Monthly Archives: June 2010

RV Solar Power

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RV Solar Power

Taking Solar Power On The Road Baby!

Here’s a form of solar energy you might not be thinking of. It’s perfect for those of you who like to jump in an RV and travel across the plains, the wind blowing in your hair as the road drifts by underneath you. Today we’ll talk about RV solar power!

So your hauling down route 66 and you and your family decide to stop for a night at a nearby campground. Only problem is your out in the boonies and this particular campground does not offer electricity, so what are you to do? You could move on down to the next stop, but your tired from driving all day and you just want to relax. That is why you bought your RV in the first place right? Well if you have solar power for RV you sir are in luck!

RV solar power kits are able to charge your RV while the sun is out. As long as the sun is out, it’s cheap, reliable, and efficient. RV solar power packages will include a solar panel, charge controller, RV mount, and cables.

Now if your looking for an RV solar power kit you’ll want to be aware of several factors.

  • First of all there’s cost. Solar power for RV kits can range from $200 to well over $1000. You’ll have to take a look at al the other factors to see just how expensive of a solar power kit you’ll actually need.
  • Secondly, how much solar power needed for RV. You don’t need the biggest baddest RV solar power kit available. Try to narrow down how much power you’ll actually need.
  • Easy Installation. This is a big one, your not going to want to get a super complicated system if you plan on installing it yourself, nor should you need to.
  • AC/DC. Most RV’s run on DC. This is great because solar panels generate DC, which on a house will have to be inverted to AC in order for you to use it. This means that no conversion is needed for your RV to utilize the energy. However just to be on the safe side, make sure your RV does in fact run off of DC.
  • You should also plan on getting an RV solar power system that has a charge controller, this will stop the battery’s from being overcharged which is a big no-no.

RV solar power kits are a good investment for several reasons. They allow you to have power in areas where there are no electricity, they are better for the environment as you are using clean and renewable energy, plus in the long run the kits will pay for themselves.

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Solar Power Cost News : Corporate Entities and Solar Hippy Energy

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Parking Lot Power

Solar arrays are used efficiently over a parking lot.

According to the South Brunswick Post, Dow Jones has launched a massive solar project.

On Monday a ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the solar project which will be built on it’s route 1 campus. 13,000 solar panels will be installed on parking areas throughout the 2,000 acre campus. Depending on how much sunlight their is the solar system will account for between 15% to 50% of energy consumption of the campus.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, made mention of the BP oil spill fiasco, and encouraged a need to move away from traditional dirty forms of generating power, such as oil, and coal, and move towards clean renewable sources of energy. The Senators heavily praised Dow Jones for it’s efforts to go solar, and encouraged other large corporate entities to follow in their foot steps.

The solar system will deliver 3.6 megawatts from the solar panels installed on the parking areas. Another 522 kilowatts will be generated from solar installations attached to roofs.

The generated power will be used to offset the campus’s needs from electric company PSE&G during times of sunlight. When their are times of less energy consumption the generated power will be fed into the grid.

The massive solar power system is expected to be completed in 2011, and will be constructed by SunPower Corp.

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Breaking Solar Power News: Holy Quantum Dots Batman!

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Silicon Cell

This is a Silicon Cell

So what’s the major aspect of solar energy that’s really holding it back? Don’t know the answer?

Well I’ll tell you, it’s efficiency.

Efficiency of silicon solar cells at the moment is limited to around 30%. That’s not a lot when you think about it. That means 70% of the sunlight that’s hitting your panel is completely wasted.

So why is it wasted, and why can we not figure out a way to utilize more?

Well first you need to understand a bit of the science of how silicon solar cells work… Nope, not gonna get into a long winded discussion right here, if you would like to know more about that please visit Solar Energy Facts.

The problem is that most of the energy coming from the sun is just to high to be turned in to usable energy. Hot Electrons is the term used to define this energy and it is lost as heat during the conversion process. Enter Quantum Dots! Sounds like a new candy!

Here’s the theory behind quantum dots, or semiconductor nanocrystals as some like to call them. If you were able to separate the higher energy from the sunlight “hot electrons” and be able to capture them, the efficiency of a solar power system could be increased to a theoretical 66%. That’s more than doubling the efficiency, which amounts to a whole lot more energy.

