Every day, the Earth receives more energy from the sun than mankind uses in a year. Still, solar energy remains a tiny sliver in the global energy mix. Falling prices and better efficiency could change this, but can it happen fast enough?
When it comes to meeting energy needs, humanity has not been able to eliminate the middle man. The energy we use today comes from the sun, but we get it indirectly. Sunrays fed countless generations of plants and organisms millions of years ago, which we now use to burn to produce electricity, heat our homes, and run our cars. Its heat also strikes up the winds that we use to sail ships and run turbines. Despite our dependence on the sun, mankind has still not fully realized the potential of harnessing the suns vast energy directly.
Worldwide Importance and Future Trends
Even with steady annual growth, the International Energy Agency says solar energy - combined with wind and geothermal power - still only supplies less than one percent of the worlds energy. In Germany, the global solar market leader, solar supplies around 0.3 percent of national electricity demand; in the United States, it supplies less than 0.1 percent.
The UNs annual "Global Trends in Sustainable Development" report said that the solar sector attracted 16 percent of the 70 billion U.S. dollars invested in renewable technology in 2006 - behind wind (38 percent) and biofuels (26 percent). According to the World Energy Council, solar water heating market is growing at a rate of around 20 percent a year, and solar PV at 35 percent.
If the costs of solar technology continue to drop, it has a chance to compete with other forms of energy production. In places like sunny California, solar has already reached "grid parity," which means the costs of producing solar power are now competitive with conventional energy production even without government subsidies. Sinking production costs would allow solar power to eventually join or even replace coal, gas, and oil as a primary energy source by the end of the century, which some experts say is possible.
Global Resources and Producers
The amount of solar energy that reaches the Earths surface every 20 days exceeds the energy trapped up in all of the planets coal, oil, and natural gas reserves. The trick is finding cost-effective and efficient ways of converting this abundant resource into usable energy.
Currently, there are two main ways of doing so. Photovoltaic (PV) panels, thin pieces of crystalline silicon, transfer sunlight directly into electricity. Solar thermal collectors, on the other hand, are used to heat water for domestic or industrial use and to run steam power plants.
Germany is the worlds leading producer of PV and solar heating technology and energy. In 2006 alone, 968 Megawatts (MW) of PV was installed in Germany. Japan, which added 292 MW last year, is also an important market and exporter of PV technology. China is aggressively adding solar systems to its energy mix. The country already consumes half of all solar-heated water in the world, and aims to increase solar water heater coverage by 50 percent by 2010. China is also emerging as an important producer and consumer of PV cells, which the government is integrating in remote and urban area.
Energy Output
The energy output of photovoltaic and solar heating depends on the size location of the system. Most areas receive ample sunlight, but deserts that seldom get cloud cover are better suited for solar energy production.
Standard PV cells have an energy conversion rate of 6 to 8 percent, meaning that 6 to 8 percent of all solar power absorbed is turned into energy. Some prototypes have already achieved conversion rates of more than 40 percent, but are still too expensive for mass-market production. Solar heaters utilize solar collectors that are significantly more efficient. Current collectors turn between 60 to 70 percent of absorbed sunlight into heat.
Concentrated solar thermal systems use mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a tower, producing extremely hot temperatures to boil water or other fluids and produce steam to drive a thermal power plant. An 11 MW concentrating solar power plant was completed near Seville, Spain in March 2007. A 154 MW facility is planned in Australia, and a 500 MW system in Californias Mojave Desert.
Environmental Impact and Drawbacks
Manufacturing and installing solar systems requires energy, and as with almost any industrial activity, involves handling hazardous materials, such as arsenic and cadmium. Mass production of PV cells is sometimes marred by shortages of quality silicon. Large-scale solar power plants also take up lots of land.
Overall, however, the environmental impacts of switching to solar energy are positive. Solar heaters require significantly less fossil energy input than natural gas and electric systems. PV systems are cleaner energy producers compared to coal and oil. Greenhouse gas emissions of solar PV plant including production and installation are eight times less than that of a coal-fired plant.
The initial costs of solar heating and PV systems, however, prevent many homeowners from installing them. But falling costs and subsidies have helped sustain market growth in some countries. Like with wind turbines, another technical problem is effectively storing solar energy to provide power throughout nights and cloudy days.
