Residential Solar Panels – Getting popular

Residential Solar panels are getting extremely popular among consumers as they seem to be the most practical solution to most people with heavy electricity bills and people who need to heat up their houses due to the cold. If you are getting an enviable amount of sunshine outside and feel that you can help in capturing that and converting it into useful energy, you must look into getting residential solar panels as they are really helpful in saving our continually degrading environment and also us human beings ourselves. Another major contributing factor in helping people to decide to switch to solar energy advantages is the fact that gas prices are on a huge upward curve and are continuing to spiral upwards. Also, of course, is the realization of the fact that our reserves of coal and petroleum and other fossil fuels can only last for the next 40 – 50 years or so. After that, people will have to probably make use of other sources of energy such as renewable sources of energy or install a vast number of nuclear reactors. Residential solar panels are becoming popular as a result of the above reasons and because there are now many places that use solar energy. Photovoltaic cells are also becoming popular and I have talked about them in some of my previous posts where I have mentioned how they are really effective in converting solar energy to electrical energy which can basically be used to convert to almost all other forms of energy to be used in our daily household appliances.
Of course, there are bigger versions of a large number of photovoltaic cells joined together which can make huge panels ready to power entire cities and populations and help them generate electricity and meet their other energy needs. Mojave Desert is one such example of a place which powers entire cities with the help of solar energy. It is located in California. This can be implemented on a much smaller scale by using residential solar panels which makes use of the free solar energy and convert it to useful electrical energy.
Photovoltaic cells technology has, in fact, been termed as the fastest growing technology in the whole world. This makes it an exciting field of opportunity for many people and also a field that is starting to generate a lot of jobs and solar energy scholarships. Also, the fact that renewable sources of energy are the future generation's fuel makes it an exciting opportunity as a career for students to pursue and become successful in it. Of course, the race is on for finding technology to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. It is currently not very high and constant changes in technology and research has made it possible for the efficiency to increase in the future as it has been increasing since the past decade. Along with that, many governments recognize the need for people to generate their own electricity and offer many incentives for those that do. Incentives come in the form of tax benefits and lesser tariffs. Also, annual green summits held every year between many countries has prompted world leaders from other countries to take action in their respective countries so that the whole world can unite in saving the planet.
It is not very difficult to set up your own residential solar panels. People have been doing that with the help of plenty of Do it Yourself solar power kits available online and at other places such as solar companies available locally in your area. Even if you do not generate a lot of power, you are doing your little bit to help in saving the environment and it provides satisfaction to you. You also save a lot of money on energy costs such as electricity bills and gas bills as well.
The biggest solar energy advantage, of course, is that it is possible to combine residential solar panels with the traditional power generators that you have been using all this while and thus have a back up ready in case there is some problem with your residential solar panels. Another reason why you may want to do this is when there are certain cloudy or rainy days and during the night when there is no sunlight shining on the residential solar panels. Even if you do not live an area where there is not a lot of sunshine received, you can still generate electricity from solar energy in little amounts that can go a long way in the future in helping cutting down on the costs involved. It is of course always advantageous to consider residential solar panels before you are constructing the house but it is not a problem to do it later as well but it helps if you do it earlier in that it helps in saving future hassles on wiring placements etc. which are very important to set up effectively.
Just think of it this way if you are still debating whether or not to get residential solar panels installed in your house. What sort of a world do you want your children or grandchildren to grow up in. Do you want them to grow up in a world where the whole world is filled with pollution with some of the most beautiful species of flora and fauna that you have grown up watching and admiring, disappearing? I don't think so. You probably want a better world for them. If you are thinking of just your place and thinking that no improvements are necessary, think of other places and countries where it is necessary for these changes to take place and help in making a difference.
So make sure that you set up residential solar panels in your house or at least consider setting them up so that you can help not only yourself but the whole world and other people and living beings who live on our beautiful green planet. I hope you enjoyed these solar energy fun facts.
For a greener future,
Andy.

 

Carbon Di Oxide Emissions – Some facts and statistics

We have all been talking about solar energy and the various solar energy advantages. But we know that one of the single reasons why many people are looking to switch to solar energy or other renewable sources of energy is because of the heavy carbon di oxide emissions. So here are some facts and statistics about carbon di oxide and why it is needed along with harmful to us human beings and the planet if produced in excess.


The basic physical state of carbon di oxide is as a gas. But, there are also liquid and solid forms of carbon di oxide. Carbon di oxide turns solid when the temperature drops below -78 C. It is also called as "dry ice" in this solid form.


