Making a Solar Company Choice is a First Important Step

If a homeowner has made the decision to take that all-important leap toward creating a hybrid-energy powered home, choosing the correct solar power company to handle the needed equipment installation is a huge and important choice. The popularity of solar energy in the past several years has created many companies offering services for the installation and maintenance of solar energy power systems. There are several questions a homeowner can ask a potential solar power company to gain the necessary information to make an informed decision.

How Long Has the Company Been Doing Business?

Although every company has to start somewhere, selecting an experienced one with a verifiable track record is the more prudent method to follow. The company examined should have at least two-to-five years of successful experience in the sale and installation of solar power systems. It is important to choose a company that has a good reputation, and one that is stable enough to last well beyond the warranties offered. Whenever available, check with previous customers to verify client satisfaction.

What Is The Company’s Customer Satisfaction Rating?

It is important to check to see how the company has treated previous customers. If there are no verifiable testimonies on a company website, check with the local Better Business Bureau to see if there is a record of complaints concerning a specific company. Any successful company will want to connect you with a satisfied customer since this is the best form of positive advertisement. Also, a company must have the necessary local and state licenses in order to legally operate. Licenses can be checked with the local state. Additionally, installers should have certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), which is the highest certifying authority. Having the most respected, experienced and qualified solar energy installers is the best way to go.

Who Manufactures the Company’s Solar Panels?

Always check to see if the examined solar power company uses name brand equipment such as SMA America or GE Energy. These companies offer substantial warranties – usually 10 years on inverters and 25 years on panels. You want to determine if the company will be around in 10 years or so when repairs will probably be needed.

All reputable and honest companies will be more than happy to answer questions. Present as many questions as possible so answers can be weighed giving a potential buyer the necessary data to make an informed decision about hiring the correct solar power company.

Average Run Time is Two Hours

Most laptops can run for about two hours on a fully charged battery. A solar battery charger can typically provide one-third the power to run a typical laptop computer. So, for every hour the laptop gets used, it will take three hours to recharge the battery. Newer, smaller and more efficient notebook-styled laptop computers can run for about five hours on a fully charged battery where a solar charger can provide two-thirds the required power. But is it possible to produce a 1-to-1 power ratio?

Understanding the Concept of Using Solar Power

The essence of putting the sun to use powering a laptop is employing solar panels to collect the sun’s energy that is then converted to 12-volt, direct current (DC) electricity. This electricity is stored in a deep cycle battery until it is called upon for powering use. Then it is converted into 110 volt, alternating current (AC) electricity – typical household current – necessary to run a laptop and maybe a printer.  Solar battery chargers are a fairly inexpensive way to power not only a laptop when camping out in the wild, but can also provide power for other devices such as MP3 players, cell phones and similar devices.

Here is What to Do

Obtain a “jump pack” battery from one of many manufacturers. I bought a Duracell mode from Amazon that also has a built in radio, light, and inverter.  A model like this this will actually deliver the electricity to the laptop battery when you plug it in.  Then purchase a 12v solar panel with a minimum output of 5 watts…although 10 watts or more would be better.  Again, there are many manufacturers offering different models.  This plugs into the jump pack battery during daylight hours to keep it charged.  This set-up works well because it is versatile and it will run both mobile DC and AC devices.

Large amounts of commercial solar thermal power are being generated by solar thermal plants in sunny climates around the world, where they have access to plenty of sunlight can provide enough of electricity to meet the needs of thousand of homes. The 4000 MW of solar thermal power being produced now can meet the needs of 7 million consumers. It saves on 45 million oil barrels of fuel.

Researchers have already proved the efficacy of parabolic troughs which are capable of focusing large percentages of solar energy on pipes. This heated solar energy is circulated through those pipes and used for driving conventional generators. Electricity is produced in this manner. Parabolic dishes are also used to collect solar energy and focus it on the collector. Heat engines utilize this energy to generate electricity. These are some ways and methods in which the sun’s bounty of solar thermal energy and power can be used constructively to produce power for the masses.

