Solar Panels

There are a few things that you need to consider before starting to work on the DIY solar panels. The most important information needed is to determine whether you have enough room on your roof to place the DIY solar panels. In addition to measuring the amount of roof footage needed, you want to determine the amount of exposure to sunlight. In order for the solar panels to be efficient, ideally they should be exposed to the sun for at least six hours every day.

The kits may also include the elements necessary for the building of the homemade solar panels and such packages usually include a soldering iron, flux, tabbing and solar cells. Moreover, the kits include special instructions to follow in order to create the panels, and fortunately you do not need professional expertise in order to make them operational. The step-by-step instructions provide all the technical support necessary for the making of the panels. Several kits include making web forums available that also allow you an opportunity to clarify any possible issues that may come up during the construction of the homemade solar panels.

A fact you should know from the very beginning is that the DIY solar panels are not as reliable as the ones you’d purchase ready made from a producer with lots of experience in the field. The main reason is the quality of the materials and the simplification of techniques that may be included in the kit to make it easier for the person who assembles the unit.

There are plenty of solar panel retailers with whom you could work and purchasing a professionally installed system is the most popular choice in spite of the increased cost. If you decide to go for the alternative and try your hand at one of the homemade DIY kits, then it is highly important that you follow all the steps in the instructions.

The major advantage of using solar panels whether homemade or professional is that they are environment-friendly producing what is usually called “green energy” and have the potential of saving you money by reducing your electricity costs.

If the homemade panels you have already installed prove insufficient for the house needs, you can always add to your system. More states are providing incentives to motivate people to choose green energy systems and move to increased use of homemade solar panels. Talk to a tax consultant to learn the tax advantages of such governmental incentives.

There are 2 popular products available: 1. Earth 4 Energy; and, 2. Home Made Energy

Here are just a few of the topics covered in the Earth4Energy manual:

If you would like additional information, go to Earth 4 Energy
.

Here is some of the information that is included in Home Made Energy:

And this doesn’t mean you need to build one or another.

You can easily build both systems and generate even more energy.

And once you have my instructions, you will feel as if you have bought an Ikea package and you just have fun while building it.

For more information from Home Made Energy

Even with the homemade solar panels you can create two types of utilities: some that are used to generate heat only, and others that produce electricity. Solar panels absorb the sun’s energy and collect and store the sun’s heat and use it to heat water either for the house or pool to cover the household needs; the second model relies on photovoltaic cells for the generation of electricity. The system also includes a battery as the main storage device along with the homemade solar panels. Finally, the other items required for the installation of the homemade solar panels are the tracking solar mounts.

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Solar and energy efficient improvements for federal buildings
Solar water heating incentives, removing the $2000 cap on the 30% personal tax credit (excludes pools and hot tubs)
Green-collar job training programs
Ending the state and municipal ’subsidized financing penalty’
Smart grid investments
Expanding research and development programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency

This legislation also funds solar and energy efficient upgrades for schools, solar grant alternatives to the investment tax credit, solar manufacturer incentives, and other historic investments.

There’s still a long way to go, but this legislation provides a tremendous step forward that will help generate green jobs, reduce energy costs, tackle climate change and power the new energy economy for years to come.

It is hoped that this historic legislation will massively increase the use of solar energy all across the America and will help position the U.S. as a global leader in the booming solar marketplace, generating thousands of green-collar jobs, promoting energy independence, and helping to tackle climate change.

Here are a few more specifics of the legislation:

For full text go to Library of Congress

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The number one user of solar energy is Germany which utilizes almost 50% of the world market of photovoltaic cells. Nowhere else in the world can you find the most number of households with solar panels installed on their roof tops. Germany has the Renewable Energies Law (EEG) which passed in 2000. The law inspired the Germans to feel the need to use renewable fuels.

According to statistics, Germans invested nearly $5 billion USD in solar photovoltaic systems and have contributed to the considerable growth of the solar energy market. Although the use of solar panels receive the most attention, it doesn’t mean that Germany’s solar industry is limited to the production of photovoltaic cells for electricity. Germany also leads the industry in the use of solar panels for home water heating systems. It has been reported that the German solar hot water market earns $1.5 billion USD per year.