Carbon di oxide emissions are also considered vital for the life cycle as not only human beings but also plants and trees depend heavily on it for respiration and for other purposes such as metabolism.


Human beings do activities that release carbon di oxide in many ways. It can be from something as respiration to soft drinks that humans drink such as coke or beer. The fizz that is produced upon opening a soda bottle is due to the carbon di oxide. Other places where carbon di oxide is used a lot is in fire extinguishers. It is also used a lot in baking powder especially when many baked products are required to be fluffy and tasty to eat.
Carbon di oxide is also used to prepare coffee. The caffeine in coffee is prepared with applications from carbon di oxide. If you have seen many of these performances on stage, you will see the white smoke kind of substances rising at the bottom. That is also with the help of carbon di oxide although from the solid form called as "dry ice".


Now let's get to the carbon di oxide emissions part and how it affects our environment. If you consider the distribution of various gases in our atmosphere, you will notice that Nitrogen gas is way ahead with about 70% in the air and Oxygen comes in at second with around 21%. After that and rising everyday due to various are the carbon di oxide emissions although it does not occupy a significant percentage in the composition of gases. However, carbon di oxide plays an extremely vital role in plants in that they use it for important processes such as photosynthesis and respiration.


Photosynthesis is where solar energy is used as a catalyst in a chemical reaction which is used to convert carbon di oxide and other gases from the atmosphere to glucose which is basically nothing but energy which the plants use to survive.
According to Wikipedia, "the general equation for photosynthesis is 2n CO₂ + 2n H₂O + photons → 2(CH₂O)_n + n O₂ + 2n A"




Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities
As humans have been advancing in technology and other fields of manufacturing over the past couple of centuries starting from the Industrial Revolution in the 18^th Century, there has been a lot of carbon di oxide emissions because of them. This has resulted in the percentage of carbon di oxide emissions in the air increasing at an alarming rate. It has been scientifically proven that the concentration of carbon di oxide has risen from 280 ppm in 1850 to 364 ppm in 1997. This may not sound like much, but it is indeed a huge amount of increase especially when considered from the point of view of a environmentalist. Also, the fact that it has not increased by as much from the past thousands of years as fast as it has been increasing in the past couple of decades shows that it is indeed due to human activities.
Fossil fuels, are a huge contributing factor to carbon di oxide emissions and this has further been affected by other factors such as deforestration and heavy automobile usage by human beings. The production of various factories and other similar factors has made it a very threatening factor for the environment and for the planet as well. More than 1/4^th of the carbon di oxide concentrations today are due to human activities.


The effects of carbon dioxide emissions – The green house effect
Near the troposphere part of our atmosphere, there are greenhouse gases whose main function is to capture the heat from the sun so that the earth is kept warm during the night times. This is called as the greenhouse effect and and an exaggeration results in global warming which as we all know is a serious problem for most humans. It is also important as if not because of the greenhouse effect, we would all be in ice right now i.e. life would not have been possible. The more the gases such as CFC (Chloro Fluoro Carbons) and Carbon Dioxide are emitted, the more it will result in the earth getting unusually warmed up thus causing a huge problem for the planet Earth.

This is the basic summary of what solar energy advantages if properly made use of, can help us humans by helping in getting rid of these harmful gases such as carbon di oxide and other gases such as methane which are equally if not, more harmful. Using renewable energy sources in an efficient manner can significantly help in cutting the costs for purchasing automobiles such as cars and motor vehicles. This is especially important in developing countries such as China and India which are increasing their carbon di oxide emissions at a really alarming rate which does not look healthy as well as the people there are getting richer and are buying more expensive vehicles which emit a lot of greenhouse gases thus contributing in the degradation of the environment. The United States also, of course has the highest per capita carbon di oxide emission which is pretty bad news. So switch to solar energy and make a difference.
To a greener future,
Andy.

 

Pool Solar Heater – An efficient way to keep your pool heated

All over Canada and the United States, "pool solar heaters" are taking big strides into becoming one of the most commonly used types of heaters especially when it comes to heating swimming pools with the help of solar energy. It is an amazing way to cut your bills since pools can be really big money crunchers since a lot of money is already spent on maintenance of the swimming pool. So if you can instead save on the heating of the pool, then you have a great way to cut an enormous amount of costs. The whole environment can be protected because traditional pool heating equipment are huge energy consumers. Besides, you can also continue swimming for a long time without having to worry about spending a lot of money. In Canada and the United States, for example, many swimming pools use pool solar heaters, it is a very economic choice and is now starting to become very widely available for commercial use. For most pool owners, it is an economically sound choice as it helps in saving money that is otherwise spent on electricity for generating the heat. Also the various equipment is also widely available these days especially since the demand for them is so high. In this post, I will talk about everything you need to know about "pool solar heaters" and how you can very easily set up and get build one of your own and further save money. 


