Advantages
The Advantages Of Using Solar Power for Home Use
What Is Solar Power?
The term solar power refers to basically any type of method that involves harnessing energy from the sun in order to convert it into electricity. There are many practical and beneficial advantages to using solar power, especially in regards to using solar power for home use, with some of the benefits including: solar pool heating systems heat pool water to extend the swimming season’s heating costs solar hot water heaters can replace any existing conventional water heaters and can thereby greatly reduce utility bills photovoltaic cells are solar panels that have no moving parts, and yet they are still able to convert sunlight directly into electricity which can be used to satisfy all of a home’s electricity needs.
The most basic uses for solar power for home use are that of: heating the pool, hot water heating, and other forms of electricity. In regards to solar power for home use for that of heating a pool, solar energy is actually used for heating swimming pools than for any other use in homes. There are over 300,000 pools that are currently being heated by solar energy in the United States alone. As well, solar pool heating equipment is so reliable that the warranty coverage for the products actually far exceed that of such things as automobiles and household appliances.
As for solar power for home use, in regards to hot water heating, water heating is considered to account for approximately one-fourth of the total energy that is used in a typical household, and an electric water heater is, in fact, the single biggest energy user of all appliances in the home. This is incredibly important, as by using solar power for home use, including for hot water heating, can dramatically cut costs, as well as be a conscious choice by you the consumer to save the environment rather than using the sparse fossil fuels of the earth.
As for solar power for home use, in regards to other forms of electricity, there are presently more than 10,000 homes in the United States alone that are now entirely powered by solar energy, and 200,000 homes in the United States use at least some type of photovoltaic solar technology the numbers are also increasing rapidly, as more and more people are learning and understanding about critical issues such as Global warming and Global dimming.
The Advantages Of A Solar Power Water Heater
Solar power energy is an exceptionally clean and abundant form of energy resource that can be used in the supplementing of many energy needs. Solar energy can also be used as a form of heat, such as in the form of water heating, where a solar power water heater is thus used. For the most part, a solar power water heater uses a small solar electric module in order to power the pump that is needed to circulate the heat transfer fluid through the collectors.
What Is A Solar Power Water Heater?
Basically, a solar water heater consists of three components, which are: a solar collector, which converts solar radiation into useable heat a heat exchanger or pump module, which transfers the heat from the solar collector into the potable water and a storage tank that is used to store the heated water.
What Are The Advantages Of A Solar Power Water Heater?
There are many benefits that you can receive from having a solar power water heater in your home, such as the fact that because a solar power water heater greatly reduces the amount of fuel that you need to heat water, you are then having to use a greatly lessened amount of fuel for your home, saving an immense amount of wear and tear on the environment as well as saving the earth’s available fossil-fuels, which are quickly becoming quite sparse.
As well, for the most part solar water heaters use a small solar electric module in order to power the pump that helps to circulate the heat transfer fluid through the collectors, and this will allow the solar water heater to be able to continue to operate even in the event of a black or power outage. There are a couple of basic different categories of solar water heaters, the two most primary of which are: year-round and seasonal.
The year-round solar water heaters are ones which are specifically designed to operate reliably throughout the entire year, and are generally more expensive than that of the seasonal systems, however they do provide more energy savings for the most part, and the benefit of having them assured to work steadily throughout the year is an incredibly important advantage.
The seasonal solar water heaters are then designed to operate only when the outdoor temperatures are above freezing. Therefore, although they are less expensive than the year-round solar water heaters, they have the disadvantage of only being able to work during the colder months of the year. As well, when compared to the year-round type of solar water heaters, these heaters do not produce as much heat annually because they operate for a much shorter duration of time.
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of A Solar Power Fan
The actual term solar power is used to describe not only one issue, but rather a number of methods that involve the harnessing of energy from the light of the sun. There are many different and incredibly resourceful matters that solar power can be and is used for, and the actual subject of solar power is becoming one of quickly increasing popularity. A solar power fan is one of the available uses for solar power, however, as with anything else, a solar power fan does have both its advantages and disadvantages.
What Is A Solar Power Fan?
A solar power fan is a fan for those home owners who do not want to use a fan that is run by the more conventional method of electricity. A solar power fan is, instead, powered directly by sunlight, and the fan will stop at sunset when there is no longer enough sunlight available to power the motor any further. There are both advantages and disadvantages to a solar power fan, and both halves which must be taken fully and thoroughly into consideration before can truly shape an opinion on a solar power fan.
What Are The Advantages?
There are certain advantages to this type of solar powered fan, such as the fact that you do not have to power the fan at all with your own electricity. As well, you do not have to run any electrical wiring to the fan. This can save a lot of time and money as an end result, and is considered as an extremely positive set of factors to the environmentally concerned person.
What Are The Disadvantages?
As with anything, however, there are also disadvantages that come with the solar powered fan, such as the fact that the fan must run on solar power. Thus, the motor is simply not as powerful and it also is much smaller. The fan also covers a lot less space than a regular fan, so you might find that you will have to supply yourself with two of these fans, when you would only need one of the regular forms. As well, the actual cost of a solar powered fan is higher than that of an electrical fan, primarily due to the fact that there is the cost of the solar cell which is additional.
Obviously, you must weigh the advantages and disadvantages out, and the final decision is truly dependent upon your own personal preference.
Solar Power Generation: Mechanism And Advantages
The concept of using sun as a source of energy is as old as man himself. Man’s relation to solar energy gradually became more systematic and planned as he entered the industrial age from his ages old agricultural heritage. Solar energy began to be used as the driving force for a variety of tasks and culminated in solar power generation in our age. Solar power generation, as we know it now, refers to the generation of electric power by direct conversion of solar energy-a process known as photovoltaics.