The “solar park” in Arnstein, Bavaria, Germany (pictured) is one of the biggest photovoltaic plants in the world. It became operational in 2006 and with more than 1,400 PV solar panels producing 12 megawatts of energy.

Spain is the next biggest country in terms of usage of solar energy. The solar energy usage in the country, more specifically the photovoltaic cells usage, has a world market share of 27%. Spain has no sign of slowing down its aggressive and pro-active approach to solar energy. Solar fields are being constructed;one of the latest ones is the 60 MW solar field in Olmedilla de Alarcón, near Cuenca.

There are other big solar plants in Spain. These include the solar park 12 miles outside of Salamanca, Spain which has 70,000 PV panels divided into three 36-hectare arrays. The arrays produce an output is 13.8 megawatts and has been powering roughly 5,000 homes since it opened in 2007.

The rest of the world is following the lead set by Germany and Spain. Japan and the US share in the photovoltaic world market. The two countries each have an 8% market share, a far cry from that of Germany and Spain. It is very important that countries continue to improve the use of solar power in the world solar market.

Other notable countries that use solar power include Algeria, Australia, Italy, and Portugal. Aside from the richer European countries, people in Israel and India are realizing the importance of using alternative sources of energy.

These countries are the leaders in the development and use of solar energy technology; however, other countries are slowly catching up. The government of Israel, for example, required all residential buildings to install solar water heating systems in the early 90s. Today, business establishments, for example hotels and office buildings, are trying to use solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels as those prices continue to soar in the world market.

India is facing a similar energy crisis and they are also looking at solar energy to get them through it.

More information can be obtained about the growth and development of the European Solar Market from the European Solar Thermal Technology Platform (ESTTP).

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Austria Solar

The good news is that more and more homes are being built with PV systems already installed which makes it easier and less costly for consumers to buy environmentally friendly homes that run on solar power. Businesses that want to operate factories more cost effectively and in a more environmentally friendly way while collecting some nice government incentives are also installing solar PV energy systems.

Net metering and financial incentives by governments have encouraged the growth of solar supported PV installations in many countries including Germany, Australia, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Germany is currently the biggest market for solar PV systems with the United States, Australia and Spain not far behind.

Solar PV systems are being used successfully around the world to power devices like roadside signs, traffic lights, emergency phones, and other stand alone devices that might be difficult to power using traditional electricity or batteries. Solar PV energy has proved enormously successful at powering these devices. Using solar PV systems in these types of devices and in other everyday machines like parking meters has saved many cities and towns a lot of money because they don’t need to send out regular maintenance crews to make sure that these things are still running properly.

At the end of 2008, global installations reached 15,200 megawatts which consists of approximately 90% of the generating capacity of grid-tied electrical systems. Many of the installations are ground-mounted or built into the roof or walls of a building.

Critics of solar PV systems say that while the solar energy produced by the PV cells doesn’t have any harmful effects to the environment the production of these cells does result in some pollution. Advocates of the solar PV cells say that they are working on developing a type of PV energy cell the production of which won’t produce any pollution. While the production of the cells does create some pollution it doesn’t create as much pollution as other types of materials do when manufactured or used to create energy.

http://www.estif.org/home/

2009 © European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF)
Rue d’Arlon 63-67 – B-1040 Bruxelles

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Solar cells are wafers made of a semi-conductive material, usually silicon, combined with rarer elements such as phosphorus and boron. The silicon is what grabs the energy from the sun and traps it to be used for electricity while the phosphorus and the boron help excite the molecules and intensify the energy that is coming into the cell. When the sun’s rays hit the silicon and are channeled through the cell the molecules excite and travel through an attached electrical circuit, creating electricity.

