What is solar energy? Solar energy is, simply, energy provided by the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which makes the production of solar electricity possible. Solar energy produces electricity when it is in demand – during the day particularly hot days when air-conditioners drive up electricity demand. In use, solar energy produces no emissions. One megawatt hour of solar electricity offsets about 0.75 to 1 tonne of CO2. Benefits of solar energy Solar energy is not only sustainable, it is renewable and this means that we will never run out of it. It is about as natural a source of power as it is possible to generate electricity. The creation of solar energy requires little maintenance. Once the solar panels have been installed and are working at maximum efficiency there is only a small amount of maintenance …show more content…
Solar Panels The solar panels are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity throughout the day. 2. Inverter This device converts the DC electricity generated by the solar panels into the alternating current (AC) electricity. 3. Electrical Panel The AC electricity is sent from the inverter to your electrical panel to power your lights and appliances with solar energy. The electrical panel is often called a "breaker box." 4. Utility Meter The utility meter measures your energy use. It actually goes backward when your system generates more power than you immediately need. This excess solar energy offsets the energy you use at night. 5. Utility Grid If we need that power from the utility company at night. The cost is offset by any excess solar energy you put into the grid during the day. 6. Power Guide Monitoring System Power Guide monitoring system continuously tracks your energy production and ensures that your solar power system is running smoothly. It will even alert our repair crews in the rare event that problems arise. How does a solar cell turn sunlight into
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...
(Source B). This can help us so much because yes it might cost more for a solar power panel
Preview: Today I will discuss the potential that solar power has to become this country’s main supply of energy and the latest research that can make solar power more efficient and cost effective. I will also present the environmental benefits that come with using solar power over other and more harmful forms of energy.
The sun has been a major aspect of life since the beginning of time. People used many other forms of energy before electricity was discovered. There has been a debate over energy resources for years. Many people are worried about what current energy resources may be doing to the environment. Oil spills and nuclear power plant mishaps have only been a few accidents that have had a big impact on the environment and the people who inhabit it. There are plenty of energy sources that do not harm the environment and are still able to get the job done. Solar energy is one energy alternative that will insure the betterment of the country and, at the same time, protect the natural environment.
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).
As the increase in the consumption of energy gradually increases per year, the government needs to take measures in opting to renewable energy sources, preferably solar energy because of its decreasing price, versatility, and its abundant main source of energy.
Solar power is a renewable alternative energy. The sun helps the solar power to produce energy and converted to electricity. The sun provides the earth with two major forms of energy, heat and light. There are three ways types of solar power solar cells, solar water heating and solar furnaces, but the most common solar power is solar is solar cells. How solar cells works is when there is a sunny climate the sun reflects in to the solar power so that it can get electricity. Most solar power systems utilize heat energy for heating will the others transform light into electricity. Solar Power is not only for house use but also for cars. Now in days, vehicles run on with solar power. According to (makeitsolar.com), it says, “PV panels as a direct power source that convert light energy into electricity to power their motors. When sun is not available, cars will not run, so, is better to have a car powered by batteries that can recharged with solar energy” describes how solar power is the better way to save electricity and could easily recharged when sun is available at no cost. Solar power is the better way to save electricity without using house power or car battery.
Solar panels are systems that generated heat or electricity by using the energy to be carried ray of the sun. Solar energy panels absorbs the sun’s energy with the aid of dark surfaces located inside panels. After obtained heat, water is heated by transferring water by solar energy panel.
After the solar panels absorb a certain amount of the sun’s energy. The solar panels transfers the energy through an inverter, to the power board and then back to the power grid. Without the inverter, none of this would be possible as the energy collected by the panels are DC electricity and thus cannot be used. Inverters convert DC electricity into AC electricity so they can actually be usable.