The first thing you want to do is to calculate the amount of electricity that is required for your home to function daily. If you are not doing a full conversion but yet just a partial, just calculate the percentage based on a portion of the daily electricity.

Most utility bills can be easy to calculate cause most of them will show you exactly how much are using for not only the month you are in but also the month past in that year. If you plan on completely eliminating your utilities company than you need to do your calculations based on the peak demand.

Figuring out how much electricity is required for you home on a monthly or yearly basis is easy and takes rather simple arithmetic. Based on the amount of peak electricity used will allow you figure out how many PV modules you will need. Just take the area of the south-facing rooftop section of your home to the number and size of the PV modules needed.

For a decent sized home the panels will run in the range of $10,000-$16,000 at the prices listed today. But keep in mind that there are ways to offset some of them invest with tax rebates and other programs. The power that each module will generate will come at a certain cost. But as you can see finding the total output and cost is pretty easy.

There are other costs that you have to factor into your estimate as well. Everything adds up, even connectors, wires, clamps, and other components. The prices on these materials will vary based on brand and where you get them from. The other cost is installation, because most homeowners are not experienced enough to install them themselves.

The one thing that you have to understand is that the sun only shines during the day therefore you only produce solar energy during the day. At night the cloud cover, darkness, and rain will reduce the insulation. The best thing for you to do if you are completely going off grid is to get a battery storage system. During these times the batteries can draw power from the local utility company.

Your meter normally runs forward if you are drawing power from the utility companies system. However, if you system is generating more than what you need to use at any given time most utility companies will set up an agreement for your excess energy. That usually is done by you running your meter backward actually supplying the utility company with power.

Before a utility company will sign an agreement they will want to make sure that your system is safe and operational. During a power outage they have to assume that there’s no power running through the lines, and that your system is installed in a way that guarantees that. As a matter of fact most municipalities will require that you have your system inspected and approved even before you are entirely of grid, so that they make sure its safe for local lineman.

Now using this method is a heavy upfront cost and you won’t be able to take advantage of the savings over night. This will take a bit to recoup your money but in the long run will save you tons. This is said because most panel, installations, wires, and batteries will cost you somewhere around $32,000-$50,000 depending on who installs it.

As you can see, solar powered energy is going to save you quite a bit of money over time. Due to the rising cost of electricity it may very well be worth your while to have solar panels installed.

The first thing you want to do is to calculate the amount of electricity that is required for your home to function daily. If you are not doing a full conversion but yet just a partial, just calculate the percentage based on a portion of the daily electricity.

Most utility bills can be easy to calculate cause most of them will show you exactly how much are using for not only the month you are in but also the month past in that year. If you plan on completely eliminating your utilities company than you need to do your calculations based on the peak demand.

Figuring out how much electricity is required for you home on a monthly or yearly basis is easy and takes rather simple arithmetic. Based on the amount of peak electricity used will allow you figure out how many PV modules you will need. Just take the area of the south-facing rooftop section of your home to the number and size of the PV modules needed.

Each module will generate a certain amount of power at a given cost. When connected the right way the modules add up, so finding the total output (and cost) is equally easy. For a modest-sized home, the cost of panels is somewhere around $10,000-$16,000 at current prices. But keep in mind when planning the expense that there are tax rebates and other programs that will help you offset the amount invested.

But the modules have to connect to something. The connectors, clamps, wires and other components add to the total. They vary considerably. And don’t forget to add installation costs. Most homeowners don’t have the skill to build the system themselves.

The sun doesn’t shine all day every day. It’s dark at night, obviously. Rain and heavy cloud cover will reduce the amount of insulation, as it’s called. Other uncontrollable factors reduce the amount of sunlight available. So, almost anyone going ‘off grid’ will want a battery storage system. Those not taking the complete plunge can draw power from the local utility company during those times.

If your system generates more than you need at any given time, some utility companies will enter into an agreement to buy any excess you put into their system. That’s usually done technically by running your meter backwards when you’re supplying the utility company. It normally runs forward as you draw power from their system.

