SOLAR PRODUCTS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

The earth receives about 1,366 watts of direct solar radiation per square meter.

A poll last fall by the Gotham Research Group, commissioned by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), found that 75 percent of Americans in various regions, demographics and political parties approve of utility-scale solar plants on public lands

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy State Information


By getting solar panels you do your part in reducing CO2 emissions and decrease global warming, ensuring a healthy and livable atmosphere for future generations.

Adding solar panels to an average home which pays $130 per month for electricity, would eliminate approximately 361 tons of CO2, 1324 lbs of NOx, 1838 lbs of SO2, 45 lbs of PM, 19 lbs of VOC, and 163 lbs of CO. That is equivalent to taking approximately, 63 automobiles off of the road, or planting 1060 trees.

Solar Energy Fact Sheets
Informative Facts about Solar Energy

What is "solar" energy?

Very often there is confusion about the various methods used to harness the sun's abundant and clean energy. Energy from the sun can be categorized in two ways: (1) in the form of heat (or thermal energy), and (2) in the form of light energy.

Solar thermal technologies use the sun's heat energy to heat substances (such as water or air) for applications such as space heating, pool heating and water heating for homes and businesses. There are a variety of products on the market that utilize thermal energy. Often the products used for this application are called solar thermal collectors and can be mounted on the roof of a building or in some other sunny location. The sun's heat can also be used to produce electricity on a large utility-scale by converting the sun's heat energy into mechanical energy.

Photovoltaics (PV) is a technology often confused with solar thermal and is in fact what many people mean when they refer to "solar energy". Photovoltaics (photo=light, voltaics=electricity) is a semiconductor-based technology (similar to the microchip) which converts light energy directly into an electric current that can either be used immediately or stored, such as in a battery, for later use. PV panels/modules are very versatile and can be mounted in a variety of sizes and applications; e.g. on the roof or awning of a building, on roadside emergency phones or as very large arrays consisting of multiple panels/modules. Currently they are being integrated into building materials (such as PV shingles, which replace conventional roofing shingles).

Solar Water Heaters Now Mandatory In Hawaii
Hawaii has made alternative energy history as the first state where new homes are legally required to install solar water heaters. The bill was signed into law by Governor Linda Lingle. It requires the energy-saving systems in homes starting in 2010. It prohibits issuing building permits for single-family homes that do not have solar water heaters.

Proponents of solar water heaters said they can save you about $1,000 a year on your utility bill.

"It is inevitable. We are going to build green. The entire construction industry -- at some point in time -- is going to be green. So we may as well accept what is coming our way and embrace it because we are going green," Homeworks Construction Marc Dawson said.


The photovoltaic roof shingles on this townhouse operate independently of utility service, serving as a "home energy security system" in the event utility power is lost. Embedded in these roof shingles are advanced, high-efficiency PV cells.


This solar boat is used mostly on lakes. Under good sunshine the boat can be powered totally by solar energy and it can be driven by humans when sunlight is insufficient. The advantage of the solar boat is absence of batteries.


One of nine solar electric energy generating systems at Kramer Junction, California,

The largest solar electric generating plant in the world produces a maximum of 354 megawatts (MW) of electricity and is located at Kramer Junction, California. This solar energy generating facility, shown below, produces electricity for the Southern California Edison power grid supplying the greater Los Angeles area.

The solar collectors concentrate sunlight to heat a heat transfer fluid to a high temperature. The hot heat transfer fluid is then used to generate steam that drives the power conversion subsystem, producing electricity.

Every creature except man has solar energy
as its sole energy source.

U.S. Solar Energy (Direct Normal Solar Radiation)


"Install a solar roof and during your lifetime you could prevent 34 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Solar PV generated power could provide 10,000 times more energy than the world currently uses."
- Solar Century

"We need to use available resources and technologies to make solar energy the backbone of the electricity network."
- Abdullah Juma

A patch of 100 square miles of open space covered with efficient solar panels such as in Nevada, where sun rays are powerful, could generate all the electrical power needs of the United States. - National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Solar Is No. 1: A new, untitled report from the Worldwatch Institute reports that solar energy has surpassed wind power generation to become the world's fastest-growing energy source. The report shows that sales of solar cells increased more than 40%, compared to wind power's growth of 25%. However, while there is a total of about 800 MW of solar power capacity in place around the world (enough to meet the yearly energy needs of 200,000 U.S. homes), wind power capacity totals about 7,630 MW (enough to fuel 1.9 million homes). Perhaps more importantly, world solar markets are growing at ten times the rate of the oil industry, whose sales have expanded at just 1.4% per year since 1990. Worldwatch predicts that "solar energy may now join computers and telecommunications as a leading growth industry in the 21st century."

In Japan, housing companies have introduced homes with silicon roof tiles that generate enough electricity to meet most of a family's annual needs and have already installed 10,000." - Worldwatch


SOLAR MAX - Your Guide To The Year of The Active Sun



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