admin answers:

Solar power windows can save you a lot of money on your energy bill. This type of window actually doubles as a solar panel for the home. The are generally designed to keep cold air out of the home. If you’re looking to improve your home and to make it a green home, then purchasing solar panel windows and installing them is a project you will want to do. Follow this guide to install your new solar power windows.

Step 1 – Understand What the Window Is

Before you install the new windows, you should understand what they do. Solar power windows are made with solar panels. The solar panels allow the passage of light through the window into the home. In addition, it also produces energy for the home. In 2008, scientists created a much more powerful solar paneled window for home use. Some research shows that these newer panels are 10 times more effective in drawing out energy for the home. If the home has a generator that can connect the solar power to produce energy, it will become much more efficient in energy production and less dependent upon traditional energy resources.

Step 2 – Remove Old Windows

Remove the old windows from the home. Tape up the hole that you just created, especially if you don’t plan on installing the new windows just yet. You can usually pull out the old window by removing the window framing and the window sill. The window should just pop out.

Step 3 – Add the New Solar Window

Installing solar powered windows is similar to installing a regular window. It comes with a frame and a sash, a sill and any necessary hardware. Install the window from the outside of the home to the inside. It will usually pop into place. Be careful not to scratch the surface of the window, as the solar properties will reduce if the window is damaged. Add the sash, the sill and the frame. Nail into place.

Step 4 – Connect to the Generator

Follow the directions on your solar powered window. There will be instructions on how to appropriately connect the window to the solar generator. If you don’t have a solar generator, you can skip this step. Understand that in order to harness the solar effects the windows create, you will need to have a generator or power pack that can change this energy from solar into usable energy for your home.

Step 5 – Clean the Window

Using a non-abrasive solution, clean your window. Usually water and newspaper works the best. Don’t use razors or any other types of sharp objects on your window, because you will ruin the solar properties.

Good luck!

admin answers:

Hey Dave. There are lots of good reasons why we should use more solar panels. To set one thing straight, panels do not have toxins in their manufacture. Photovoltiac panels, the ones that produce electricity are made up almost entirely of silicone, aluminum and acrylic. The other type, that heat water and air from the sun are made primarily of sheet metal, copper and glass, and have a type of alcohol called glycol running through them. It’s the same type that we use to deice aircraft in the winter.

Whsgreen is quite right on the payback. If you invest properly in solar power today and take advantage of any grants and tax incentives, even if your electric rates do not go up as they are forecast too, you will get your money back over time, well within the lifetime of the equipment, and sooner if there is a rate increase in the future. There are also enviromental benefits. At one time there was an argument that a solar panel will never produce as much power as was used to manufacture it. First of all, this is not correct. The, “Embodied Energy,” in a solar panel is earned back in 2 – 6 years, depending on the type panel, where the raw materials were shipped from, and how it was installed and used in the end. Most panels are warrantied to last at least 25 years, and most last much longer than that. But the argument is not important anyway. We have been living with electricity for over a century now, so it isn’t going away anytime soon. The question is, “What is the best way to produce it?” If you build a panel, and put it along side a similar sized natural gas fired turbine generator for example, which earns back its embodied energy sooner? The answer is the gas turbine never does, because once you build it, ship it and install it, you now have to feed it natural gas for the rest of its life, so it keeps on digging itself a deeper and deeper embodied energy hole that it can never crawl out of. At least the panel has a chance to get even environmentally. So manufacturing and using solar panels in the end releases less pollution into our environment.

There are also mechanical and political benefits. We all know after the oil embargo of 1973, and the gulf war what it means for our country to rely on foreign oil. Wouldn’t it be nice if we only shipped in 20% of our energy instead of 60% the next time something like that happens? Our home has been powered by the wind and sun for years now, but we still remain connected to the electric grid. Last year alone there were two power failures in our county that lasted about a half day each. In both cases, we were not aware of them because our solar array kept on feeding the house. It’s difficult to put a price tag on something like that.

Beyond the mechanical, political and environmental benefits however, lies a less obvious benefit, the social benefit. Right now we pump oil out of the ground, and mine for coal. The process of getting those materials to market involves shipping, military escorts and other activities that use up a good portion of that energy as well as putting lives at risk. Jobs in solar power are higher tech than jobs in coal mining, oil drilling and shipping, and there are more of them. Using more solar power would require us to put more people to work, and increase our education base because the work involved requires certain skills. I would personally like to take all those people out of the coal mines, send them to school and put them to work building solar panels. Nobody would have to die again in one orf those dark holes in the ground trying to find food for our hungry power plants. They could work on a factory floor where they would not be exposed to coal dust, radon and other toxins and dangers. Most of our solar and wind resources are spread pretty evenly over the middle half of our globe, so everyone has access. This puts people in Bogota on a more equal footing with people in Boca Raton by giving them access to electricity, heat and clean water, and the education to use the solar resources that provide those things. Oil, coal and natural gas is generally piled up in a few places, such as Russia and the Middle East. This gives those countries and the richer governments that rule them more horse power in bargaining for the other resources of our planet. These are the things that wars are made of.

So there are lots of good reason to use more solar in our everyday life. Here are some resources to look up and do some of your own reading. Good luck Dave, and take care. Rudydoo