Alexander Brody asked:

More and more people in the USA and worldwide are thinking about the possibility of installing an alternative energy system to power their homes. The most popular choices among home owners are solar power systems and wind energy systems. The preferred choice depends on your location: there is no point in installing a solar panel in a place where it won’t get enough sunlight! However, for most locations, solar energy is a better choice (and it can always be complemented by a wind turbine, just in case!)

Solar generators produce electricity using so-called solar cells or photovoltaic cells, which convert the energy of sunlight to electric energy by the photovoltaic effect. These devices have been developing rapidly over the past few decades, and now solar power systems are much cheaper and more efficient than it was just ten years ago. From the economical viewpoint, it is certainly very feasible to install a residential power generator as a supplemental energy source to cut on electricity costs. Moreover, solar power may be even more economical for you, because many states and regions offer substantial incentives to consumers such as tax breaks or direct rebates.

Why choose solar electricity for your home? Besides obvious economical considerations, it has the following benefits:

- Clean. It doesn’t require burning fossil fuels and doesn’t produce greenhouse gases.

- Plentiful. The solar power is truly unlimited for any practical purposes. The amount of energy radiated by the Sun that reaches Earth each minute is more than the yearly energy consumption of the entire planet.

- Easy to install and use. Solar panels don’t require complex and expensive maintenance after they are installed.

Overall, installing your own home solar power system is definitely a great way to cut back on your electricity costs and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Solar power

Bryan Wong asked:

Most power plants in the United States and all over world are using fossil fuels to operate and generate electricity. They have been used as an energy source as long as man has learned to generate power. These traditional fuel sources have been around for ages and when man started using this energy sources no one though about the consequences. Fossil fuels will eventually run out and there will be a shortage of it in near future. This shortage in will have its affect on our daily live and various industries. Today we see some of these affects already, prizes are raising and electricity is becoming more expensive. Although these fuels are more scares, the need will still be here and will not decrease in near future. To solve this shortage we will need to look for other possibilities for our energy demand.

Fortunately, alternative energy sources are growing in interest. For instance, locations with high water falls are experimenting on building a hydro-electric power plant, which turns out to be successful. Other locations with high wind speed make use of a power wind mills that can convert wind power into electricity. Also thermal and tidal powers are good alternatives.

Solar energy is also one of the energy sources that is gaining in interest. This form of energy has steadily been growing. Today it is widely used in the US and other parts of the world and the advantages are numerous. Our solar energy source, the sun, its life span is estimated to be another 4.5 billion years. It is fair to say that this energy source is almost endless.

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Anna Hart asked:


Solar energy is a potential source of free electricity and water heating. It offers the power to enjoy electrical power in remote areas of the world. It seems to offer health and safety along with power, but does it?

Solar energy health risks are seldom mentioned. That may be partially due to the limited use of this source of energy. It may also be due to the lack of research in this area. Some have begun to study solar energy health risks, however, and if one researches long enough, a few estimates are available.

Thermal Solar Energy Health Risks

Solar energy health risks are inherent to the design and installation of most thermal energy systems. These are the systems designed to heat water and air for household use.

Solar water heaters complete three basic operations before delivering hot water to your faucet or your heating unit:

1. collect sunlight and convert it into heat energy.
2. circulate fluids that transfer the heat energy to a storage unit
3. store the hot water until you need it

The solar energy health risks with such a system usually occur in the storage units. Some units allow for the growth of allergenic molds and fungi.

If proper materials are used for the storage unit, however, these solar energy systems present few, if any, health risks. Their advantages are that they are far safer than most fossil fuels or nuclear power – they have no emissions and do not pollute the air.

PV Panel Solar Energy Health Risks

The solar energy health risks associated with photovoltaic (PV) panels occurs before the panels are put into use on the consumer’s home. PV panels are the panels used to collect solar energy from sunlight and convert it into usable electricity.

The manufacture of PV panels requires the use of toxic materials. Silicon dioxide is mined from sand or quartzite and reduced with heat to pure silicon. Materials released during refining are the main health risks. Several steps in forming the photovoltaic cells utilize toxic materials. These are sprayed on the cells, and can readily be inhaled.

It is estimated that solar energy health risks associated with producing PV panels per unit energy may be between 11 and 21 deaths per quadrillion joules of energy produced.

Solar energy health risks from PV panels are very slight once the panels are produced and installed on the consumer’s home. This type of solar energy is known for reliability and low maintenance. The home owner seldom needs to be involved in any repairs, and thereby cuts solar energy health risks.

Passive Solar Energy Health Risks

Passive solar energy provides safety and health. A new building that maximizes this technology can reduce energy costs by nearly one half. How?