According to Natural Resources America, solar heating equipment are the most sold items when people are shopping for pool heating equipment.




Did you know that you could save more than 5-10 tonnes of carbon di oxide emissions by simply changing to solar pool heaters each swimming season. To give you a rough idea of how much this actually is, think of it in this way. Your car emits that much amount of carbon di oxide every year upon use.


The principle behind pool solar heaters
Outdoor swimming pools are very commonly used along with solar heaters for the simple reason that they take lesser heat to be generated. Anyway, solar heating panels receive the heat from the sun and preheat the pool to about 10-15 degrees higher than the air temperature. The cool water that is brought into the pool makes up for this and the pool pump pumps the cold water into the pool. When the water goes through the panels, it gets heated and goes back to the pool. As with other solar energy equipment and one of the biggest solar energy advantages, the pool solar heater can be used along with the traditional electric or natural gas pool heaters. While most people swim on only on sunny days, some may choose to swim on cloudy or rainy days and in those cases, the traditional heaters can be used instead.



The cost of these heaters
Pool solar heaters can cost money in any range depending on the size of the swimming pool that you are planning to heat up. But regardless of how much you pay, you can make up for it within a few years. The best part is that these pool solar heaters have an incredibly long lifespans and warranty periods ranging from 10 – 20 years of lifespan. Regarding the actual cost, a typical 20 by 30 square feet pool can cost about $3000 for solar heating equipment. Of course, if you are planning to assemble it yourself, you can further cut down costs significantly and have everything you invested in paid back to you within as short as a year. I would highly recommend that you get yourself a DIY (Do it yourself) solar panel kit and build it yourself as they are extremely effective and save money in the process. If you can get a solar professional to have the inspection done for you, you can further be confident about the whole process.


Different types of pool solar heaters:

1. 
   
   
   Unglazed:  
   
   
   Unglazed solar panels are built specifically with pool heating in mind. They come in various sizes and the lengths vary from 8 feet to 12 feet. The material with which this is made is a special type of plastic. Sometimes advanced rubber can also be used. Care should be taken that the panel does not get damaged due to UV Rays or pool chemicals such as chlorine. This should be checked upon before purchase. As I said before, warranties are normally pretty long and can sometimes be for as much as 15 years and sometimes even lifetime warranties.
   
    
   
2. Glazed Collectors
   The glazed solar panels are normally not used for heating pools with solar energy. They are also pretty expensive when compared to the unglazed ones and can be very resistant to chemicals used in the pool and UV rays from the sun. 

Indoor Pools
Indoor pools have an advantage when compared to outdoor swimming pools in that they prevent the escape of vapour that comes out of hot water into the air thus helping in preventing heat loss. Furthermore, they can be positioned in such a way that the sun reaches them in a particular direction so that energy from the sun is heavily optimized for best performance. However, the drawback is that direct sunlight shining on a pool helps out a lot by increasing the temperature of the pool.


Pool Solar heaters can also be used for other purposes such as heating water in hot tubs. 
These, in turn use glazed panels as opposed to the unglazed panels used for heating pools. However, it is always best to talk to a solar energy professional or a pool professional to properly get advice about which sort of panels you can use and which is the best in a case specific situation.


There are various resources and videos online which can help you to properly set up solar pool heaters in your house thus saving money and the environment at the same time. So try to get pool solar heaters and let me know about your experiences.


To a greener future,


Andy.

 

Generating and using wind power at home

Use Wind Power at Home


The wind, just like solar energy and other renewable sources of energy is clean and if used efficiently, can generate immense amounts of power and also save a lot of energy. Let's take a look at how you can generate wind power at home by using mini wind mills or mini wind turbines. Especially if you live in a very windy area, it is very probable that you can easily produce wind power at home and save a lot of money.



Wind turbines or wind mills vary greatly in size. Some of the larger wind turbines can generate hundreds of megawatts (MW) of electricity which is enough to power thousands of people's energy needs. Smaller wind turbines produce electricity somewhere in the range of a couple of hundred kW and are the perfect ones to be installed in residential areas. So if you are looking to "produce wind power home" , then the smaller wind turbines are something you should definitely consider.