Solar panels convert anywhere from about 14% to about 22% of the sun’s energy that hits the panel into electricity. That doesn’t seem like a lot of electricity produced but the amount of electricity that a solar panel can generate also depends on where the panel is positioned and how much direct sun it gets.  When there is no sun or the panel isn’t in the directly sunlight it gets little or no sun and will produce little or no electricity. The low efficiency of solar cells is a problem to their large-scale use. It takes many large solar panels of solar cells to provide enough electricity to power a house or a building.

Solar panels produce electricity that can be used for lighting but solar panel energy can also be used to heat a home or building. A solar thermal heating system consists of solar panels that are arranged in a specific spot where the solar panel energy is used to heat a tank of water. The hot water runs under the floors of the house, heating them, and then the water is piped back to the tank to be heated again.

Thermal solar heating systems work very well and are a cost effective and environmentally friendly alternative to expensive gas or electric heating systems. Solar thermal energy is often used quite a bit by people that have pools and outdoor hot tubs to heat the water they use.  It’s a lot less expensive to heat a large pool or a hot tub with thermal solar energy than it is to use fossil fuel heaters that can cost a fortune.

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• Renewable energy will never be depleted – No matter how much energy is needed by people all over the world renewable energy sources will never run out and can continue to make electricity and heat as long as there are people that need them. 

• Renewable energy helps the environment – This chiefly comes from producing fewer greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. In addition to slowing down the effects of global warming using renewable energy sources also helps preserve ecosystems that would be destroyed to develop the fossil fuels found in the land. When there are fewer pollutants in the air the plants and trees that make oxygen will be healthier and will put out more oxygen which will make people healthier. 

• Renewable energy is safer than fossil fuel – Fossil fuels used to create heat and electricity and as fuel for vehicles creates toxic chemicals that are released into the air and lead to bad air quality and acid rain. Everything that is alive is affected by that kind of pollution including us humans. Renewable energy sources greatly reduce or even eliminate pollution of the air and water.  With less pollution in the air and water people will be healthier and won’t be at risk of health problems caused by pollution like asthma and other respiratory problems. 

• Renewable energy sources create jobs and industry – Because renewable energy sources require specialized equipment and lots of research the business of creating renewable energy sources that are accessible to lots of people means that there will be a lot of new businesses starting and a lot of new jobs for people.

Watch the Video that can be found at this link: Energy Information Administration

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Large Installation in Bavaria

Many companies and scientific labs are experimenting with different bio fuels to find a bio fuel that works with already existing vehicles to help reduce dependence on petroleum.  Hybrid vehicles that run on a combination of petroleum based fuel and bio fuels are becoming more and more popular.  Some vehicles that run on diesel fuel are being converted to run on bio-diesel which is a fuel made from used vegetable oil that is discarded by restaurants and food plants.

2. Hydro power – Hydro power is using the power of flowing water to create electricity.  Hydro power is one of the oldest continually used forms of creating energy and was extremely popular before it become common to use fossil fuels.  For hundreds of years rushing water was used to create energy that would operate a grain mill and grind corn and wheat, power steam engines, and provide energy for other common tasks. The first known use of hydro power to provide electricity was in 1880, and hydro power has been used to generate electricity every since.

Hydro power is still used today. About 7% of the electricity used in the United States each year comes from hydro electric plants.  Because it’s necessary for a large hydro electric plant to be located directly on a large body of water in order to have enough water to generate the kind of power that is needed to make electricity hydro electric power plants are not widespread.  More than half of the many hydro power plants in the United States are located in only three states: Oregon, California, and Washington.

Hydro power is often considered to be the ideal form of renewable energy because it’s practically free, it creates no pollutants that harm the environment, and it has almost no waste products of any kind. The drawback is that hydro power can only be located in a small number of areas with the right natural features. Plus, the large dams needed to harness hydro power can dramatically alter the landscape and affect wildlife.

3. Geothermal power – Geothermal power comes from using the natural heat from deep inside the earth.  The core of the Earth generates a lot of heat and water that is heated deep within the Earth and released to the surface through hot springs and geysers. Even volcanoes can be used to heat buildings and homes as well to provide electricity.

