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.
Used with creative commons permission from Brighton Earthship
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 [...]
Photo used under Creative Commons from James Cridland
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 [...]
So what are some solar energy facts anyways? How about how do solar panels work, and how is sunlight turned into energy?
The solar revolution has been happening for the last 20 years and is now firing into high gear. It has taken a long time for the technology to become feasible enough for everyday people to utilize. The best part is the technology is increasing at an ever increasing speed. Solar panels or photovoltaic cells as they are sometimes called (photo = light, voltaic = electricity) are needed to generate solar power from the sun. But how exactly does it do this? Well, we need to think of solar power as a source of electricity and that the process of generating it works on the same principles of other forms of electricity. The flow of energy, after generated is run through electrical wiring to appliance’s in your house [...]
How much does residential Solar Power Cost?
The cost for residential solar energy generation varies greatly depending on several factors. Lets take a look at some of them.
1. How much electricity do you need, or want to make?
This should be the first question you ask yourself. Do you want to go 100% solar, or maybe you will want an integrated system that ties into the electrical grid to replace some of your electricity needs. The first step is to figure out how much electricity you need. This can be done by looking at your utility bill, the usage of electricity is represented by kWh or kilowatt-hour. 1 Kilowatt-hour is equal to 1000 watts of electricity used in one hour. Lets use my bill as an example. I will point out that your kWh will probably be different. Also there is a handy tool you can use for calculation that you can [...]
For those of you who read yesterday’s Solar Power Cost vs. Energy Bill Cost here is part two.
Some utility company’s around the US are raising there power prices up to 29% according to an article by USA Today. If your thinking your electricity bill is already astronomical then I have some bad news for you. Prices will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. An average household that spends $70 a month may rise up to $90, the fact is most of us are already struggling to make things meet and one more addition to our plate is not something we’re looking forward to. The good thing is there are plenty of ways you and your family can do to save money and cut down on toxic pollution as well. But lets delve into why energy prices are going up a little further which brings me to:
Solar Power Cost [...]