While pure solar systems only use one source of energy, a hybrid grid-connected system uses multiple sources of electricity. While the, “solar electric— or photovoltaic (PV) — systems convert sunlight energy to electricity”, the hybrid system could harvest the wind on that day (Chiras 48). With the multiple systems, a person receives more energy output than a pure solar energy system. This is because that person is producing energy from two resources instead of one. The highest efficiency of solar cells is 28% (Salkalachen 1248). What this means is that for every ray of sun that hits that solar panel, only 28% of it is harvested. Only having 28% of the power is pretty low, so the system could use a wind turbine, which is spun and creates energy to make sure enough energy is provided. With a surplus of energy coming from both systems one could use the benefits of having a grid-connected system. The benefit is that it “‘turns back’ your electricity meter as it is fed back into the grid. If you use more electricity than your system feeds into the grid during a given month, you pay your power provider only for the difference between what you used and what you produced” (Salkalachen 1250). This is saying that when a person is selling that extra energy from that other power source, then a person is saving money on a person’s power bill because the electricity company is paying them for their energy.
For example, people may charge their electric cars in the morning with the sunlight, and during the night the electric cars will work by saving the power from the morning; as a result, solar power runs for a long time, and people may do their work without doing any problems for the environment. Furthermore, solar energy does not use any equipment to work such as wires or cords unlike other sources like wind energy. For instance, solar power can be at the roof of the house without using any equipment, and without taking any space. On the other hand, Louwen, Sark, Schropp, Turkenburg, and Faaij (2015) stress that solar cells need to replace the material that is used or decrease the amount of the equipment used such as silver and indium since they are used in silicon cells. This might negatively impact the environment and the production cost (p. 1407). Overall, solar energy can be used as a renewable energy to reduce the pollution and protect the environment from the harmful gasses, and can be used without access to power
At our new house, we have two stand alone pedestals with six 170W panels on each pedestal, making for 2040W or 2kW solar system. According to Mr. Solar.com, “this type of energy production, known as the Photovoltaic Effect, is achieved by solar panels converting sunlight into energy. Solar panels are made up of several individual solar cells, composed of layers of silicon, phosphorous (which provides the negative charge), and boron (which provides the positive charge). Solar panels absorb the sunlight’s photons and by doing so initiate an electric current, producing electrons. The resulting energy generated from photons striking the surface of the solar panel allows electrons to be knocked out of their atomic orbits and released into an electric field generated by the solar cells, which then pull these free electrons into a DC or directional current.” This electricity then proceeds to a mechanical room beneath our house to a charge controller, which regulates the amount of energy sent to our 24V batteries to be stored. From these batteries, the electricity goes to an inverter, which then changes the DC to AC or alternating current in order to use our modern electrical appliances and gadgets.
Solar Panels made from photovoltaic cells (or PV for short). Simply broken-down photo means light and voltaic related to the production of electricity. Photovoltaic technology enables the creation of electricity using light. PV cells have at least two layers of semiconductors: one that's positively charged, and one that's negatively charged. When the light shines on the semiconductor the electric field across the junction between these two layers causes electricity to flow. The greater the intensity of light the stronger the electricity flow will be. The light that hits the panels is converted into clean electricity. This is a silent operation here because there are no moving parts. The electricity generated by the panels comes in the form of a direct current. By installing an inverter, it is converted into alternation current, so it's in
Solar energy in simple is the energy provided by the sun known as solar radiation. This energy can be used to produce solar electricity or heating. This energy can be for domestic use or even commercial use. The solar technologies are classified into 2 types, the solar photovoltaic (PV) and the concentrated solar power (CSP). For solar photovoltaic technology, the conversion of solar energy to electrical energy directly requires solar photovoltaic cells. In brief, the sunlight strikes the PV cell, the semiconductor material of the cell will absorb part of the light, and it will energize the electrons in the material, allowing it to flow freely, creating electricity. It is known as the photovoltaic effect. The other way to produce electricity
I am certain that all have heard of the terms green house gases, fossil fuels, and global warming. Have you ever questioned what will happen if nothing is done about the environmental problems facing the world today? What if I answer you that, we can merely use the power from the sun to power up our entire planet without the use of harmful energy sources, which affect our atmosphere? The power from the sun is what we call solar power. Solar power is the energy that comes from the sun as light and heat energy, and then it is later converted into electrical energy through solar panels (Nelson, 2008). 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 all together, 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.