The most common use of geothermal power is direct heating.  Direct geothermal heating consists of piping hot water from below the surface of the Earth directly into buildings or homes to heat the buildings.  Iceland gets up to 95% of their heat from geothermal direct heating. The island nation sits on the world’s most easily accessible source of heat energy from volcanic magma close to the Earth’s surface.

The United States is the biggest user of geothermal energy for electricity in the world but still less than 1% of all the electricity produced in the United States is generated from geothermal energy.  There are about 50 geothermal electricity plants in the United States, mostly in California and Nevada. Since the easiest place to access the water heated within the earth is along fault lines and on the edges of tectonic plates it’s not surprising that those two states have the most geothermal energy plants. Geothermal energy produces no pollution or greenhouse gases but can be expensive to utilize and can only be used in a small number of areas that have the proper geology.

4. Wind – Wind energy was probably the first type of natural, renewable energy that was used by people to provide power.  Wind energy has no pollutants or contaminates and is great for the environment, but sometimes it can be hard to harness enough wind to generate significant energy. 

Wind energy is mainly used locally, supplying electricity on and around wind farms.  The United States is third on the list of countries that have the most capacity to produce wind energy yet wind energy is not yet widely used in the United States.  In the past this was mostly because building the machines, called wind turbines, which are used to harness wind energy, was expensive and consumed a lot of natural resources.  Since 2005 there have been some great technological advances that have made it much more cost-effective to build turbines so the use of wind energy is beginning to grow in the United States.

One of the biggest problems of producing enough wind energy to meet the huge electricity demands of the people in the United States is the weather. Since wind can’t be grown like the crops that are used for bio energy, and wind is not as constant as the water used to create hydro or geothermal energy there is a limit to how much energy wind can produce. The variability of the wind is also a crucial factor. I there isn’t much wind on a particular day there might be very little or no electricity generated that day. Another drawback to wind energy is that a large number of very large wind turbines (they can run up to 25 stories tall) are needed to create a significant amount of energy.

Wind energy is a good source of renewable energy under certain conditions but in the long run wind energy is not going to be the best source of renewable energy for countries to use.

5. Solar energy – Solar energy is collecting and then using the energy generated by the sun for things like electricity and heating.  Solar energy is being used more and more by businesses and homeowners as a way to fight rising electricity bills and also to live in a more environmentally friendly way.

One of the first recorded uses of solar energy was in the 1830’s when a British explorer in Africa built a box to collect the energy from the sun’s rays and used it to cook his food. Today solar energy is used mainly to create heat and to create electricity.

There are two ways to generate electricity from solar energy. The first is using the Photovoltaic method.  This method uses a collection of cells made of certain materials to grab the sun’s energy and directly convert it to electricity. Since the sun’s rays are diffuse it takes a large number of these photovoltaic cells working together to provide any real power.

The second way is using solar power plants. These huge plants use sunlight indirectly to create electricity.  In simple terms the sunlight heats water which produces steam and the steam powers a generator that creates electricity.  There are 15 large solar power plants in the United States. 10 are in California, and 5 are in Arizona.

Solar energy is totally renewable and has no measurable impact on the environment which is why it’s the renewable energy system of choice for many environmentally conscious people. However there are a few drawbacks to using solar energy.  One disadvantage of using solar energy is that because the energy created by the sun is so diffuse it takes a lot of sunlight to generate power. This means that solar plants have to have a large surface area.

Another disadvantage of solar energy is that the amount of the sun’s energy that reaches the solar cells depends on things like the amount of cloud cover, the temperature, the time of day and other factors that can’t be controlled.  Scientists are trying to develop ways of using solar energy to generate large amounts of power, similar to central power plants burning fossil fuels today. Most experts agree that the best way to use solar energy for electricity and heating is for individual homeowners and building owners to use solar panels to generate heat and electricity for their own buildings.