Naturally, they’ll insist on inspecting your system before finalizing any agreement. In fact, most municipalities will require that you have your system inspected and approved even if you go entirely off grid. They need to ensure that it’s implemented in a way that’s safe for local lineman. During power outages they have to assume there’s no power running through the lines. Your system has to be installed in a way that guarantees that.

Between panels, batteries, installation costs and other expenses most modest-sized solar panel systems will cost in the neighborhood of $32,000-$50,000. That cost should be offset against what you would pay for electricity from the power company over the lifetime of the system, usually about 20 years without substantial replacements.

But costs are coming down and efficiency is improving as time goes on, as the price of electricity continues to rise. It may well be worth your while to have a solar powered electrical system for your home.

Only a relatively small portion of the 1,000 watts per square meter of sunlight power which falls on the earth’s surface at the equator is able to be converted to usable electricity. Internal losses are responsible for part of that shortfall. Not all of the photons hitting a solar panel will manage to knock loose an electron and only some of them that do will travel along the module and into the device prior to being recaptured.

This is known as carrier lifetime and basically the longer the electrons are roaming around loose, there is more chance that they will flow out of the module to an outlet. The majority of modules only achieve around 10-15% efficiency but lately several companies have been able to raise the efficiency levels of their devices to 20% or so by lengthening the carrier lifetime.

In contrast solar thermal devices make use of salt water heated by sunlight in panels. They generate steam which is, in turn, changed into electricity and the efficiency can be as high as 30%. However, these devices are expensive; they also come with an element of risk as if the water escapes, huge amounts of damage can be caused because of its temperature.

Putting aside efficiency issues, the costs of this kind of equipment are quite high.

The majority of different kinds of solar panels are expensive. For example, a 30-watt module would be somewhere in the region of $250 with a 195-watt panel running to around $1,000. So on these figures, a modest home installation would cost between $10,000 and $16,000. In addition to this, taking into account the cost of other components as well as batteries, the final price could be double or even three times the above mentioned figures.

Luckily manufacturers have responded well to the way in which oil and natural gas prices have risen. A great deal of money has been spent on research and as the solar energy market technology has matured, new ways of increasing efficiency and keeping costs down have been found. This has resulted with the overall cost being much lower than previously, all things considered, including inflation.

The cost of photovoltaic (PV) cells has dropped by around 15% each year for the past ten years so given that the panels are expected to last twenty years or so, the initial investment will eventually be paid back and clean power will have been provided throughout this period of time.

Naturally, improvements continue to be found. For example, ST Microelectronics, a main player in the European chip making market has now come up with prototype solar cells which if all goes according to plan will work out cheaper than the panels being used today.

Organic compound solar panels have already found their niche in applications such as keyboards and monitors. This enables a computer to be folded or rolled up and put under your arm like a newspaper. The costs are expensive but nonetheless they are dropping each day. There is also a French-Italian company who is planning to produce an organic cell in the near future. The cell is estimated to provide electricity at a cost of only 20 cents per watt, which is extremely cheap compared to the $4 – $8 per watt cost of ordinary solar power.

The price of water heating by the use of solar power has varying costs as well.

During the 1920s some areas used huge storage tanks to heat water by solar and store it to supply homes, but due to the decreasing costs of electricity and oil, solar was no longer considered to be a cost effective option.

However, as with most things the old ideas soon become new ones again and it probably won’t be long before such methods provide a competitive alternative if the speculations of current research turn out as expected. Only a small improvement would be necessary for these new applications as far as cost and efficiency are concerned to allow them to successfully compete with the continually rising prices of oil and electricity from gas and coal fired plants.

Solar energy, and by this we mean the way light from the sun streams in through the atmosphere, gets converted to usable power by a process which is now well understood. The sunlight strikes a photovoltaic or PV module and a current is generated. This electricity then flows into a business premise or home by wires and circuit breakers, just as it does with utility companies.

However, the electricity generated by wind power works in a different way with only a few similarities. The wind turns a propeller placed on a shaft which is surrounded by a magnet circled by a wire coil. As the magnet or wire turns close to one another, electrons within the wire feel a force which moves them along and this movement is what creates an electrical current.