If you are considering installing a wind power system at home, then compare the place you live in with this checklist:

1. Is your house in an area where there are sufficient winds?
2. Is there enough space for setting up wind turbines?
3. Check with your city's laws to see if you have permission to set up these wind turbines.
4. Are your electricity bills very high?

If everything in the above checklist is satisfied, then it means that you can definitely set up wind power systems at home. Also, to keep in mind is that this is a long term investment and you may need to spend quite a bit of money initially. But, you can be assured that in a few years or even months, if you use do it yourself guides, you will make up for what you spent initially on buying these wind power at home systems.



Is the wind you are getting enough?


This is an important question to consider as you would have to have a steady amount of wind blowing at the wind mills to actually generate useful energy. Average annual wind speeds of around 4 – 5 m/s are needed for a small wind turbine to generate enough electricity to recover your initial investments.


You can check at your local weather station to see if your area actually receives the kind of wind speeds that are actually required. Also, the freer the area you are planning to install the wind turbines is, the better since you do not want obstructions such as neighbouring houses or trees.



Ideal locations would be the prairies which is flat and is deal for the wind power home systems to be set up on the ground. If you are unsure of whether the place where you stay is good for generating electricity from wind energy or not, you should definitely use wind power evaluation systems. These are also called as anemometer and they could definitely prove to be extremely useful for you to find out if your property is right or not for wind energy.
Irrespective of whether you use wind resource evaluation systems or not, you should definitely check out whether or not your house and property gets the right amount of wind energy area or not. It also helps a lot if you have an approximation of how much wind speeds you actually receive. Keep in mind that your wind turbines are probably going to be installed on top of a tower and that it is most useful if you can get an approximate idea of how much wind speeds you receive up there.


Some things to keep in mind:

• Consult your neighbours to see that they have no problems with you setting up these wind turbines in your house.
• Set it up at an area that is totally free of obstructions such as trees and buildings. Preferably at locations with wide empty space.
• Your government's laws about setting up these wind turbines.

How the wind turbines function?

The two types of wind turbines, horizontal axis and vertical axis turbines both function differently. Vertical axis turbines function in whichever place the wind is blowing. But horizontal axis turbines get pointed to the direction of the wind with the help of tail vanes.


Components Used:

1. The blades with surfaces that are aerodynamically designed.
2. An adjustor to make sure that the speeds of the generator and the blades are made to be equal.
3. Tail vanes, which I mentioned earlier, to orient the wind turbines in the direction in which the wind is blowing.

Specifications for Wind towers:

Towers need to be a minimum of about 80 – 100 feet high. This is necessary to make sure that an optimum amount of wind is used to rotate the blades. If it is not of this size, enough power will not be generated. Furthermore, you need to ground the tower to protect it from lightning.


Also, the power generated is in DC current mode. The various appliances in your house use AC current and so, you need an inverter to convert the electricity. This is in short, how you can build a wind turbine and use it to generate electricity. However, you must also keep in mind the other charges that are involved in setting up wind power home solar systems, such as taxes and payment for labour etc. So make sure that you make a sound decision on whether or not to set up wind power home turbines or not.



Although you can definitely set up wind turbines on rooftops, it is not totally safe since the vibrations can cause structural damage within the building. Also, safety concerns that need to be noted are things such as maximum wind speeds. There is something called "survival speeds" which is the maximum speed that the turbines can rotate at. But do not worry as internal mechanisms make sure that it does not rotate above these speeds. But just make sure that your "wind power home" systems have this feature installed in them.



To a greener future,


Andy.

Green Computers - Are they finally here?

Computers have become an integral part of our lives and have dominated many areas of our lives. In almost all areas of our lives, there is some sort of a computer or a miniaturized version of a computer making things easier for us. But does mother nature like us for using computers so much? With the introduction of "green computers", she definitely might as these computers that make use of renewable energy sources are immense energy savers and help to save our planet.



Here's the single biggest problem that has plagued all big computer businesses so far. Due to the fact that most computers have short life spans and do not go on to function for a long time, it has become increasingly common for us to dispose off our laptops into landfills where it can take as long as thousands of years to finally degrade into soil. From an environmentalist's point of view, this is not acceptable at all.


For a long time, many computer companies introduced "recyclable" computers to the market and tried to make it possible for consumers to dispose their electronic goods as recyclable materials that were also termed "green computing". And that started the whole "green computers" revolution.



The whole idea behind "green computers" is to make sure that factors like efficiency, recyclability and manufacturing from recycled products are ensured.




Processors – Big energy consuming monsters?