Early Use Of Solar Energy
While the use of solar energy for drying wet objects of human households and heating dates to antiquity, the idea of more systematic use of solar energy emerged at around mid 19th century. British astronomer John Herschel, in the 1830s, cooked food in a solar collector box, during a trip to Africa. The exact channel for generating electricity was introduced by Henri Becquerel’s discovery of the photovoltaic effect. It produces electricity directly from the sun through a photovoltaic (PVs) cell or solar cell, as it came to be known in general.
Solar Power Generation Through A Photovoltaic Cell
A photovoltaic cell is basically a non-mechanical device made from alloys of silicon. When sunlight falls on the photovoltaic cell, part of the solar energy is absorbed by the material of the cell. This energy excites the cell’s material to release free electrons that migrate to the cell’s surface. An imbalance of positive and negative charges results between the cell’s front and back surfaces. Connecting these two surfaces through an external load results in a flow of electricity from the surface of higher potential to the lower one. A number of these solar cells are connected electrically to form a module (a weather-tight package). Connecting the modules constitutes the PV system, also called an array. The output of the PV generating plant depends on the size of the array i.e. the number of modules connected.
Performance Of PV Generating Plant
The performance of the PV generating plant directly depends on the amount of sunlight received on its surface. Climatic conditions (fog, clouds etc.) thus affect the performance. Currently, most PV generating plants are 10 % efficient in conversion of solar energy to electricity.
Advantages Of Solar Power Generation
The greatest advantage of solar power generation is perhaps its minimal environmental impact. It requires no water for cooling of the system, thus creating no large heat imbalance. Also, no by-products are produced that are detrimental to the environment. Another advantage of solar power generation is that bulky mechanical generators are not needed. The process of electricity generation is quick and the arrays are available in a variety of sizes according to the specific use.
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Solar Power Cars
What Are Solar Powered Cars?
Solar powered cars are electric vehicles which are powered by solar energy that is obtained from solar panels on the surface of the car. Basically, photovoltaic cells then convert the sun’s energy directly into electrical energy. Solar powered cars are can operate for limited distances without the sun, but they are still not considered as a practical form of transportation.
Solar powered cars were first built by universities and manufacturers, and development continues on solar cell design and car power supply requirements such as heater or air-conditioning fans.
The solar array on solar powered cars consists of hundreds of photovoltaic cells converting sunlight into electricity. Cars, unlike many other objects that use solar energy, can use a variety of solar cell technologies, which most often involves polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon, and gallium arsenide. Solar cars usually have incredibly distinctive shapes, as designers aim to minimize drag, maximize the exposure to the sun, minimize weight and still make the vehicles as safe as possible.
The Advantages And Disadvantages
There are both advantages and disadvantages to solar cars, and all of these should be taken carefully and thoughtfully into consideration. Some of the advantages include, for one, that of safety and convenience, for instance there are batteries available on most solar cars which store electrical energy that is to be used later by the electric motor when the demand for electric power exceeds that of the output of the onboard generating device.
There is also the advantage involving efficiency, which relates to the fact that all solar cars are able to produce their full rated power at any speed, unlike that of regular automobiles. Another prime advantage of solar cars is that they are positive in regards to the economy. This is because an electric motor and an electric generator are the same device, basically, and electrical current is fed into such a device, causing it to act as a motor and, thus, creates mechanical power.
There are certain disadvantages, too, such as, most of the solar cars available do not have the power or speed of many of the regularly available cars and vehicles and, as well, the battery on the solar car may have to be used far too frequently depending on the weather, for instance if it is dark out for several days, you will have to rely on the battery of the car in order to make it work. This can seem as a hassle to many people, which is a large explanation towards why solar cars still aren’t that popular today.
The Basic And Most Primary Advantages And Disadvantages Of Solar Power
What Is Solar Power?
Solar power is an incredibly and dramatically important issue, and there are many important issues in regards to the matter of solar power. Solar power technologies use the sun’s energy and light to provide heat, light, hot water, electricity, and even cooling for such things as homes, businesses and industries. There are several primary solar technologies that are used, which include that of: photovoltaics, passive solar heating, concentrating solar power, and solar hot water and space heating and cooling.
Photovoltaics are solar cells which are used to directly convert sunlight into electricity. These solar power cells are made of semi conducting materials, and crystalline silicon is the leading commercial material for photovoltaic cells, which can be used in itself in many forms, including that of: single-crystalline or monocrystalline silicon, multicrystalline or polycrystalline silicon, ribbon and sheet silicon, and thin-layer silicon.
Passive solar power heating involves that of buildings which are designed for passive solar and daylighting incorporate design features such as that of south-facing windows and building materials that absorb and slowly release the sun’s heat. In passive solar heating, there are no mechanical means at all used, and passive solar designs can also include that of neutral ventilations for cooling.
The concentrating of solar power involves that of technologies which use reflective materials such as mirrors in order to concentrate the sun’s energy this then concentrated form of energy is converted into electricity. Solar hot water heaters on the other hand, use the sun to either heat water or a heat-transfer fluid in collectors. A typical solar hot water and space heating and cooling system will reduce the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds, which is obviously considered as being quite dramatic.
Solar power, besides providing heat and light, is also what causes the wind that we feel on Earth. This is because winds are created when various layers of that atmosphere absorb different amount of heat and therefore expand differently, thus creating regions of lower and higher pressure, which results in masses of air that circulate both at ground level as well as that of higher altitudes. Solar power is also responsible for fossil fuels such as that of petroleum and coal, as these substances are the result of large masses of decayed plant matter, which during their own lifetime, had absorbed solar energy.
