In the Valley of the Sun, where cloudy days are few and far between, one would think rooftop solar is a great way to reduce or eliminate your utility bill. This paper will focus on three aspects of deploying rooftop solar: cost, efficiency, and permitting. For those thinking of pulling the trigger on this popular energy saving option please read on. Rooftop solar is comprised of solar panels, an inverter, and a meter connection to the electric grid. Solar panels are made from different types of silicon that produce direct current when exposed to sunlight. The direct current from solar panels is routed via metallic wires into an inverter which converts direct current to alternating current, also known as DC to AC conversion (Solarworld, 2014). The output of the inverter is tied into an electric panel. This is where your electric meter gets involved with tracking kilowatt hours produced by your solar panels before they are fed back into the electric grid (Zipp, 2013). If this seems like a lot of product to generate some electricity it is. The costs are steep, incentives limited and tax breaks remain minimal. Therefore, be sure you confirm all costs, evaluate purchasing verses leasing and fully understand the timeframe to recoup your out of pocket expense. Today in the United States, the average up front, out of pocket expense to deploy solar panels for homeowners is $17,056 (Glenn, 2014). This large sum of money is usually something the wealthier class can produce, not the lower working class. For an alternative to purchasing and owning solar panels, companies are beginning to come out of the woodwork to offer you financing and lease options. You get the benefit of solar with no out of pocket expense for installation or mainte... ... middle of paper ... ...ee-puts-a- dent-in-rooftop-solar-economics Randazzo, R. (2013, July 13). Costs of rooftop solar out of reach for many in Arizona. azcentral. Retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/business/consumer/articles/20130726arizona-solar- -costs-high.html Solar Application & Integration. (2014, April 21). Solar Application & Integration. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://www.azsolarcenter.org/tech-science/solar-architecture/solar-application-and-integration.html Author, Solarworld. (2014, April 24). How Solar Panels Work. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://www.solarworld-usa.com/solar-101/how-solar-panels-work Swan, D. (2014, January 06). Why roof-top solar panels really don't make sense. Energybiz. Retrieved from http://www.energybiz.com/article/14/01/why-roof- top-solar-panels-really-don’t-make-sense
Solar energy is energy taken from the light that reaches earth's surface from the sun. There are four different kinds of solar energy, which are active solar systems, passive solar systems, photovoltaic cells and concentrating power systems. An active solar systems is a system that captures solar energy by mechanical means. Common active solar systems are often in buildings or homes. Some examples are roof collectors and water heating. Low Intensity and high variability have limited the use of active solar energy in Canada. A pass...
The Solyndra Company, founded in 2005 by Christian Gronet, designed, manufactured, and sold a unique type of solar panels. They were termed “solar photovoltaic (PV) systems” and were designed for large, flat to low sloped commercial building roofs. The panels were designed to have the best performance when mounted horizontally and to be installed very close together so that they covered a much higher percentage of the roof top thus producing more electricity than the typical flat panel solar panels by comparison. This was created through the production by absorbing light from all directions including indirect and reflected light as well as direct sunlight when combined with a white roof. This was due to the design of having rolled its copper indium gallium selenite or CIGS into a cylindrical shape. Each tube had 40 of them in each 1-meter-by-2-meter panel (Solyndra, 2008).