You may have experienced the vast amount of heat your computer generates when you use it for a long time. This is mainly from the processors which require a lot of energy to work efficiently. However, Steve Job's and the engineers at his company, Apple introduced revolutionary processors that consumed not only less energy but also generated less heat. This is what efficiency effectively means. If a processor generates insane amounts of heat, that is because it is very inefficient. Furthermore, there has been the calculation that for every 15-20 MB of data that you move on your hard disk, you actually use up upto a pound of coal. This is a lot of energy consumption and if true, is not at all good news for mother Nature. What this means is that you will be spending more money to maintain a computer than to buy a brand new one.



There has been a lot of innovation in the area of microchips that get used in microprocessors. For years, scientists have been trying to find a creative way to reduce the amount of heat that a processor generates. Yes, you can use coolers. But they once again use energy. It looks like companies like Apple, Sun MicroSystems and a certain Transmeta did a good job of trying to reduce this inefficiency in computers.


Along with processors and the CPU's, other important parts of a computer such as the monitor and power supplies use up a lot of power. Laptop's are slightly better off since they have limited battery power. This makes it possible for the user to put it in hibernation or sleep modes which makes it consumer significantly lesser power.


There have been other inventions such as quantum computing which makes it possible for significant reductions in power consumed by a computer. But they are confined to the doors of the laboratory and are not yet available commercially. Also, of course, is the possibility of using renewable sources of energy such as solar energy so that we do not pollute the environment by using coal. But having an efficient computer is a very good option as well.


Electronic waste is hazardous


The thing with "green computers" is that by using them, we can significantly reduce the amount of toxic and hazardous waste that is thrown out every year. Almost 75% of all hazardous materials is made of electronic substances. The elements used in manufacturing computers such as silicon andmercury and selenium and cadmium are all very harmful and do not decompose easily. Plus, there is the release of greenhouse gases that further causes harm. With the introduction of "green computers", these sort of harmful components will not be used and will be greener.


Changing the Obsoleteness of Tech Products and Computers


One of the biggest problems with buying that fancy, bright gadget about which "everyone is talking about" is that after 5 years or so, it will be considered ancient and obsolete. So that is when you would feel like throwing it away since it is no longer of any use to you. Future "green computers" will eliminate this problem. They will build computers that can successfully be upgraded in the future without having to throw it away to buy a new one.
Some companies such as Dell recover products annually for reusing them and recycling them. 
For example, Dell recalled as much as 36 million kilos of dell computers last year in an effort to help save the environment. Companies which manufacture green computers will do more of this in the future. HP is also another company which made headlines by recycling old computers and cutting huge amount of costs last year.


Upgrade, do not buy new ones
One of the best ways to make sure that your computer lasts for a long time is to upgrade it 
every year or so. Things such as more disk space and more RAM and better processors can all be bought individually and installed manually on the computer very easily and by yourself by following some guides on the internet. Also, one other thing that you may have noticed is that you do not always use up your CPU's full processing capacity if you are using basic applications such as computer games or AutoCAD etc. Green computers will make sure that such unwanted power will be reduced and be increased power whenever needed. Something like "overclocking" comes to mind when we talk about this. Also, there has been talk about the usage of technology such as "thin clients" and "dumb terminals" which are beyond the scope of this blog post.

So where exactly does the green computer stand?
The above is but a vague prediction of how a green computer in the future may look like. There have been plenty of research and advancement done in this field and it could mean that one day, computers can become totally green.

We all wait for that day.

To a greener future,

Andy.

Solar Power Lights – Natural Lighting to your House

"Solar Powered Lights" are one among the best innovations made in the renewable energy industry. They are extremely effective not only because they are efficient but also because they have very low maintenance and operating costs. So if you are looking for either becoming self-sufficient in energy or to start to use green products, then you have come to the right place. Now is the right time to start taking steps to creating your own renewable energy source that can churn out a lot of energy and power to meet all your energy needs. One of the huge parts of your monthly electricity bill is the part that comes due to lighting. Having Solar Power Lights is a great first step to take to try and save our planet and also save some money in the process.


In this blog post, I will write about the various ways by which you can utilize solar power lights efficiently. I will also tell you about where you can buy new ones or build some Do it Yourself Solar Power Lights using some guides on the internet.


Indoor Solar Power Lights



Now, when many people hear about solar powered lights, they shake their heads and say that these lights cannot be used indoors because they need constant exposure to the sun to produce light. This, however, is far from the truth. Indoor solar power lights work as efficiently as outdoor ones and can even be used during the night when there is no sun shining. Think of all the electrical energy you can save by simply getting one of these.