Each of these methods is basically simple. The sun and the wind are both there and free. However, converting such energy sources into electricity we can use presents an expense and some challenges to engineering as well as interesting physical limitations.

Clearly, there are the supplies needed to build a wind turbine or PV module and this is certainly not free. Then there is the transportation and installation of the equipment which is another expense incurred. Regrettably, this kind of power is quite cost inefficient when comparing the amount of power produced by coal, natural gas and oil and although great improvements have been made, the fact remains that they do not produce the same amount of power as the various other sources, for the same cost.

For instance, approximately 1,000 watts per square meter of solar energy reaches the surface (at the equator) but latitude, weather and various other factors can reduce this figure to between 125-375 W/m2. When you also take into account that the efficiency of a solar powered PV module is usually around 10 – 15% depending largely on how it is put together, this gives you quite a low amount of available energy.

Nevertheless, with the ability to place panels over the area of the roof of the house, this relatively small amount can mean a generation of around 1.35 kWh/m2/day providing enough power for the average home if care is taken with how its used.

There are unique problems which come with wind systems such as bird killing, not to mention the fact that they rely on regular if not continuous wind and they don’t put out the level of power needed for most applications. If the wind is not continuous they need to be connected to storage systems just as solar systems have to be.

However, even with all these limitations, solar, wind and other forms of energy technology can be part of the total power generation plan. Not only are they clean so highly liked by a society always looking for ways to improve the environment but they don’t need materials which get in the way of correct environmental and political issues.

If scientific improvements continue to increase efficiency and lessen the costs involved they will make a great contribution to the supply of electricity on demand. Although it may be a while before they are able to take a fair percentage from the other electricity supplying sources, the future is definitely bright as far as solar and wind power are concerned.

But these days there are many cost effective solar panel applications available for use.

An example of these would be lawn lights which have become very popular. These are stakes roughly twelve inches in length with lights mounted on the end. The top of the light houses small solar panels and although they do not generate a great amount of power, they do the job well. They are easy to place where you want them and require no wiring whatsoever. They don’t need to be maintained so usually last for years and batteries and bulbs are not necessary as with other forms of lighting.

The majority of us have used solar powered calculators which have been around for many years now. Of course, the same kind of technology has been adapted and now encompasses laptop computers too. At the present time they don’t generate sufficient power to operate a monitor or standard hard drive, but the use of solar power has been shared with new inventions to be able to achieve this, namely organic cells.

The standard solar cell uses layered wafers of silicon coated with phosphorus. However, more complex molecules and other elements are also subject to the photoelectric effect. When struck by light, many organic molecules will shoot off electrons and even though they are not as efficient, they have the advantage of being extremely economical as well as flexible so they can be incorporated into particularly cheap plastic alloys.

This is what makes it possible to produce a keyboard or monitor which can be rolled or folded up at an affordable price. This technology allows you to tuck a computer under your arm or in your pocket and when you want to use it all you have to do is unroll it and it will be powered by the available light.

There are numerous other applications which can be powered by a solar system. An example of this is electrical fencing which can be used to power a cattle barrier or a dog retainer by a low voltage system. The small stun the animal receives keeps them in check without causing them any harm. Whilst standard fencing will not always stop the animal from leaping over the barrier, electrifying the system will discourage them from trying to make that jump.

Cars and powered boats have batteries to start the engines as well as powering small electrical appliances and running the lights, speedometer and other things when the engine is turned off. Such batteries need recharging at regular intervals even though the motor usually recharges the batteries and replaces the necessary power.

However, the mere fact that battery chargers are in existence would suggest this method does not always work. When you are at sea or even near the shore for that matter, it is practically impossible to use a standard charger and this is where a solar powered charger may be the handiest piece of equipment you could have in your time of need.

This charger will also recharge the battery in your RV just as easily in addition to being useful in so many other ways.

