Utilizing Solar Power For Residential Use
March 16th, 2010 | 
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Are you afraid to open your electric bill this summer to see how much it is costing you to keep your home comfortable and cool? With oil and natural gas prices increasing, so to is the price per kilowatt of electricity.
What can a homeowner do to reduce the electric cooling bill? One option is to raise the thermostat, at the price of comfort. Perhaps consider installing more insulation in the attic or having double pane windows installed. Each of these choices will increase the energy efficiency at considerable investment cost. However, these and many other energy efficiency options will help reduce the energy demands of the home but will not counter to rising cost of electricity.
There is a rising interest in harnessing solar power for residential use. Despite the high initial investment, the long-term savings are being touted as an efficient means of beating the high cost of electric power. Look into local, state and federal tax incentives to help reduce the investment cost.
There are two main components to a solar power system.
? Solar panels forming an solar array
? Inverter to convert the 12V or 24V DC electricity into 120V AC.
Optional components are:
? Charging controller
? Storage batteries
The battery array is charged by the solar power system. During the night or on cloudy days the batteries discharge the electricity and provide power to your home. The charging controller charges the batteries and prevents an overcharge that would shorten the lifespan of the batteries.
Storage batteries do not need to part of a residential solar power system. Any electricity that is generated and is not needed to power the home can be sold back to the electric utility company. In effect, your home becomes a mini power generating station for the electric company. How would you like to see your electric meter run backwards?
How does a solar power system work and integrate into my home’s electrical system?
Solar panels convert sunlight into electrical energy. A solar panel’s electrical output is affected by a couple factors: angle of the sun light to the solar panel, number of hours of direct sunlight, and the efficiency of the solar panel. It is interesting to note that currently available photovoltaic solar panels convert about 12 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. Although, this does not appear to be very efficient, this is a four times greater than what was available a few years ago.
Solar panels are connected into a grid often referred to as a solar array. The panels are connected electrically to increase the amperage. The solar array is mounted on the south facing side of the roof at an optimal 30 degree angle. The ideal location should be free of any obstructions such as building and trees for most if not all of the day.
If you choose to install storage battery pack. The electric lines from the photovoltaic panels will be connected to the charge controller. The storage batteries are similar, but not the same as an automotive battery. They are deep cycle batteries that can handle being charged and discharged thousands of times before the battery needs to be replaced. They are also known as sealed lead acid batteries or gel cell batteries.
The final piece is the inverter. The inverter converts the 12 volt DC electricity into usable 120 volt AC. The inverter is directly connected your home’s electric system at the main breaker box via a junction or sub panel. Inverters have been around for years in commercial applications. Now days they are most popularly used to convert 12 volt DC electricity from a car battery into 120 volt AC power.
Advantages of solar electric power
Solar power for residential use has several obvious and not so obvious advantages for the homeowner.
? After the system has paid for itself in electricity it generated that you did not need to purchase, the solar power system continues on producing free electricity for your home.
? Reduces the heat build up in the attic. Each solar panel installed on your roof will shades your roof from the sun’s infrared energy. A cooler attic reduces the amount of cooling required for a comfortable home.
? It quietly produces electricity.
? 100% renewable energy source
? Pollution free electricity production
? Most solar panels are warranted for a minimum of 25 years.
Disadvantages of solar electric power
? Replacing the roofing material creates hassle in that the solar panels must be removed from the roof while the old roofing is removed and the new one is installed.
? The high investment cost. A typical installation costs about $13,000.
? To regain your investment, you have to live in the home for several years. This depends on the amount of electricity produced and the cost per kilowatt purchased from the electric company.
It will be necessary to have a local solar power installation company design the right solar power system for your home. Carefully interview and compare each installation company before selecting the design and installation company.
A growing number of homeowners are turning toward the sun to convert its energy into clean, renewable electricity to meet the power demands of their home. Isn’t time you considered converting free sunlight into electricity for your home?
Wilhelm Williams
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/utilizing-solar-power-for-residential-use-127852.html
Posted in solar panels for homes
If you want to know how foolish the world is…just consider this:?
The sun provides enough power in one second that it could provide the entire planet with more than enough power for one day, yet societies foolishly squander and argue over oil.
Solar power IS the answer, tell me why exactly it isnt being utilized to its true capacity. 4 hours of sunlight on any given day could solve most residential power usage needs and leave ZERO carbon imprint.
Its nice to see some very intelligent responses and readers. I agree with you all and am hoping that technology will pick up the pace here soon. Its just plain stupid. Imagine…for a second…how much power has been wasted on earth since the beginning of the planet.
lots!
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Red? You would NEVER have survived in a world where you had to fend for yourself. Its not anyones responsibility to fund anything you buy, its YOUR job to work and pay for it. I think of what our settlers went through just so you could live the life you do and all I hear, day after day, is when is the govn going to give me a grant, subsidy or fund this or that.