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Wind power Generators
Wind power generators are a smart choice when searching for a viable alternative power resource for homes for many great reasons. They are proven to be very effective, they are very affordable, Parts for Diy ( Do It Yourself) systems are readily available most anywhere and can generally be found for under or around $200, installation and construction manuals and videos are a dime a dozens, and they only take a few days to install, they increase the resale value of your home, they save consumers thousands of dollars annually, they are very effective for addressing the environment issues that we have at present.
Electricity Production From The Wind.
Wind power is one of the most popular of home solar energy systems selected when going with an alternative power resource for homes. This type of system uses the wind to power the generator (windmills or turbines) that actually produces electrical power from a spinning motion. Typically the wind spins the turbine which generates power as it spins, then the power goes into a charge controler, which regulates the amount of the charge thats going into the battery which stores the charge that is going into it which then goes to an inverter which regulates the amount of charge coming out and on to your application, breaker box or appliance to be ran. This is the basic functioning of how the wind power generator works, it's very simple.
The Grid
Most understand the term living on or off the grid. For those who don't know what it means and how it ties into wind power generators I'll try and explain it. The grid is commonly referred to as the electricity circuit as most of us know it to be or where most everyone gets their electricity from and pay a power company every month and is considered the grid. Off the grid simply means that you either produce your own electricity by an alternative means other than conventional or perhaps although you have alternate methods and are still connected to the grid, by having alternate means of producing electricty you are getting a negative amount of electricity from the conventional way and will most probably, as a result, have the power company paying you for electricity.
Some DisAdvantages
Unfortunately with advantages comes some disadvantages with (in this case) wind powered generators. We already know most of the advantages, but some of the disadvantages are the wind itself. Considering that the wind drives the propellers on the windmills or turbine driven systems there must be adequate wind to make this type of system effective enough to warrant having it at all. No Wind No Electricity or is there. It may not be a bad idea to install solar panels to ensure that if the wind isn't spinning the propeller, which produces the electricity with the wind powered models, the mear sunlight can charge the solar panels. When running multiple turbines sound could be a factor, depending on size.
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If you're interested in home wind power, there are a few basics you will need before you get started. Using a small wind turbine is an inexpensive way for people in rural, suburban, and even urban areas to slash their electricity bills and reduce their carbon footprints. Possibilities range from using a very small wind turbine to power small appliances and equipment, to generating amounts of power large enough to eliminate your consumption of grid electricity.
Home wind power is not only good for your bills, but also good for the environment. It is simple to implement and can be installed by non-professionals using minimal tools. Many people around the world supplement the energy they get off the grid with home wind power. Some people are even able to eliminate their monthly energy bills completely! Whether you produce a little bit of energy or a lot, you can be assured of reducing your "carbon footprint" and helping to improve the environment.
Some studies estimate that about .5 percent of a country's energy expenditure could be slashed if ten percent of homes had small, inexpensive wind turbines. If you're interested in using home wind power, you first need to know the basics of how it works. You can purchase a small off-the shelf wind turbine for a low price. Or, you can elect to purchase a turbine kit that you put together yourself.
Either way, if balanced against the electricity savings, the initial expenditure is quite modest. Many people should be able to install their home wind turbines themselves, but you will need to have a basic toolkit and have a little bit of experience assembling machines or doing home electrical work. You can also pay a professional home wind power installer to set up your system in a few hours at a modest price. Home wind power works best for people in rural or low-density suburban areas.
Of course, you will need to be in a location that gets a lot of wind predictably during most of the year. People in urban areas can still cash in on the home wind power movement, but because air flow may be partially or wholly blocked by other buildings, they can expect to net a smaller amount of power.
However, the important thing to remember that when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, any amount of energy savings is worth it. A growing idea that can be implemented in urban, rural, and suburban areas is to use a very small, inexpensive wind turbine to create a battery charge that is used to run low power appliances. Although these small turbines don't produce a large amount of electricity, they still diminish the carbon footprint.
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Residential Wind Generators are generally small to medium size specially designed electrical power generators. These generators convert the energy of wind into electrical power using a low-speed generator. There are several different varieties of wind power electricity generators and designs are commercially available - as well as numerous do-it-yourself kits available for varying skill levels. For most people, it is best to hire a professional installer to size and install both the generator, and electrical interconnects.
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