

Quick advice

Make sure that there aren’t any unnecessary objects/obstacles that may be blocking sunlight to your unit; otherwise it may lose its efficiency.

Conclusions

It isn’t just about saving thousands each year; this powerful “How To: Solar Panels House” System enables us to preserve our planet. There are so many other pluses provided by this unique ‘machine’, simply because it is innovative. It is advised to evaluate it so you could explore the various advantages that it provides.

Expanding Options For Solar Panel Buyers

For lots of years, the only kinds of solar panels commercially offered have been crystalline solar panels put in a rectangular casing and positioned on a roof. This is why nearly everyone, as soon as they think of solar power for their house, imagine this as their single option. Below are a few new advancements in solar power and mounting options you may have never heard of before.

Thin Film Solar Panels – Man Is This Skinny!

Think of the solar panel you have in a solar calculator. That is a thin film solar panel. Thin film solar panels are used to a great extent in satellites. Thin film technology is now being expanded into residential and commercial use and was named one of the best inventions of 2008 by TIME magazine.

Thin film solar panels are bendable, unlike polysilicon cells found in conventional crystalline solar panels. These thin film solar panels are being hailed as second generation solar power technology.

Thin film solar panels are more resistant to hail, rocks, and so on. If part of a crystalline solar panel is damaged, the entire solar panel will stop functioning while a thin film solar panel will go on functioning.

Thin film panels can also be flexible and modified to a lot of surfaces. They can be applied in places conventional crystalline solar panels cannot be mounted on top of. I have even seen a thin film panel sewed on a coat that powered a MP3 player.

The downside to thin film panels is that they do not take in as much energy because they are so thin. 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 processes that are normal in conventional PV manufacturing.

Thin film solar panels are low wattage and have need of more space than traditional solar panels and they are more prone to degradation. In order to counteract several of these competitive disadvantages they have versus traditional solar panels, manufacturers offer better warranties for thin film panels.

The largest thin film solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the United States is the Blythe plant located 190 miles east of Los Angeles, California. The 21-megawatt solar power plant uses thin film solar cells made out of cadmium telluride. At full power, the plant will make enough electricity to power an estimated 16,500 homes.

Now let us examine traditional solar panels and some of the mounting options that are offered that you might not know exist.

Mounting Options For Conventional Solar Panels – It’s All About the Mount

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

Pole Mounts – No That Is Not What Santa Claus Uses For His Sleigh

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

Top of pole mounts (including sun trackers) are one of the simplest mounts to install. They really only need a single steel pole set in the ground (usually 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 escape shading from nearby vegetation.

Those Roof-Ground Mounts

Roof-ground systems can be mounted onto a roof or ground without a lot of variation in setup. They are usually built from stainless steel in a grid-like system of supports. Roof-mounted panels for smaller systems are the easiest to mount, using little flush-mount brackets that raise the panels to the best angle 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, variable 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, that can be challenging, when you are trying to keep your system low cost. Ground mounted systems require structural strength to prevent load bearing failure.

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

Flush Mounts

Flush Mounts are inexpensive and straightforward to install – these are ideal for single panel installations and smaller solar arrays. Flush mounts are put onto a level surface 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 function to separate the solar panel from the mounting surface and permit airflow to go under and cool the solar panel for efficient operation. Flush Mounts are usually used with small solar arrays on roof tops and RVs, because the structural design of a flush mount cannot hold up large solar panels.

New Technologies: Causing Home Solar Power More Viable

Before installing a system with which to get power up your home with solar power it will pay to understand what exactly is solar radiation and how does it work in the generation of solar energy. The truth of the fact is that for long solar power has been dismissed as being too expensive for normal usage. However, technology has made many advances and with each new improvement solar panels that were at one time very expensive have now become more affordable.

No Need to Buy Costly Solar Panels

To make use of solar power for your home today does not require buying costly solar panels and other equipment because it is very simple to make your own system with which to heat up and light your home with solar power. So easy has it become to use solar power for your home that an entire residence can be powered up with solar power – thereby freeing you from dependence on the electricity grid.