Get off your bottom and fund it yourself, I wasnt put on this earth to support you by working overtime. Technology will advance when PEOPLE START DEMANDING and there is a proven need for it. Today is that day. Demand solar power, wind power, mad squirrel power…ANYthing!
Because solar panel technology isn’t currently very efficient at converting solar energy to electricity. The technology is improving fairly rapidly though, and soon it will be a more utilized power source.
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Am with you on that one .. i already use as much solar power i can .. but for now .. it does cost a lot man
…
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I agree that solar power is good, but it cannot yet account for all energy sources. Current solar panels are highly inefficient and can only absorb something like 10 to 40% of the solar energy. Furthermore, it would take up a massive amount of land. Likewise, wind is not constant so wind farms aren’t the solution either. You are right however about the stupidity of the oil argument. It is all because the oil industries lobby against green propositions. A combination of various green energy i.e. wind, solar, aqua, biomass, etc. could significantly reduce the amount of oil used, but current technology cannot yet eliminate the use of oil
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Oil is cheaper in the short run. It would take a lot of time and effort to convert to solar power, and right now there is no one in office who is willing to shoulder the load. Doing it individually is great, but it is spendy. I am all for it however, and for anyone who is reading this I would suggest converting to solar power. The price isn’t that bad (most states give nice tax breaks), and you are taking a positive step to improving our environment.
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I cannot add much more than what Dana stated, other than something to support his comment.
If you haven’t noticed, 40-45% efficiency solar cells are the newest and best technology for obtaining solar energy.
I am in total agreement that we need to start utilizing it, but we need to pump up the research funds for technology of solar energy collection and storage.
It may end up being, that more than one system of renewable energy processing will have to be coupled together to obtain better efficiency, and that is what we need to fund rather than oil based technologies.
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The problem with solar power is collection of radiant energy. Photovoltaic cells aren’t very efficient. Focusing sunlight to boil water to make steam to power turbines is also inefficient. It requires huge mirrors or lenses to focus the radiant energy of the sun.
The other problems with the use of radiant energy is what does one do on a cloudy day? You might say have battery back-up but batteries are going to last only for so long. Several days of rain, say for instance and your batteries would go dead before they could be recharged. Some might say, "ok then put the power plants in deserts or something." That would mean long transmission lines to some areas (say people who live in the wetlands). These long lines would require very high voltage and current to reach their destinations with enough power ( power = voltage X current) to run a load like a coffee maker. It’s not "undoable" using solar power it’s just not the complete answer to all of our energy woes.
For some interesting reading see Tom Beardens website. also google the Cassimir effect. Some will say the zero point energy may be a viable solution. Some say not. Dr. Bearden says he ahs patented several devices that tap the energy of the vacuum. He shows proof that some of these patents have been seized by the the US government "for national security reasons"
Another promising design to check out is to google MYT. This engine has promising applications. it’s an improved Wankel engine. Imagine powering a city the size of Houston with an engine that weighs 1000 lbs, produces 17, 000 hp to turn a generator. Imagine an engine that weighs 150lbs, produces 850 hp! and gets 150 miles to the gallon while producing 1/8 the pollution!!!–the MYT engine
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No one uses solar because solar cells are so expensive. We looked into putting solar on the house roof to "sell electricity back to the grid" and it was going to be $40,000. It would take 40 years to make up for the cost. Until we get a realistic Federal funding program to back up energy saving efforts by citizens and businesses we are going to be at the mercy of the big oil companies. (which also profit from higher electric bills, because electricity is generated mostly by oil, gas and coal.)
Could having a Texas oil man as president have anything to do with it…?
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because people are lazy, I really cant see why people in cities need cars, they can walk to most places, and use a bike to the rest
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reduce, reuse, & recycle
clean road sides
use natural toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, dish liquid, etc.
ride a bike to places you want to go (in a reasonible distance)
go vegan
http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp…
The world is foolish indeed . What about yourself Are you foolish as well ? Do you have solar panels or are you one of the people on hear pointing the finger at everyone saying we should do this and that . Me I’m building my own panels from from junk cells . I have a few pics in my blog how i do it cheap but i am doing something besides crying about what nobody is doing .
One good way to get more solar out there would be instant lottery tickets . I would love to win $ 20 thousand or so in solar panels . We just have to think of ways that the public would pay for it and have fun doing it . The governments to damn slow or they have something better in mind there not telling us . I cant believe there just sitting back doing nothing
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How will you harness this power? Theory is much different than the facts as they exist.
Solar powerelectric panel, use silicon to convert the sun’s energy to useable electricity. Silison can be a toxic, nasty susbstance which today would require good old fossil (old fossil…get it?) fuel to produce.
Solar electric panels would have to cover the earth’s surface in order to power half the world’s population.
So, although there are benefits to, say passive solar power, using it to power a toaster, or your car, is a tad more complicated.
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