Madison Greene asked:


Like most people you probably know that now more than ever we need to find alternative energy sources. Solar, nuclear and wind power are all viable options, but solar power is the most popular alternate energy source for residential homes.

Beyond knowing that it turns the sun’s rays into electricity, do you really know how it all works? If you’re interested in learning more about solar energy and are considering having it installed in your home, call a company that sets up solar panels start asking them questions.

You can also use the internet to research what solar energy is, find out how much it costs, the pros and cons of having it and you can even learn how it all works. If after learning what solar power is all about, and you decide that it’s for you, start pricing around and set up your home for solar capabilities so that you never have to pay another dime to the electric companies.

What Is Solar Power? Solar Cells

Solar cells are one of the first things you’ll learn about in your quest for finding out more about solar power. Solar cells are plates that look like they’re made of tinted glass.

These cells are set up on your roof or on special platforms and they are the plates that actually catch the sun’s rays. In order to power an entire home, it may be necessary to cover your entire roof with these cells.

It all depends on how much energy you need. Installing these solar cells can cost quite a bit of money but it’s a one time cost that will save you money in the long run.

Just make sure that you are going to be living in your home for the next several years. Also, you may need to repair or replace cells as time goes on so you should also save for these unexpected costs.

What Is Solar Power? Converter Boxes

Also, in your quest to find out what solar energy is, you’ll learn about the converter boxes that transform the energy from the sun’s rays into actual electricity. This is how you power your home, or whatever else you intend to power with solar panels.

These are the heart of the solar power system and can also set you back quite a bit financially. These converters can also hold a charge, which means they will store the energy you don’t use so that you can use electricity even if no sun is shining, such as at night.

As you find out more and more what solar power is, you should get a good idea of whether or not solar energy is for you. Ask as many sources as you can and make sure you’re not being sold by anyone because they may not give you such an honest answer if they are just trying to get you to buy something from them.

Do your own research, read all you can and learn about what solar power is from the experts. That is the best way to find out about this technology and it’s the best way to make a decision of whether or not solar energy is for you and your home.

Electric Cars Video Channel

Tim Phelan asked:

Solar energy has been around for quite a while and most people
don’t think about it much except for the ones who are already
into renewable sources of energy. Environmentalists have always
loved the idea of solar energy but what has kept it from going
more mainstream, being more widely used and looked upon as
something someone wants to spend money to install on their
property? There have been improvements in the technology of
solar energy, but has there been enough? Isn’t the war on terror
and the desire to be independent of foreign energy sources
enough to persuade people to use solar energy? At what point
will solar energy become the great and never ending source of
energy many of envisioned many years ago?

Well, I, for one, think that the time has just about come for
solar energy to really take off because of one reason: it will
be economically the right and smart thing to do.

Last year I was driving to Las Vegas from San Jose and when I
was just about three quarters of the way to my destination I
passed a sign that said something about a “solar farm.” I
glanced over and saw row upon row of solar panels sitting in the
middle of the dessert. This is about the only farm that could
survive in the dessert I thought to myself. Then I thought ”
Wow. Why can’t I do that?”

In a smaller fashion of course
because of my limited resources. But I thought why not rent some
land and buy some of these panels and start my own little farm?
It made sense and actually it still makes sense to me.

I went home later and looked into the solar energy industry. I
wanted to see if this was possible now and I thought if these
people put all those panels out in the dessert and sold the
energy to others why can’t a small businessman?

Well, what I found out is that it isn’t quite possible to do
just yet. Why? Because the cost of the panels, property, labor
etc.. wasn’t low enough to make a profit for what you can sell
the energy for. The solar farm was more than likely subsidized
by the government. So I looked into the possibility of using
them on homes. This thought has been around for decades and you
do see the panels on more homes than you used to so I was
wondering if this was possible now. I found out that it just
takes too long for the average consumer to get their investment
back to consider putting solar panels on their homes.

The average time for a homeowner to get the money back on their
investment is anywhere from 12 years to 20 years. For this
industry to take off that figure I believe will have to go down
to around 5 to 7. Not that far really. It could actually go
below that.