Home solar power is easy and the reason for this is that there are numerous things that will gather heat and light from the sun including mirrors, and glass as well as metals that are readily available and at relatively low cost. Once these materials draw the power from the sun and then transfer this stored energy to batteries you will have a basic home powered by solar power.

There are a number of diy-home solar power programs that you can also think about trying out and which does not require more skills than to be literate and able to follow instructions to affect. It is also very possible that you can upgrade your home solar power system which means that you can start off small and as your needs grow to upgrade your system to meet the additional requirements.

The best part about using home solar power is that there is no cost involved in getting the basic ‘raw materials’. The only expenses that will be incurred are the cost of acquiring materials with which to construct the system that will heat up and light your home with solar power; even then, there are many items lying about a home that can be used to create a basic system which will provide your home with heat and light.

At the very least, a home solar power system will require solar cells as well as something with which to do the soldering and some solder as well as flex and finally, tabbing. The right equipment and parts as well as a good guide is all that is required for getting home solar power up and running. The best part about home solar power is that it has already been certified as being worth every ounce of effort that you put into installing solar panels in your home and the costs that are incurred initially too will be paid back when you save considerably on electricity bills.

Solar Water Heater Sytems

In general, solar water heater systems can be more costly to purchase and setup than standard gas or electric water heating systems. However, by using a solar heater you will definitely save money on the long run.. By selecting to use solar energy technology you can expect to save around 50 to 80% on your electricity bills.

Gathering energy coming from the sun to heat water is not a new idea at all. Such technology using solar power for heating water exists since the year 1800. Producing warm water with solar energy can be employed about every where in the world and the sun and some special equipment is the only thing needed.

The key parts of a solar water heater are the solar collectors that grab and concentrate the energy coming from the sun and the storage tank. Such simple setup is usually called passive solar power. When mechanical and electrical devices such electric pumps are installed in the system to push the water it is then called solar active. To keep the water hot for long period of time a good insulation should be made to the storage tank.

Usually you will find two types of solar water heater: the two-tank and the one-tank and solar collectors exist in quite a few designs but in general glazed flat-plate collectors are widely used on solar water heater systems. Solar collectors can be fixed on the roof of your house or on the ground and in both cases, for best performance they should preferably be pointing south.

Installing a solar water heater will not cover all your hot water needs this is why you also need a traditional electric or gas water heater for days of bad weather where there is no sunshine. Despite this little inconvenient you can expect to make substantial savings.

Information About Solar Water Heating

 

Electric and gas hot water systems accounting for approximately 20% of a household’s greenhouse gas emissions,and by installing a solar water system you will reduce these emissions and also save up to 75% of your water heating costs! Table below is sourced from the Debartment of Environment and Climate Change NSW.

Solar pool heating uses a similar technology to building / household solar hot water systems. Solar pool heating involves covering a roof with a black blanket of coils and pipes which also get heated by the sun combined with a slow flow pump which circulates the water through the panel and into the pool. Unfortunately Energy Matters only installs building / household solar water heating systems and does not perform installation of pool water heating systems.

 

Flat plate collectors work on copper pipes running through a glass covered collector, often connected to a water storage tank on the roof. The hot water can then thermo-syphon itself in and out of the tank, thus heating the water. The updated option of flat plate collectors are evacuated tubes.

Evacuated tubes use a glass tube with a vacuum inside it and copper pipes running through the centre. The copper pipes are all connected to a common manifold which is then connected to a slow flow circulation pump which pumps water to a storage tank below, thus heating the hot water during the day. The hot water can be used at night or the next day due to the insulation of the tank.

The evacuation tube system is superior as they can extract the heat out of the air on a humid day and don’t need direct sunlight. Due to the vacuum inside the glass tube, the total efficiency in all areas is higher.

 

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