Solar Power Facts

A few simple facts about solar power as new knowledge about the technology develop each day

. One ignored fact is that in one hour of the shining sun, there is enough energy to satisfy global energy needs for a full year. So you might ask, why is there less than one percent produced today?

For one thing, solar power is expensive, however with tax incentives solar energy can pay for itself in less than five to ten years when you figure in the savings on your utilities. When you look at their past figures that said it took twenty to thirty years to pay for them, five to ten sound very reasonable.

The photovoltaic cells or solar panels are on many items that are very familiar to most people. The familiar types are on rooftops, but youll also find them on handheld calculators, and even spacecraft. The photovoltaic cells are made of semiconductor materials similar to computer chips. When the sun hits the cells, it knocks electrons from their atoms, and that generates electricity.

Solar thermal power plants have several techniques to turn the suns energy intoheat sources. That heat boils water that drives a steam turbine and electricity is generated similar to coal and nuclear power plants. That source is capable of sending electric to thousands of people.

Another type focus the sunlight on a pipe of oil and the hot oil boils water for electricity. Moveable mirrors can focus the suns rays onto a collector tower with the receiver. Molten salt flows through the receiver and runs the generator.

There are passive solar technologies like large windows on the sunny side of a building that allows the sunlight to heat absorbent materials that are on the floor or walls. The heat then releases the heat during the night and the building remains warm. Plates on the roof will heat liquid in tubes and supplies houses with hot water.

One problem with solar power, it does not work at night, but with a storage battery where the energy is stored, that problem is solved.

Solar energy continues to grow by about 20 percent a year mainly because of the falling prices and the fact that they are now more efficient. The one fact that is hard to dismiss is that to create electricity for large cities you need large areas of land.

However for homeowners who want to be self sufficient and free from the rising cost of utilities, solar power appears the way to go.

by: Jennifer Jarvis

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