Three things have to happen for the solar energy promise to
become a reality and for homeowners and entrepreneurs to decide
in large numbers to use solar panels to create electricity:
1. The price of the panels will have to decrease. 2. The panels
will have to improve and produce more energy. 3. The cost of
energy will have to increase.

Actually just one of these factors can happen to a great degree
and the other two stay constant and the point will be reached
where the solar energy industry will explode. But more than
likely, all three will come closer together and at some point
people will decide to start buying the panels in record numbers
and we will see this way of creating energy from a clean and
renewable source be common place.

Here is why I think the time is very near for this explosion to
happen.

1. There is a bill in the state legislature in California now
that will spend on rebates for solar energy. The
governor wants to show that he is in the front of this movement
and wants to be aggressive. Some don’t like the way the bill is
written, but there is a good chance it will pass. Click here for the
article

2. The panels are becoming more and more efficient at producing
more energy.

3. The price may go down dramatically if contracts with China to
produce the panels are put into place. Normally I don’t like our
jobs going oversees to people who only get fractions of what the
US worker makes but in this instance it will also create many
jobs here to install the panels, sell them, warehouse them
etc… Plus this is something the country needs I feel. Clean,
renewable energy that makes us less reliable on foreign oil and
gases.

Also, some companies are producing these new generation flexible
solar energy panels that come in sheets and can be rolled up and
then out onto surfaces. These may bring the cost way down and
make the instalation much more easy and cost efficient.

At what point will these three variables merge?
I predict in the next two to three years this industry will take
off like so many of us were hoping it would many years ago.

People can act now, and many already are by buying and
installing these solar panels. With the war on terror looking
like it could last decades many look upon this investment as not
only a clean green solution and a smart investment on increasing
the value of their home, but as almost a patriotic gesture in a
way to free us from the dependence on middle eastern oil and
natural gas.

Wave Power Video Channel

Joseph Then asked:


The fact is that the cost of energy keeps rising, and alone is forcing people to look the other direction for cheaper alternatives to energy. Solar energy has been one of the alternatives that people have found to have cheaper energy. Solar energy offers one more than one advantage, but it also has its limitations.

Solar energy is controlling the sun to create energy. The sun is a renewable source of energy. It is available to everybody around the world, and through research people have found a way to capture the energy of the sun and put it to use.

To use solar energy, one has to find a way to capture energy. This is where solar panels come in. Solar panels collect the energy of the sun. That energy that is collected may be converted to power or it may be stored and used later.

If you are collecting the sun’s energy, it is important that you have a storage unit. The reason being is that the sun is not around on rainy days to produce energy for those that require and depend on it. At night and also on cloudy days, the sun and also its power are not always available. In order to have an effective and efficient energy unit it is important that there is a way that the energy that it collects is stored and not used immediately, but may be used later.

There will definitely be times that you will require a backup source. One needs to have constant energy supplied by the sun if they are dependent on it. Again, it is important to have an energy unit that is able to collect and store energy. This will require when the sun is available but is not strong enough to produce the required amount of energy that is needed by those that depend on it.

A known reason why people use solar energy is to provide heat. The transformation that involves heating is little energy, and this means it is a perfect way to use solar energy. A common use for the energy is for cooling. However, using solar energy for this can be expensive. This method involves phases and changes that consumes the energy and then cools it down.

Another reason people are using solar energy is that it can be converted into electricity. There are many countries that suffer from blackouts, and instead of using a generator they have turned to solar energy. Solar energy can power any electrical device just like electricity.

Photovoltaic cells converts solar energy to electricity. Photovoltaic cells are able to generate 32.3% electricity, and this generation rate is better than the generation of ordinary electricity. The thing is that the technology that is available to allow the generation rate of an average photovoltaic cell is 15%, and this makes its efficiency quite low compared to the way electricity is generated normally.

Technology will improve and the use of solar energy and being used for electricity will be a real idea. Solar energy will soon be playing a major part in the generation of electricity.

Bio Fuel Video Channel