How do these Solar Power Lights work?


The best part about these lights is that they are like smart gadgets. They can sort of think on their own and as long as you have a place where there is plenty of sunshine. They use the solar energy during the day when the sun is shining and then store it up so that you can have lighting during the night. Neat, isn't it?


Here's what they are made of:

1. A photo resistor – This is what your bed lamp has. It basically detects darkness so that it knows when to start letting out light.
2. Solar Cell – I have talked about how these work and how useful they are in some of my previous posts. They are small and generate just about enough energy to make good lights during the night.
3. NiCad Battery packs – One of these battery sets will definitely come in very handy.
4. Controller boards – A small one will do.
5. LED's – Light Emitting Diodes
6. A design of your own – You can choose to make your own lamp shade kind of thing or whatever design you choose. Put your "creative" cap on!

These are the basic components that you will require to make a small and simple solar power lights.



If you are not very experienced in using electrical equipment such as LED's and photo resistors, then you can consult someone to put all these components together for you. But, regardless of that, here is how solar power lights basically function.


You need to mount the solar cells on top of a plastic case such that it can face the sun during the mornings. You can use a 4 by 4 solar cell array for the most effective use. The photo resistor also goes and sits very close to the solar cells so that the lighting can automatically be activated during the night. The LED's and the NiCad batteries go on the other side of the module as the solar cells. You can check if the LED works before you assemble it. Do this by covering the light sensors. You will see the LED light up.


How do they turn on during the night?


This is a good question and something that you need to properly understand. It is the photo resistor that turns the LED on during the night. It is important to make sure that your whole set up is installed properly and to make sure that the photo resistors work properly.


However, since you are using a single solar cell, you should keep in mind that you cannot expect to generate too much electricity and at most, you can probably get very little lighting. However you can a group of these to generate a kind of trail rather than use them as a single lamp.


Use them inside or outside?


If you used the above guide to set up your own solar powered lights, then it would be ideal for use in your garden or in the yard. Basically, I am not saying that you cannot or should not use them inside. You can definitely use them inside as well. But you would need to keep it outside to let the solar cell do the work and soak up all of the solar power energy and then bring it back inside so that the photo resistor can switch the light on during the night. They would be best used outside in the yard or the garden.


You can also get a little innovative and set up plenty of solar cells together so that you can generate more energy from the sun because of a larger surface area. Furthermore, you can buy your own solar powered lights from various stores available locally and online at various websites. You can also find used solar cells put on sale at eBay for really cheap. This can really eliminate the need for the other traditional garden lighting that you have been using so far and also if you are willing to spend the time, replace your indoor lighting as well, partly at least if not fully.


The best solar energy advantage is that these solar power lights can last for a long time without any problems and also have large warranty periods. So check them out.


Hoping for a greener future,


Andy.

Solar Power Electricity – Renewable Energy Jobs

We have talked a lot about the various ways by which you can install solar panels on your own house. I have also written many blog posts myself giving tips about "solar power electricity" and other things installations such as wind power at home. But one of the most important things that makes so many people think very seriously about solar power electricity is because of the exciting career opportunities that it has to offer. Just like other "renewable energy jobs", solar energy has a lot to offer for freshly graduated college graduates and also can help people from various industries such as engineers and scientists in various fields.


The predicted growth rates for the "renewable energy jobs" are very high and are expected to match that of other technologies such as that of "fuel cells" and the petroleum industry as it stands today. Because of these continuously changing standards and expectations from this industry, this industry is expected to generate a lot of jobs in the market. The fact that "photovoltaic cells industry" is predicted to be one of the fastest growing technology in the whole world makes renewable energy jobs easily a very promising and exciting industry to look forward to. Also, the various solar power electricity such as being a clean and reliable energy source helps the industry further. The awareness being brought about about these sources of energy makes it further widespread. 


The demands that this industry places on the workforce requires the use of skilled professional who are simply way too small a group in the existing workforce that works at the industry today. Also, skilled training will be required to train the workforce and to make them understand about the industry tha they are working in and what al they need to understand about the ins and outs of this job. Also, the young college graduate could find "renewable energy jobs" a good place to work at considering not only the various solar power electricity but also because of the fact that unlike other traditional jobs, this is still an emerging field that is looking for skilled workers and hence there is lesser competition and scope for improvement for the young graduate. Thus, getting specialists who can do the work that is required effortlessly is a primary and prioritized agenda for the employers of the companies in the solar energy industry. This is the reason why there has been a lot of programs by "solar energy companies" that address this issue and recognize the need to resolve it efficiently.


