Posts Tagged ‘Solar Energy’

How to use solar energy

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

The sun is one of the renewable energy sources that continuously produce a large amount of energy that is called solar energy. The process of atomic fusion takes place inside the sun and releases a lot of energy. The solar energy so produced can be used for different purposes that can be either commercial or domestic.

Renewable solar energy is used in a variety of devices that absorb solar energy and then convert it to a useful form for various purposes. There are several ways in which solar energy can be used. In a solar oven, solar energy is used to cook food. In this oven a concave mirror is used to concentrate the sun’s energy onto the food that has to be cooked. Water can be heated in devices called solar collectors. The solar collectors are mounted on roof tops. It is ensured that they are installed at places where there is sufficient sunlight so that they can absorb solar energy and use it to heat up the water.

Solar batteries are the equipments that use solar energy to produce power. These devices use photocells to produce solar power. In a solar furnace, a number of mirrors are used on sides to form one large concave mirror that can reflect sunlight and use it for heating purposes.

Solar energy can also be used to meet the electricity needs of industries and also for the purpose of heating, lighting and water pumping.

Solar energy is so widely used because it is a renewable alternative energy source that is readily available and reliable.

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Posted in Alternative Energy Companies, Solar Energy | 2 Comments »

Solar Energy- A Green Renewable Energy Source

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Solar energy is the energy obtained from the sun which is an alternative energy resource. The energy is available either in the form of heat or light. Solar energy can benefit a number of people as it can be put to many uses. It is an alternative energy source that is readily and freely available

There are a number of advantages of solar energy. The most important of them is the fact that it is a renewable source of energy whose supply will last till there is sun. It is also a non polluting source of energy. The use of solar cells requires low maintenance and these are long lasting. The devices that use solar energy are easy to install and operate. As a green renewable source, it does not adversely affect the eco-system. Solar energy is also a cost effective alternative energy source.

Solar energy also has many disadvantages. The devices that use this alternative energy resource are very expensive. Adequate sunshine must be ensured for exploring the full potential of renewable solar energy. Many solar energy devices use cadmium which is a highly toxic substance and can cause the degradation of the environment. This alternative energy source cannot be used at night for the generation of solar energy.

Solar energy as an alternative energy source has not been utilized to its full potential. This is because the methods of harnessing solar energy are few and not efficient. New and improved methods must be developed for effective trapping of solar energy so that it can be utilized in a better manner.

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Renewable Solar Energy Projects Run Afoul of California Senator

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

The Mojave Desert is 22,000 square miles of parched land with summer temperatures that can reach 130 Fahrenheit, making it a perfect location for solar energy installations. But on March 23, 2009 Senator Diane Feinstein has expressed opposition to widespread solar energy development in the area. Senator Feinstein “intends to push legislation that would turn the land into a national monument, which would allow for existing uses to continue while preventing future development.”

There are 19 companies that have submitted applications to build solar energy or wind facilities on a parcel of 500,000 desert acres, but Senator Diane Feinstein announced she would introduce a bill setting 600,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management holdings in the Mojave Desert off-limits to solar energy projects. “Such development would violate the spirit of what conservationists had intended when they donated much of the land to the public,” she said. “It would destroy the entire Mojave Desert ecosystem,” added David Myers, executive director of The Wildlands Conservancy, which originally dedicated some of the land to the BLM.

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Solar Energy Companies Working With State

Monday, May 25th, 2009

In January 2009, three leading solar energy researchers writing in Scientific American, proposed that by 2050 the United States could get all its electricity from solar panels in the Southwestern desert. Solar energy companies would require 46,000 square miles — about one-third of New Mexico, America’s fifth largest state. Al Gore repeated this proposal before the Senate Energy Committee in February, although he made the claim that only 10,000 square miles were needed, based on a questionable analysis of a California-based company.

All this may seem like doublespeak, but it’s being put into effect in California right now. The state has adopted a “renewable portfolio mandate,” which says that it must get 20 percent of its electricity from so-called “renewables” by 2020. This leaves solar energy companies in a position of buying anything some budding entrepreneur offers them. Thinly funded companies are furiously drawing up plans to fill California deserts with solar installations, knowing the utilities will have to buy anything they generate.

PG&E signed a large deal with Cleantech America, also based in San Francisco. As part of their agreement, Cleantech America will build a 5-megawatt solar plant near Fresno, California. The company said that when the facility is finished in 2009, it will be California’s largest solar power plant.

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Posted in Solar Energy, Solar Energy Companies | 2 Comments »

Solar Energy Reaches a Milestone

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

Solar Energy technology firm First Solar Inc reached a milestone in alternative energy innovation by lowering the manufacturing costs of their photovoltaic panels to a mere $1 per watt. This is roughly a third the price of any other company in the industry, which still use standard silicon panels versus First Solar Energy unique cadmium telluride technology. Solar Energy has faced considerable obstacles in developing affordable manufacturing and installation costs. Solar Energy is on average twice as expensive as wind and natural gas, but First Solar’s achievement may signal the beginning of cheap and widespread solar energy and place it at the forefront of the alternative power revolution.

Skeptics still question the viability of solar energy cells, particularly in relation to just how much wattage they can actually generate. Projections of even modest growth over the next decade still conclude that photovoltaic solar energy cells increase a mere 2.5% of the global electric consumption, even with First Solar Energy novel cadmium telluride technology. Furthermore, a recent UC Berkeley study examining the efficacy of different composite materials systems in photovoltaic concluded that the three most common solar energy industry materials: cadmium telluride, silicon and copper indium gallium selenide, all have limitations in terms of abundance and preparation. This drives prices up and severely limits the competitiveness of solar energy in the alternative energy market. However, the study concludes that there is an abundance of lesser-known materials that may not outperform the current top three components in solar energy conversion, but surpass them in both cost-efficiency and overall abundance, thereby negating their inferior productivity. This discovery, coupled with First Solar Energy innovation, has left some industry experts very optimistic about the future of solar power and its potential.

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Africa’s Move toward Alternative Energy

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Oil and gas deposits in Algeria are finite. The scorching sun is not. Even though the North African nation gets 95% of its export earnings from oil, it decided to exploit the one alternative energy resource they knew they would have indefinitely, a resource that could power the world four times over. So Algeria constructed an enormous solar facility a year ago with parabolic solar energy troughs nearly 45 football fields wide in the Sahara Desert. Not only will Algerian homes and businesses be alternative powered, but European ones as well, with the final objective to export 6,000 megawatts to Europe by 2020. That is the equivalent of 4 million homes. As the technology behind solar energy cells gets better, the facility becomes more and more productive.

Elsewhere on the continent, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the lack of electricity is a deterrent to investors. With demand growing 8% a year, the Rift Valley, which stretches from the northern end of the Red Sea down to Mozambique in east Africa, may hold the solution hidden in the ground: geothermal Alternative Energy. An energy source that is impervious to any kind of weather and minimal carbon emissions. Perhaps most crucially, though, east Africa sorely lacks West Africa’s oil or the Sahel’s capacity for solar energy. So geothermal Alternative Energy is a very inexpensive source of energy. Hydroelectric dams currently power much of the area, but are subject to drought. The United Nations Environment Program estimates its potential yield as 14,000 megavolts, while only 200 megavolts are being currently harvested. With the right infrastructure and capital, it could provide 10-25% of the region’s energy by 2030.

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