An RV is stationary with its motor off on many occasions. Some people have generators to provide power for the RV at these times but not only do generators produce disgusting smelling fumes but they are also heavy on fuel and noisy to run. On the other hand a solar power system is capable of supplying at least some of the energy required. It can power a radio and run a DVD, a television or a small refrigerator.

Solar panels of today come at a much lower cost than ever before and they are far more efficient. They give you the freedom of not having to depend on utility companies and the fact that they can provide much or all of your electrical needs.

If you are considering solar power, it is important to understand that the amount of light received from the sun varies by location – in some areas, considerably. If you are in certain areas of the world, such as Santa Fe in New Mexico, for example, you will find that well over three hundred days of the year, there is sunshine. However, if you visit a location in Washington, such as Seattle, you will discover that there are less than sixty days a year in which the sun shines brightly. While both areas can benefit from the implementation of a solar powered electrical system, those living in Seattle would have to integrate a system that is much more expensive than those living in Santa Fe. While even the gloomiest of areas can benefit from solar power, it is less expensive to incorporate and operate a system in areas that receive larger amounts of sunlight.

The next factor that must be considered when it comes to the costs associated with solar power is the size of the home that you are attempting to implement solar power at. Naturally, the price to put up a solar power system at a large structure will be much more than if you attempt to put one up at a small structure. This is because of the fact that you will need more panels for the electricity to be conducted from the sun. In addition to this, larger structures require higher powered deep cycle batteries for back up power. In many instances, more than one battery is required in order to provide an appropriate level of power for the night hours and on days in which the sky overcast.

The good news is if you elect to purchase a solar powered system for your home, the Federal Government does offer various types of tax incentives that allow you rewards for choosing the green choice in electricity. These rewards may be offered in the form of a check, but nine times out of ten, they are offered through deductions on the taxes that you pay for your property. In addition to Federal programs, there are also state operated programs that offer rewards to individuals that implement the use of solar powered systems for the home.

Solar Homes Can Generate Cash

Is solar power for your home an effective alternative? Absolutely! Sure, it can prove to be quite an expense in the early periods of integrating it into your home, but over a certain period of time, it will pay off. You will experience lower costs in powering your home, you may receive rewards and incentives, and of course, you will be making a positive impact on the environment as a whole.

If you are planning to implement the use of a home storage system that implements the use of solar power, it is important to understand that a back up battery or number of batteries will be required. You should ensure that any batteries obtained for the purpose and intent of a solar system are kept in an area that is well ventilated and kept relatively cool. Heat is a natural component to battery degradation. There are typically two types of batteries used in these particular systems. These are nickel cadmium as well as lead acid. In order to successfully remove your home from the “grid” altogether, it is absolutely essential to ensure that you have a battery back up supply. The most common and least expensive are lead acid types.

If you elect to incorporate a lead acid battery in your home solar power storage system, you will find that they are quite similar to the models that are used in automobiles. You will discover terminals – one that is positive and one that is negative – that attach to plates that are metal based. The metal is placed in a solution that provides the charge to the unit. The solution is usually sulfuric acid or a similar solution. If attached to the plates that are part of your home storage unit, they will generate electricity for the structure when the solar power from the sun is not ample for your needs. The interesting thing about this is that the battery actually undergoes a process in which it is recharged from the photovoltaic panels that are part of the home storage system!

The second type of battery that you can obtain for this type of system is nickel cadmium. This is often referred to as a “NiCad” battery unit. You will likely discover that these units are quite expensive, however, they are well worth the costs overall. These types do not have to be recharged as frequently as the lead acid battery and they deliver more electrical capacity than the lead acid model. Both of these batteries are considered to be “deep cycle” batteries that are fully capable of providing an immense amount of power for long periods of time when it comes to home systems that implement the use of solar power.

Home storage systems that implement the use of solar power are quite a luxury! Not only can they assist in saving on electrical costs, but they help to reduce the amount of emissions that go into the atmosphere. In order to have a stable system, it is important to ensure that you select a battery that will be appropriate to your home’s needs. By doing so, you can literally optimize your solar home storage system for many, many years!