The requirements these renewable energy jobs



To work in the solar energy industry or any renewable energy industry for that matter, you require a regular degree and preferably have taken up professional examinations in various sciences. Also, an orientation towards business courses or knowledge of the industry is considered to be an advantage. Engineers are also preferred because this field comes very much in the studies of electronic engineers and engineers in other fields as well. Applicants who have gone on to get their masters degree or doctorate degrees in particular fields of specialized engineering such as in electrical engineering is also very helpful for employers to find the perfect match for the vacant job and the applicant's qualifications.


However, during recent times, there has been the growth of an increasing number of colleges in the United States and other places which offer courses specifically related to "renewable energy jobs". This is another perfect example of "solar power electricity" being made good use of. These courses are being offered in both the master's degrees as well as the undergraduate or bachelor's degrees both of which specialize in solar energy technology such as Photovoltaic cells and other renewable energy sources.


Germany and Australia however are miles ahead of other countries in offering education specifically for renewable energy jobs. Germany is different though because it is the world leader in photovoltaic cells industry and is aeons ahead of other countries in terms of the solar energy industry. Germany also has the world's largest installation of "solar power installations" and aims to install power stations of much higher capacity next year. Germany alone generates more than 10,000 jobs every year and increasing in the field of solar energy advantages renewable energy jobs.


Australia, too, offers highly specialized courses for solar energy and for renewable energy jobs. The colleges in Australia offers courses which are nationally and internationally recognized as valuable certificates. It highly specializes in offering energy efficient building designs that make proper use of "solar power electricity".


Opportunities for people of all types of skills
While college graduates are the most preferred in the renewable energy jobs offered, like every other industry, the solar energy industry also hires people with lesser expertise for lesser paid jobs. Workers, labourers, lab assistants, caretakers are some of the other types of people who are required in large numbers by this industry. This number is expected to further increase in the coming years and even more in the space of a couple of decades. Labourers are very much essential because of the nature of this industry where there will be a costumers requiring help with installation. Of course, skilled labourers are always highly sought after and there is a big difference between just normal labourers and skilled labourers with the latter in high demand.


Conclusion


In conclusion, the renewable energy jobs in the coming years are expected to blossom a lot and increase to a large extent leading to further expansion of the industry. This is not only the "solar power electricity" industry but also other renewable energy sources industry such as wind energy and geothermal energy and even tidal energy and hydro power installations for that matter. So whether, you are a newly graduated college aspirant or a person in the top of a company with sufficient management experience, it is time for you to get excited about this industry and get yourself a piece of the pie.


To a greener future,


Andy.


solar power electricity Renewable energy jobs

Different ways to Save on Electricity Bills

There are plenty of websites online which offer different guides to cut on your electricity bills and "save on electricity". There have been a lot of people looking for practical solutions to save on electricity. Some of the various solar energy advantages is that you can cut your energy bills every month. In fact, it has become quite a common thing for various businesses to try and cut on their costs. For businesses, this does not only involve making better deals with their buyers and competitors but also making sure that internal costs are also cut upon. It is important to make sure that this happens as internal costs such as cost for maintenance and pay for employees are some of the most significant costs for many large businesses. Also, most people who own swimming pools also try to makes sure that they cut down on those costs as well. If you are looking for online resources where you can get an approximate idea of how much money you can actually "save on electricity", head over to findsolar.com for a free calclulator that even takes into account various tax benefits offered by the government for people who generate their own power with the help of renewable sources of energy such as solar energy.

The calculator is mainly for US and Canadian states. People from other countries can look up on the various benefits provided and manually arrive at how much you they can actually "save on electricity". At the end of the session with the calculator, you will get a full report saying exactly how much electricity you can actually save.
Anyway, there are plenty of ways using solar energy that you can cut on your electricity bills. One such easy way is to cut on your heating. According to statistics provided by the Energy Department in the United States, it has been proved that heating accounts for almost as much as 25% of the total energy needs. So setting up your own solar heating panels is not a very tough job to do. Once you have successfully done that, all you would really have to do is to spend a little bit every now and then on maintenance and that is the only money you will be saving. Although, you may have to shell out a little bit of money initially to spend on these solar panels or photovoltaic cells or whatever that is that you are planning to get, once you have spent a couple of years using these solar energy equipment and solar panels, you will actually save up a lot of money which can be as much as hundreds of dollars every month.
Another way to "save on electricity" would be to get your own small scale version of windmills. This, of course, depends heavily on whether or not you live in a place where there is heavy sunshine and heavy wind. But the latter is extremely important if you are planning to set up a mini-windmill. But the former, that is to save on electricity with solar energy, it is preferred but not completely necessary to have bright and intense sunshine every day. Using other renewable sources of energy also helps. These are some of the short and simple ways that you can save on electricity bills every month.