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Air Force Base Installation

One of the first recorded uses of solar energy was in the 1830’s when a British explorer in Africa built a box to collect the energy from the sun’s rays and used it to cook his food. Today solar energy is used mainly to create heat and to create electricity. Other solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water through distillation and disinfection, day-lighting, hot water, thermal energy, and the use of high temperatures for industrial purposes.

There are two ways to generate electricity from solar energy. The first solar power technology provides electricity through the use of heat engines or by using the photovoltaic method.  This method uses a collection of cells made of certain materials to grab the sun’s energy and directly convert it to electricity. Since the sun’s rays are diffuse it takes a large number of these photovoltaic cells working together to provide any real power.

The second way is using solar power plants. These huge plants use sunlight indirectly to create electricity.  In simple terms the sunlight heats water which produces steam and the steam powers a generator that creates electricity.  There are 15 large solar power plants in the United States. 10 are in California, and 5 are in Arizona.

Solar energy is totally renewable and has no measurable impact on the environment which is why it’s the renewable energy system of choice for many environmentally conscious people. However there are a few drawbacks to using solar energy.  One disadvantage of using solar energy is that because the energy created by the sun is so diffuse it takes a lot of sunlight to generate power. This means that solar plants have to have a large surface area.

Another disadvantage of solar energy is that the amount of the sun’s energy that reaches the solar cells depends on things like the amount of cloud cover, the temperature, the time of day and other factors that can’t be controlled.  Scientists are trying to develop ways of using solar energy to generate large amounts of power, similar to central power plants burning fossil fuels today. Most experts agree that the best way to use solar energy for electricity and heating is for individual homeowners and building owners to use solar panels to generate heat and electricity for their own buildings.

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Tthe Department of Energy reports that the United States currently uses nearly 20 million barrels of oil a day, importing 55 percent of it. We spend more than $20 billion each year on oil from the Middle East. Twenty years from now, U.S. consumption will rise to 28.3 million barrels of oil a day, with 70 percent of it imported. This heavy reliance on foreign oil makes America increasingly dependent on some of the least stable, undemocratic countries in the world. (See Graph)

Others have expressed great concern for the effects of global warming. It is becoming a huge problem which will significantly affect every country in the world.  All over the world people are trying to do whatever they can to help combat the effects of global warming. People can fight global warming by reducing their dependence on non-renewable energy sources like oil and petroleum based products. This has created a vast increase in interest to find ways to live in a more environmentally responsible way and to find ways to wean us from our addiction to petroleum by utilizing alternate fuel sources.

Finding ways to become more environmentally responsible and still meet the requirements of everyday life is not always easy. For many people taking public transportation or riding a bicycle to work is just not a feasible option. Whether or not you can take public transportation really depends on where you live and how much of a public transportation system there is in place in that area.  It’s not unusual for a large city to have a public transportation system that doesn’t function well in reaching its population or a smaller city not to have any public transportation available at all.

So what options exist for people who want to live in a more environmentally-responsible way but still deal with day-to-day realities?  Using solar energy to help heat and power your home is one of the choices that people can make to contribute to a solution.  Solar energy is a completely renewable energy source that will save money on your heating and electricity costs as well as reduce consumption of environmental resources and reduce consumption of petroleum.

In recent years technology related to the use of solar energy has come a long way.  Major strides have been made in solar power systems developed. Investment by government and industry in the development of solar power technology has made it possible to use solar power much more affordably and feasibly. Today’s homeowner and apartment dweller are able to use solar energy and help the environment while saving money. Commercial developers are able to incorporate solar energy into their building designs and build homes that have been constructed with solar power systems installed during the building process.

The use of solar energy as a main power source is still relatively new in the United States. Other countries especially those in Europe have been relying on solar power for a large amount of their energy needs for years. These countries have proven that with the right equipment and technology it is possible to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and non-renewable energy sources. Because solar energy produces no greenhouse gases, using solar power helps the environment and reduces our dependence on oil consumption. The Solar Power industry in the United States is making great strides in making solar energy efficient and affordable for those interested in using it in their homes and businesses.

Energy Information Administration

Official Energy Statistics from the U. S. Government

www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

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