1. Warming indoor air in a house through vertical, slanted windows facing the sun. The windows capture maximum solar energy from the sunlight.

2. Collecting solar energy in adobe or stone walls and floors, and then releasing it into the air as the temperature falls.

3. Collecting solar energy in a sun space, much like a greenhouse built on the sunny side of the home. This heat is sent into the home with proper ventilation.

4. Holding water in black roof tanks until needed, cutting the working time of the home’s hot water heater.

5. Using clerestories – rows of windows near roof peaks that catch sunlight and bounce it through the building. The sunlight reduces the need for electric lights.

In Summary

Solar energy technologies present few, if any, health risks for the end user. Their use can reduce the health risks presented by other energy sources, providing cleaner, safer, more cost effective energy.

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Bryan Wong asked:


When the electrical utility bill is increasing each and every month you can do a few things. You can cry and pull out your hair; refuse to pay and get cut off and have no utilities; you could work harder and more hours each month to keep up the rising costs; or you could invest in other alternative sources of energy to cut the electrical utility bill. One of these alternative sources of energy is solar energy. And indeed, you will need to invest that means putting in your own (or borrowed) money, but the investment can make a huge difference for now and many years to come.
Solar energy is derived from the power emitted by the sun to produce energy. The sun emits enough energy on the Earth in one day to supply the needs of the world for one year. The amount of solar power that the Earth receives from the sun is estimated to be 770 trillion kilowatts or an amount 5,000 times bigger than the sum of all energy resources we are using, may it be nuclear, geothermal, or gravitational energy. The estimated remaining life of the sun is around 4.5 billion years.
Solar power is produced primarily through the use of photovoltaic cells, or commonly known as the solar cells. The process of converting solar power into electricity is as follows: The solar cells are placed under direct sunlight. The rays of the sun hits the cells initiating a chemical reaction that creates an electric current. This current is later turned into electricity.
There are two classification of solar power: passive solar and active solar. The first classification does not make use of panel systems or other moving mechanisms to produce solar power. Instead, it involves planning a structure in such a way that it can capture the rays of the sun with windows, tanks, and other permanent structure. This system can be used to provide heat to houses, water, and so on.
The second classification involves the solar panels or the group of solar cells. These panels are placed in such away that its exposure to the sunlight is maximized. It will convert sunlight to electricity, which is transformed later on from direct current (DC) electricity to alternate current (AC) electricity, and consumed it immediately or store it in batteries. It may be also fed into the grid system of the local utility.
The Pros and Cons of Solar Power
There are some disadvantages of using solar power. These are the following:

Initial costs on installation of solar power systems can be quite expensive.
Cloudy weather condition can be a problem in collecting solar power for some systems.
If you live in area where there is little sun shine this will be a problem.
Solar power can not be produced at night.

There are numerous advantages of using solar power. These are enumerated in the following items:

Solar power is almost limitless. Remember that the remaining life span of the sun is estimated to be 4.5 billion years.
It is relatively abundant.
It can be absorbed, reflected, transmitted, and insulated.
It can be stored in batteries for night time use.

Using solar power is not only a solid investment for years to come it also saves the environment. Thus this investment is not doesn’t only saves you money but you making this world a better place to live in for years to come. Investing in solar power is worth your money, don’t overlook the potential.

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Wilhelm Williams asked:

There are two main types of solar power, solar thermal and photovoltaic. Solar thermal uses the sun light’s infrared energy to either heat a liquid or to warm a mass of material that will later on release its stored heat. Harnessing solar thermal energy involves building a house in such a way to collect the sun’s heat during the day and radiate it into the home during the evening. However, in the summer time the house’s construction uses mass to keep the sun’s heat out of the home.

Solar photovoltaic energy converting sun light into electrical energy. The most commonly associated component are the photovoltaic panels or solar panels that you see mounted on roofs.

This article will be focusing on how photovoltaic solar power (solar panels) and systems work.

Why are solar photovoltaic panels always on the south (or north) side of the roof?

In order to get the maximum electrical output from photovoltaic panels they need to be oriented to solar south in the northern hemisphere and solar north in the southern hemisphere. Solar north and solar south are the same as magnetic or compass north or south. There is about a fifteen degree difference between them.

Most solar photovoltaic panels are set at home latitude plus fifteen degrees or home latitude minus fifteen degrees. Depending on if you want a summer or winter bias to the angle of the solar panels. In higher latitudinal areas it makes more sense to have the photovoltaic panels set on a winter bias, so that during the winter the solar panels still get enough sun light to produce electricity.

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