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.

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.

The United States of America is not the only country that is planning to advance energy property. Green collar jobs are also in-demand in Europe and Asia. Although a typical solar company builds technology and pilots plant designs in US, they build real plants in other continents, taking advantage of the heightened demand for renewable energy sources with excellent tax advantage benefits. To date, there are approximately thousands of solar dealers and installers in the country. With still limited competition for solar jobs, now is the best time to get into various solar training when vying for the solar job that you wanted. Thankfully, there are a number of training courses that are specifically targeted for solar job trainings.

Solar training courses or trainings given for solar job qualifications provide essential industry insights to those who are interested in breaking into the solar industry. Training sessions include design and installation, hands-on manufacture training, solar business and project finance management, and sales and marketing strategies.

The following are just some of the available solar training sessions or courses available in the country:

• Photovoltaic design and installation – this refers to the workshop taken by people who wanted to learn the proper installation of various solar power generation and distribution equipment using state-of-the-art technologies. It may tackle about the technical skills required in installing the 3 types of solar-electric systems and hands-on installation of PV Lab yard.

• PV Design – trains people how to design a complete solar electric power system. It typically relies on reading materials. Learning PV designs may be done by taking online courses.

• Grid-Tied PV Design – if you are particularly focused in handling battery-less grid-tied solar systems, this is the right solar training course to take.

• Advanced PV Design with design criteria and NEC compliance – this refers to an advanced PV workshop that usually follows the PV design and installation course. Its special focus is working in compliance to the National Electric Code (NEC). This kind of solar training program may be taken in traditional workshop setup or within the comfort of your home through the Internet.

• PV Lab – typically offers the ultimate hands-on training to handling PV Lab yard as participants are given the opportunity to install and wire solar power systems, from the complicated grid-tied type to the simple stand-alone type, and equipment

• Other training programs include solar sales, marketing, and economics. Aside from solar power generation, marketing solar power is equally important. This portion of solar training programs are teaching its participants the ways on how to setup a solid and effective team that will manage and regulate the operations cost as maximum yield. The important point of this training is to teach people how to avoid marketing mistakes and increase sales in the solar industry by giving the most accurate financial cases for the value of PV systems.

The fruits of the solar market have long been shelved and determined of its great potential. Today, with the advent of green collar jobs or jobs related to planet-saving programs such as the quest for tapping renewable sources of energy through solar training courses, integrators, general contractors, welders, electricians, roofers, architects, engineers and building managers can take advantage of the opportunities that the current government is proposing. Wouldn’t it be nice to get an excellent paying job that also contributes to the preservation of the planet?

Participating in various solar training programs allows people to take steps to go green and make a career change. By learning the ways of the technologies used in tapping solar power and in learning how to go along with solar economy, you can easily target and impress the key leaders and hiring managers of your target green-economy companies and organizations.

Solar Job Training

Ancient civilizations have the heat coming from the sun was used to preserve food and keep homes warm, simple technologies that are still used until today. Through the centuries of honing solar energy’s potential of becoming a dependable energy source, man has developed and refined a number of technologies used in converting and utilizing solar energy as the inexhaustible, accessible and pollution-free alternative to traditional energy sources.

Early beginnings

The earliest period of solar power history discusses on how the ancient Greeks and Romans have developed and used passive solar designs in their approach to ancient architecture. They were the ones who have considered using the sun’s capacity to light and keep indoor spaces warm. The Romans have advanced their building art by covering face of south facing buildings with mica or glass to hold in the heat of the winter sun. The calculated use of solar energy in building early Greek and Roman buildings then replaced the need to burn wood to keep warm, which then were of limited supply.

Solar Power in the Modern Era

The concept of the first solar collector was introduced in the year 1767, which is invented by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. The concept made way for the development of the beginnings of the technology used in trapping heat by using glass. Through the years, this technology was further improved resulting to the implementation of new methods of utilizing and storing solar energy or solar power. It made way for the development of the very first solar water heating device, which used solar thermal energy to boil water inside a glass box setup.