Solar Hot Water Panels – A brief buying guide

In this blog post, I attempt to make potential buyers understand how "solar hot water panels" can help save you a lot of money on heating systems that otherwise use up tonnes and tonnes of carbon dioxide. Solar hot water panels have been growing in popularity in recent years. The main reason for this is because of the fact that solar hot water panels can help you save a lot of money as traditional heating systems are power hungry and consume a lot of energy. Also explained in this blog post is the technology that is currently used to determine whether or not solar hot water panels are right for you.




The Technology behind solar water heating systems


Since the burning of fossil fuels can be a huge source of pollution, renewable sources of energy can be life saving for so many people and for all the living beings on this planet including human beings. Solar Hot water panels were first developed around the end of the 20^th century when it was used to raise the temperature of the water. They were in the most primitive forms and not as advanced as they are right now. Obviously and logically, the highest efficiency of these solar heating systems is during the summer when the insolation (or solar radiation) is the highest. In places like Canada, the efficiency during winter and other seasons is not so high. A small percentage of the solar rays is converted efficiently.


Where to set up the solar water heating systems?


Now, let's take a look at the various places where you can possibly set up these solar hot water panels in your house. Solar collectors are an integral and important part of solar panels and can be set up or mounted on a roof or on the ground or anywhere on the outside walls. 


One of the most commonly used types of collectors is glazed collectors. The other type is unglazed collectors. I will explain to you what the differences between the two are in some of my future posts. Basically what happens is that the sunlight that passes through the glazed glass hits the silicon plate thus generating a lot of heat. This heat is trapped from escaping by sort of "sandwiching" it and thus the temperature inside increases.



For solar based hot water panels to be used in cold environments, something called anti-freeze systems are used. This makes sure that the heat exchangers get to absorb all the heat because of glycol which is heated inside the piping.




Different types of Solar Collectors


The other type of collectors are the flat plate collectors which are to be used on those days when the temperature in the collector is almost equal to ambient temperatures. Contrary to this, evacuated type collectors perform the better the larger the difference in temperature. Evaporated type collectors are best and designed to be used in colder countries.
Continuously evolving industry



The Soar hot water panels have existed for over a century commercially and there have been constant developments that are taking place in this industry. So this can be considered as a technology with quite a bit of history. Of course, there are different ways that these solar hot water panels work. Starting from DIY (Do it Yourself) kits to large systems that are used in farms and for other similar large scale purposes, they are used for a wide range of applications.


Of course, the traditional heating system also exists in combination with the solar hot water panels in order to make sure that on days with no sun such as cloudy days or during the night, the traditional system exists to provide power that generates heat.

How do you know if solar hot water panels are right for you?


This is a question that many people want to have answered and ask me all the time whenever I tell them about solar water heating systems. Ask yourself this simple question. Does the place where you intend to set up these panels receive sufficient sunlight hours throughout the year? If it does, then probably you should go ahead and start considering installing these solar hot water panels very seriously. In most cases, this is something that need not be debated upon since as long as there is a sufficient amount of sunshine available, it is quite easy to make use of solar water heating systems. This, along with the fact that it is good, clean and renewable source of energy makes it possible to cut on the enormous cost of water heating.


Your solar hot water panels should directly connect to your hot water tank in order to produce a significant amount of good energy. Since heating is almost a quarter of your electricity bill every month, making use of free energy coming from the sun can make sure that you cut down your costs significantly. Also, other factors to keep in mind are things such as the orientation of you panels. It is important to make sure that your solar collectors, whatever types they may be of, face south during the morning when the sun is the most intense. This is usually between 10 in the morning till about 3 in the afternoon and during this time, the orientation of the panels which is situated on either the ground, outside walls or the roof top has to receive an optimum amount of sunshine in order for it to make full use of the solar energy.


You do not have to pay absolutely any taxes whatsoever on the energy that you receive from the sun every day. This makes it a very exciting opportunity for people like who are planning to set up solar hot water panels. So, consult a solar professional if you like or read many of the Do it Yourself guides and free ebooks available on the homepage of this blog to set up your own solar water heating systems in your house and help keep the earth "green".


For a greener earth,


Andy.