Solar Power Electricity – Solar Panel Batteries

There are many advantages about solar energy that makes it one of the most desired source of renewable energy available for commercial use in the whole world today. One such advantage of solar power electricity is that you can use solar panels made up of photovoltaic cells to generate electrical energy and then use it for other purposes such as storing electrical energy by using solar panel batteries. Because of the awareness that has been circulated among the people about global warming and the various problems that using fossil fuels poses to human beings and our planet, there has been a lot of interest expressed in solar panel batteries that make proper use of solar power electricity. A solar battery is a clean energy source and does not emit harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and methane etc.

 
Also, the advantage with solar energy is that in case of days when the sun is not shining not so bright, or during the night when the sun is not shining at all, you can use your traditional and normal source of energy to generate the electric power. In this way, you are not actually losing anything at all. You are actually using solar energy when you can and the sun is shining and during other times you can use power from your utility company just like any one else. Solar panel batteries can actually save up a lot of power that would have otherwise been tonnes of coal burnt up. So the efficiency of solar cells or photovoltaic cells is not so high unfortunately and there has been a lot of innovation and research being put into this by a lot of scientists in this field to try and increase the efficiency of these solar cells.
Furthermore, the operating costs or maintenance costs of these photovoltaic cells is very low. Basically what this means is that once you do the initial investment to get solar panel batteries set up in your home, all that is left to do is for you to wait for the next decade or so and just receive the profit that it generates from the free energy. Photovoltaic cells use the highly popular element that is used in most conductors today, silicon. This just totally revolutionizes the way electrical energy has been produced in the past and does make it an attractive source of renewable energy for people to install in their houses.
Basically, there are two plates in a typical solar cell or a solar panel battery. One of the plates is made up of a mix of silicon and phosophorus and the other is made up of a mix of silicon and boron. This is because silicon has 4 valence electrons and boron has 3 and phosphorus has 5 valence electrons. Hence the when the 2 elements are brought together, one of the plates has a lack of electrons and the other has one electron extra. For electricity to flow, this is what is required. You need a deficit of electrons and extra electrons. Then the two plates can be brought together or can be connected with a wire to make a simple circuit.
Many such cells when combined together make a panel or a grid. In this way, the photons from light is made use of in an efficient manner to generate electricity that can be used to power homes. One problem that people face, however, with these photovoltaic cells is the fact that the current generated is actually in DC mode whereas the various household appliances make use of AC (Alternating current) current. Therefore, one drawback is that you need to get yourself an inverter which can convert the incoming DC current into AC Current thus making sure that everything in the house runs properly.
The difference between a solar panel battery and the regular alkaline battery that we use is that a solar panel battery typically consists of a number of solar battery elements which are supported on a base plate. Thus, when the light strikes the individual solar panel batteries, the energy of the light makes little or no contribution for the photoelectric conversion is actually used to heat up the individual solar energy elements. Normally amorphous or crystalline silicon is used in the construction of these solar cells and there is the presence of at least one PIN junction. P-N junctions are also exposed to the incident light thus generating electron hole pairs. The P in P-N stands for P-type Semiconductor and the N stands for N-type semiconductor. They are basically electron "holes" (or the lack of electrons) and excess electrons respectively. In this way, solar panel batteries produce electricity.
Solar panel batteries have a variety of applications in the practical world. They are used as a substitute for the dry batteries and have been used in a lot electrical equipment. Some places where these types of solar panel batteries or solar cells would be really valuable would be in a satellite high up in the air where there are no power lines or anything of that sort to power it up. Another place where it can be practically used is in places where there is very low power consumption. An example of this could include the watches that we wear on our wrists or even other things that we use such as calculators. The advantage with these small gadgets is that you do not even really need the sun to power them. If you are sitting on a table, for example, and need to use your calculator, even bringing them closer to the table lamp that you are using will do the trick. These too can have the batteries as a separate option to be used in cases when there is not sufficient light available. These solar panel batteries typically have really long lives ranging from 15 – 20 years compared to other batteries and are really economically sound option as well. Large scale photovoltaic cells are heavily used too. They are used a lot in Germany, which is the leader in solar energy development along with other renewable sources of energy followed closely by the United States and Japan. This makes solar panel batteries a really good solar power electricity.
To a greener future,
Andy.

 

Solar Energy History – A Brief Overview

Solar energy history is immense. Contrary to popular belief, the uses of solar energy have been used from a very long time in the past and not just in the 21^st century. Although the useful properties of the sun were studied by ancient astronomers from almost 2000 years back by ancient Indian astronomers, actual serious developments that could be used for useful purposes happened only in the 19^th century around the time when the Industrial Revolution started to take shape. Once people in the 19^th century realized that coal and petroleum resources would not last for a very long time, various efforts were made to try and produce energy from other sources which led to the development of solar energy as a source of energy which could be used for producing useful energy that could be used for day-to-day purposes.

Various efforts were made by scientists back in the 19^th century to try and make use of the energy from the sun and use its heat for useful purposes. Perhaps one of the earliest of such efforts was made by Auguste Mouchout, a French scientist who built a device that use the sun's heat to power a steam engine which helped to make ice. This was considered to be a breakthrough in the solar energy field by many people at that time. This was probably one of the first dates in solar energy history that can be considered pretty significant.

Now we have all seen what an important role electricity plays in our lives. Recently, there has been significant development in this field and there has been plenty of research done in this area. Perhaps one of the earliest attempts to convert this solar energy into electricity was made by Charles Fritz. In 1883, he built a solar cell that had a really good conversion rate of about 1%. Considering the fact that even the most modern photovoltaic cells cannot achieve effeciencies of more than 50%, 1% at such a long time back in solar energy history is indeed significant.