According to Xiaoyang Zhu, professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Materials Chemistry, “There are a few steps needed to create what I call this ‘ultimate solar cell,’”. “First, the cooling rate of hot electrons needs to be slowed down. Second, we need to be able to grab those hot electrons and use them quickly before they lose all of their energy.” This is where quantum dots come in, it has been shown that hot electrons can be slowed down in semiconductor nano crystals. So that’s the first step, for the second, how to take those hot electrons out, Zhu’s team has discovered that they can be transferred from photo-excited lead selenide nanocrystals to an electron conductor made of widely used titanium dioxide.

So in a nutshell the sunlight comes in and the higher energy “hot electrons” are grabbed and slowed down by lead selenide nanocrystals (quantum dots), and transferred to an electron conductor, which allows the system to work with them instead of just casting them off as heat like conventional silicon solar cells.

Zhu cautions that this is just a first step and theirs still a lot of engineering that needs to take place before any technology is viable, but hey, it seems like a lot of good progress to me.

Resource: University of Texas at Austin (2010, June 18). Highly efficient solar cells could result from quantum dot research. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 18, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/06/100617143930.htm

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Solar Roof Tiles

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Photo used under Creative Commons from jhritz

Photo used under Creative Commons from jhritz

If you are looking to add a solar power system to your residence but you absolutely hate the look and bulkiness of photo-valtaic panels (Solar Panels), than solar roof tiles or solar shingles might be exactly what your looking for.

Solar roof tiles are shingles that operate in he same way as solar panels. Meaning they use the same technology and properties as solar panels to generate electricity by using the suns natural photons to create DC which is then converted into AC for use within your home. Solar shingles are designed to look like regular roof tiles and come in many different shapes, sizes and colors. Because of this they are a much more subtle and aesthetically pleasing package plus they offer the same benefits of it’s bulkier counterparts such as drastically reduced electricity bills, and non negative affects on the environment. Win, win right?

When solar panel roof tiles first came out on the market they were quite expensive and traditional solar panel’s were ultimately a better choice economically. However in the last couple of years new technology has been incorporated into solar shingles making them much more efficient such as thin film (CIGS) or copper indium gallium selenide therefore driving the cost considerably done.

Installation time has also been greatly reduced by this new technology as well. Add to that the fact that you do not need to hire a solar installation crew to install the solar roof tiles, as the shingles are similarly attached to the roof as traditional roof shingles.

If your interested in saving a ton of money and consider yourself a little handy you can make your own tiles with easy to follow manuals. Take a look at solar roof tiles for more information.

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Solar Air Heater

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Traditional heating systems can take up a lot of energy and cost quite a bit of money. A good way to deal with this is utilizing a solar air heater. Solar air heaters can be used in any building whether it’s your home, business, or a work shop like a garage or a green house.

Most solar air heaters work a little bit different then you might expect. When we talk about solar energy it is usually in the context of energy generation. However for a solar air heater we are only generating heat by using the sun not electricity. This simplifies the process quite a bit, and makes it very easy to build your own. Just like with most things in life, it really is quite simple as long as we look at it that way. Lets take a look at the process:

The first part deals with collecting the heat. You can do this through many methods, you just need something that will collect air and allow the sun to warm the air up inside of it. A good example is a soda can painted black. The can will hold air and because it is painted black it will absorb the heat from the sun. Because heat rises naturally the heated air can then be introduced into the second part of the system.

The second part is ventilating the heated air through a duct system by either natural ventilation or a fan system. Their are two types of solar air heaters, passive and active. Passive collects the heat naturally and then uses a siphoning system, while active utilizes a fan to draw heat through a solar array. Because heated air rises it can be naturally collected by a duct system and spread throughout a space without using any electricity. The use of a fan in the system can make it more efficient depending on how large the system is and how far the air needs to travel. The heated air can then either be directly sent to rooms or sent to a storage medium such as a water tank.

A good solar air heating system usually utilizes solar panels as a heat generator/collector. The heated air is then siphoned or fanned through the duct system to a water tank as a way of storing the heat, which then can be distributed throughout rooms at a later time.

Solar air heaters are an easy and cheap way to use solar power, they are extremely easy to make as well. Find out how to easily make your own solar air heater.

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