With the discovery of Selenium in 1817, man has achieved another milestone in solar power history. Sunlight was discovered to amplify the conductivity of the element Selenium resulting to the production of electrical current. This discovery has opened the doors of the early study of photovoltaics. In 1839, a French physicist named Edmond Becquerel made a demonstration on photovoltaic activity. He discovered that the electrical current in certain materials can be increased when exposed to sunlight. By 1861, Auguste Mouchout invented the first active solar motor. He developed a solar powered steam engine; however, the invention was doomed by its high costs as well as by the then falling price of coal.

Through the 19th century, developing new technologies in collecting and utilizing solar energy continued to become the subject of a number of European scientists. They have developed a cone-shaped device that was designed to collect solar energy to boil ammonia and perform mechanisms similar to locomotion and refrigeration. In the case of France and England, this interest was driven by the hope of sustaining their growing operations by using their sunny colonies in Africa and East Asia.

In the United States, a Swedish-born scientist initiated the efforts in harnessing solar energy. John Ericsson’s parabolic trough collector presented a more efficient solar energy collecting device.

Albert Einstein’s Nobel Prize-winning research on photoelectric effect further explained Edmond Becquerel’s work and introduced a phenomenon centering on the generation of solar power through solar cells, which guided the scientists in refining early solar cell designs and technologies. During the 1950s, AT&T labs managed to create 6% efficient silicon solar cells. By 1956, solar photovoltaic cells were created. However, earlier versions of photovoltaic cells were used by Vanguard I, the first solar-powered man-made orbiting vehicle in space. In 1960, the Hoffman Electronics marked another milestone in solar power history by increasing solar cell efficiencies by 14%. The percentage of solar cell efficiencies refers to the capacity of the solar cell to convert usable electricity out of the total amount of solar energy that hits its surface.

The prominence of the study on solar energy and solar power systems did not happen until 1973 with the Arab Oil embargo, which demonstrated the degree of dependency of Western economy to fossil fuel energy sources. As one of the solutions to diversifying the country’s energy sources, The US government then started investing heavily on companies developing solar electric cell systems such as the Bell laboratories. Thanks to the massive subsidies that the government put in the research and development of solar power systems, solar photovoltaic costs have dramatically dropped and have eventually become competitive with fossil fuel sources. Now, with the dwindling supply and skyrocketing costs of fossil fuels, solar power comes as the best and cheapest alternative energy source. Hence, the future milestones in solar power history will open up more possibilities for the renewable and limitless energy provided freely by the sun.

• Solar energy is one of the few renewable sources of energy currently available

• Compared to more common forms of energy, solar energy is the cleanest source

• Solar energy is most commonly used to provide electricity, but can also be used for heating as well.

• With the increasing oil prices, the demand for solar energy is increasing greatly.

Facts About Solar Energy Usage

• Solar energy is measured in kilowatt hours.

• One kilowatt hour is equal to 1000 watts.

• One kilowatt hour is the same amount of energy required to burn a 100 watt light bulb for about ten hours

• The average home run on solar electricity uses about 866 kilowatt hours per month

• The average cost of running a home on solar power is about $70, which is much less than typical homes run on electricity

• About 30% of the energy used in a home is for heating purposes, and solar energy can heat buildings and water at a much cheaper rate

• The earth receives more energy from the sun in an hour than the entire planet uses in a whole year

Facts About Solar Energy Systems

• A home that is run on solar power will consist of solar panels, a battery, an inverter, a charge controller, as well as wiring and a support structure for all of the materials.

• It costs about $10,000 to install a solar powered structure on a home, and takes about two days from start to finish.

• Homes that are run on solar power can receive incentives from the government for using a clean source of power that is environmentally friendly.

• The average home run on solar power will consist of approximately ten to twelve solar panels, and requires at least 100 square feet for installation

• Homes that use solar power as a main source of electricity can prevent over 300 pounds of C02 from being released into the atmosphere each month.

• Solar powered homes can also save 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month, since water can be heated faster when using a solar powered heater.

• Solar powered homes can receive electricity twenty four hours a day, even during cloudy weather or when the sun isn’t out. This is due to a battery, which can store excess power from the sun until it is needed.

General Facts About The Sun

• Sunlight travels to earth in about 8 seconds, travelling over 186000 miles per second

• The sun is located approximately 93,000,000 miles away from earth.