Mean while throughout the 1880's, there was constant research being conducted in the field of solar energy with more solar steam engines that were similar to the original model developed by Auguste Mouchout being developed by different scientists with constant improvements in the effeiceincies being made. There were various efforts made by people like Aubrey Eneas and Henry Willsie to try and develop solar energy companies that however did not become very successful due to various reasons.

Frank Shuman, another enterpreuner who saw the enormous potential in the solar energy field formed a company named Sun Power Co. Which was built over an area of more than 10,000 square feet to try and produce enough power to generate useful electricity. This proved to be only partly successful but had to be shut down because of the large costs involved. This was, however, in the early part of the 20^th century when the major part of the solar energy history was being developed.

It was in 1954 that the first major breakthrough was made in this field. Thanks to the development of silicon and other semi-conductors, Bell Laboratories became the first company to construct solar panels which had efficiency rates of as much as 6%. This subsequently led to the development of commercial solar cells which were pretty expensive and used in smaller devices such as calculators and watches. In the 1950's and the 1960's, these solar cells were developed on a bigger scale and were used in satellites to generate electricity for use inside the satellites. After that the solar energy history has literally snowballed into becoming one of the largest and most widely used industries in the world.

Recently, there has been the development and research involved in the solar energy field thereby encouraging many scientists to pursue this actively. More and more efficiency is being achieved in the photovoltaic cells these days making it possible for people to set up solar panels in their houses. Many countries and governments have also begun to use solar powered devices to generate electricity and provide tax incentives for those that do use solar energy to satisfy their energy needs.

This was a brief summary on solar energy history
and how solar energy has evolved into the energy source that it is today.

Cheers,

Andy.

Solar Power Electricity – Some other Solar Energy Benefits

I have talked many times previously in this blog about the various "solar energy benefits". One of the biggest solar power electricity advantages is that you get to help the environment a lot. Our planet is suffering a lot in terms of problems such as global warming and other problems such as deforestration etc. Deforestration is indeed a serious problem and is a big problem because trees are cut down to help meet our electricity needs. But of course this problem can be eliminated by using solar energy to meet our electricity needs. Anyway, I will address the issue of deforestration in another post. Of course one of the biggest solar energy advantage is that you get to save a lot of money on this. So anyone looking to save money either on their electricity bills or just on other things such as taxes etc. can benefit tremendously with the usage of renewable sources of energy and taking advantage of natural resources that are abundantly available. Also, it is a really interesting project to work on especially if you are looking to engage in some interesting activities or just do something useful in your spare time or give back to society something useful. Anyway, now that we have addressed the "why" of solar energy, now it is time to address the "how" of solar energy benefits.


The energy that all other energy sources are derived from

Of course, please do not misread the title. When I say "all other energy sources are derived from", I am referring to all the other energy sources that we use on earth. Other stars are self-sufficient and do not depend on the sun to generate energy. Of course, no offense to any of you for underestimating your obvious knowledge about this. J. However, there is indeed one exception to this rule. This exception is geothermal energy. This energy comes from the core of the earth and is independent of solar energy since the planets were formed millions of years ago. All other sources of energy on the earth such as chemical energy, energy in plants, mechanical energy etc. directly or indirectly. For example, all living beings on earth depend on the sun for survival and for satisfying basic living being's needs. The energy that we get for moving our hands and other parts or muscular energy comes from food which indirectly comes from other living beings which in turn make use of solar energy for survival. In this way, every source of energy is in some form or the other dependent on the sun. Another exception to this rule again is nuclear energy which comes from the atoms and is independent of the sun completely. I need to check this up properly before i state anything. So do not cite my source.
One of the most exciting areas of growth in solar energy and a big solar power electricity advantage is the technology of photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic cells technology has been termed as the fastest growing technology in the whole world. This is great news indeed for all the countries and the governments looking to set up solar power plants or solar power installations utilizing solar energy benefits to meet their electricity needs.
This is very similar to the solar panels that some people have in their houses except that it generates electricity on a much larger scale. But Photovoltaic cells or PV's are used in both cases.
It is a known fact that most people in the united States and other countries in Europe make the most efficient use of solar energy to support more than upto 20% of their energy needs with the help of these solar power installations thus helping by saving a significant amount of money. Therefore, since the sun shines very abundantly in most places in the world, it is not exactly very tough to make use of this energy and convert it to other useful forms of energy. Therefore, anyone looking to cut their electricity bills need to consider solar power electricity very seriously. This makes it a very nice are for research and development as well.

How much money can I save with solar power electricity?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to people who are considering whether or not to set up and install solar panels in their houses. But this is sort of a tough question to answer as it depends on a lot of independent factors. One of those factors is how much space you have available to set up these solar panels. Space is important as the more space you have, the more solar panels you can set up and the more electricity you can produce and the more heated water you can have. Of course, the initial payment for these may look a little intimidating. But let me tell you that many people including myself have overcome this initial investment after a couple of years. As a matter of fact, you also start to make money after a certain point of time. You should look at it as an investment rather than as "solar power electricity cost".

The other advantage with solar power electricity is that you use this solar power along with the traditional energy sources that you already have. The way this works is that there are times when you cannot make use of solar energy such as during night times or during cloudy or rainy days. In such cases, you can set it up in such a way that traditional energy sources can be used when there is no opportunity for solar power to be produced. Even something as little as 15% to 20% of savings on your monthly electricity bill can go a long way in saving money for you. So go make the switch to solar by using the various solar power electricity advantages and save money for not only yourself but also help your planet and your future generations.
To a greener future,
Andy.