Two people who believe this are reporters at the Breit Bart News Network. Julian Morris and Victor Nava believe that, “‘Green’ energy subsidies benefit the politically connected while harming future generations as hundreds of millions of dollars are added to the country’s debt burden with each green failure.” In a way Morris and Nava are correct. According to Mathias Aarre Maehlum, “Residential solar systems are typically sized from 3 to 8kW and end up costing between $15,000 and $40,000.” This can add up to become very expensive when implementing solar energy throughout the country. However, with the advancements in technology growing every year the cost will decrease over time. The cost of implementation can in fact go down as well through the use of community solar gardens. This helps the homes that are shaded and cannot absorbs the Sun’s energy. The energy from the community solar gardens are shared through out those homes. Switching to solar energy can also save money over time. Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association confirms this. Resch says, “Today, the solar industry employs nearly 175,000 Americans and pumps more than $15 billion a year into the U.S. economy – and we’re just scratching the surface of our enormous potential” (qtd. in
This report is referenced many times in this article and is an important part for the information of this work as a whole. This is where most of the facts come from and is used as the backbone for this article. The rhetorical appeal of both logos and ethos is most exemplified here. This report uses evidence-based research to estimate the market for solar power, both developing companies and their technologies, and at home installation of panels on rooftops in Australia. Morgan Stanley’s research looks at companies and consumer reports pertaining to battery technology and its mass adoption. A lot of the detailed figures Parkinson uses are derived from this report, and even the infographic displayed within this article is found in this research report. Parkinson writes that the small amount of Australian homes in the market for battery storage, 2,000, will expand to a million by 2020. This information comes directly from the Morgan Stanley’s report. Parkinson relies heavily on combining the credibility of this research report with the mass amount of information it holds to effectively spark interests in his audience and for them to agree with
Consequently, this move will cut down the potential costs that the company would have to incur in order to do solar installations in its home battery pack solutions hence making it easier for it to implement its goals as now, only a solar installer partner will be needed to affect this move. On the other hand, solar city is at the verge of launching new solar panels that are focused on increasing the value of a house (Lambert, 2016). Wow! What a lofty
The future of the United States solar energy industry will be shaped not only by economic growth, but also by the rate of declining oil resources and the global realization of the consequences of human induced climate change. Political responses to this realization in the United States include; new policies, legislature, and tax incentives to both businesses and private households to promote growth and investment in the solar power industry.
To utilize newer sources of the agriculture waste for the purpose of electricity generation and double the start up capacity in five years.
Clayton, Mark. "The Cost of Solar Energy Will Soon Compare with the Cost of Coal." Coal (2011). Print. 18 November 2014.
Solar thermal energy is dead! A solar thermal heating system can cost upwards of $7,000 to install and it most likely won't even save you too much money. This is why many people debate over whether they should use a solar thermal water heating system, because they think they are saving money, or an inexpensive traditional water heating system. A traditional heating system is a system that is powered off of electricity, gas, oil or some other fuel. A solar thermal heating system uses the energy from the sun, hence “solar”, and it turns that energy into hot water to either heat a home or to provide domestic hot water. The energy from the sun is captured by energy collectors, also known as solar panels. The water is heated inside the panels and then distributed throughout the home for use or stored in a tank for later use. The ideas behind this sound great, but in reality that is not the case.Solar thermal energy is not the best choice for home heating a home or hot water heating.
When picking an energy resource for the topic of this paper, I bounced around a lot of ideas. Then it occurred to me that I should write about what I will be living with in about a month. My mom just finished designing and building our earthbag, solar, off-grid house, a four-year endeavor. I will soon live in a place powered by one of the most common alternative energy resources, solar energy, so I should learn more about it. At our new house, we have two stand alone pedestals with six 170W panels on each pedestal, making for a 2040W or 2kW solar system.
This kind of power is completely free, right? Why should we put a lot of expense on other sources of energy, when there is a complete free and healthy power? It is evident that solar energy is a healthy source of energy, which will help stop global warming altogether, but it is economically efficient to switch everything to solar energy. Solar energy is capable of becoming the world's future power supply because, it is renewable, eco-friendly, and extremely efficient when strategically placed. Solar energy is clean energy that does not affect our environment.
The Earth captures around 342 W/m2 of energy from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which the atmosphere reflects about 77 W/m2 and will absorb around 68 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. Therefore, the Earth’s surface is receiving, on average, about 197 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. This amount of energy received is roughly more than 10,000 times the amount of all energy humans consume per year. This energy can be used to produce electricity or heat. This energy source is not being used to it’s potential considering how much effort would come into effect to store and transport this energy.
"Top 6 Things You Didn't Know About Solar Energy." Energy.gov. United States Department of Energy, 22 July 2012. Web. 23 May 2014.
First of all, solar energy is the energy produced when the sun heats the solar panel. Thus, when the sun heats the panels, it produces electricity. Solar power produces energy during the day and can store energy for the night. Solar power does not pollute the environment. However, it has high maintenance cost, and it takes a lot of land space.
Ghahremani, L. (2011, January 3). WHY SWITCH TO SOLAR ENERGY?. The Daily Energy Report. Retrieved , from http://www.dailyenergyreport.com/why-switch-to-solar-energy-technology-that-saves-you-money-%E2%80%93-and-what-you-need-to-know-about-it/