• Solar power is not only important for providing electricity, but also is responsible for weather patterns and ocean currents.

• Clouds, pollution, and many other factors can prevent the sun from reaching the earth, which can eventually cause problems with solar powered homes and electronics.

Another of the solar energy advantages is that it is a completely quiet energy source. The solar panels used to convert sunlight into usable energy are completely silent, so powering a home is a completely silent process. They don’t cause any damage to our planet when installed and gas-guzzling machines are not required when using solar energy.

Unlike oil, solar energy is a non-polluting source of energy. This is one of the most important solar energy advantages, since the planet will not be damaged by the use of sunlight as energy. Pollution results from burning oil, which can in return cause global warming due to increased greenhouse gases. Decreasing these gases and using clean fuel sources can keep the planet healthy for a longer period of time, making it a healthier place for everyone to live.

Although solar energy can have steep initial setup costs, money can be saved in the long run when using solar energy. Solar energy panels are sturdy and don’t have moving parts, so they require little maintenance and can last for a long time. Since energy from the sun doesn’t have to be paid for, the cost of using solar energy is very little. With the rising cost of oil occurring, using solar energy as a first choice energy source will cost less since supply will never run out.

Changing to solar energy is an easy process, since there are many different solar powered lighting fixtures that are easy to install and can replace existing fixtures. Solar powered products don’t require any detailed wiring or an outlet nearby, since they get their electricity directly from the sunlight that comes from the sky.

There are only a few disadvantages that come along with using solar energy, but the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages. Solar energy cannot be created when the sun is blocked or gone for the night, but this problem can be solved with the use of batteries that can actually store solar energy. Also, the installation and set up costs of making a home dependent on solar power can be expensive, but money will actually be saved in the long run when solar energy is used as the main source for providing electricity.

Overall, there are many great solar energy advanges. It is a renewable and clean source of energy, and can save those who use it lots of money in the long run. All solar powered products and accessories are easy and dependable, and won’t cause any damage to the planet we all call home. The price of solar energy will not increase over the years, since getting usable energy from the sun is a free process that only requires the right tools.

Energy from the sun can be used in a number of different ways, ranging from being able to provide electricity to a home to being able to heat an entire building any time of the year. Solar power that is used for electricity purposes comes directly from the sun, and is then changed into usable electricity with the use of solar panels. The electricity created from the solar panels can be used to power practically anything in a typical household, ranging from kitchen appliances to a child’s nightlight.

This is how solar power works for direct conversion to electricity. Solar panels, which are also known as photovoltaic panels absorb sunlight. The solar panels are made of a semi-conducting material, which in most cases is silicon. Once the sunlight is absorbed by the silicon, the electrons are knocked loose from their atoms which cause them to flow through the solar panels to create usable electricity. This process is known as the photovoltaic effect, and occurs when light is converted into electricity with the use of solar panels.

Because homes need electricity even when the sun is gone, solar energy can be stored in a battery as direct current electricity. The electricity stored in the battery will supply a home even when the sun isn’t out, and then refills with sunlight the following day. If more electricity is being produced then needed and the battery is full, the usable solar power can actually be exported into a utility grid as long as the home is hooked up to one. This will ensure a home will have enough electricity even when the battery is empty, in the event of a cloudy day or other natural occurrence that blocks the sunlight for an extended period of time.

In the event that a home’s battery and utility grid are empty, a local electricity company will be ready to supply electricity to the homes that need it. The homeowners must pay for the supplied energy when their solar power isn’t working, but they can also be paid for any additional solar energy that is left in the utility grid once the month is over.

Solar energy can also be used to warm water, which in most cases is used for home pools. The water is heated by the sun with the use of solar thermal collectors, which actually absorb the heat from the sun’s rays and transfers the hot energy into the pool. Solar thermal collectors can also be used to heat a large building, and works by converting the sun’s energy into hot air.

This is a simple explanation for how solar power works. The basic concepts are fairly easy to grasp. Solar energy is used all over the globe, and is a cheap (in the long run) and clean way to provide electricity and heat to those who need it.