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 Electricity saving tips -
Solar Power
A beginners guide to solar power
If it is illegal to love a solar panel I will gladly go
to prison! It's one of my favorite choices for green energy!
If you're considering buying a solar power system but you're
confused about the choices available, this article explains the basics of solar energy related equipment,
including solar hot water systems.
This initial guide will
briefly outline the major components and types of systems,
costs vs benefits with following articles looking more in
depth at each aspect.
Solar power benefits
The benefits of a solar energy
system are many:
-
It generates renewable
energy (electricity) from a natural resource - the sun
- It can be a cheaper
way of getting electricity to a remote location
- No emissions are
created from the electricity production of the panels
- Solar panels are
durable. There's no moving parts. Most panels come with
a 25 year warranty and many that were installed in the
1970's are still working fine today.
- Renewable energy
rebates are now available in many countries around the
world making the acquisition of a solar power system
more affordable and the payback time much shorter.
- Very low maintenance
- Makes you more energy
aware
-
Increases the value of
your property
Solar equipment production
and pollution
Just on the topic of
emissions and pollution; some solar power naysayers
point out that the production of solar panels and
equipment is energy intensive and this is totally true;
but in in the case of solar panels, not only are the
materials recyclable, but it can take as little as 17
months for energy payback; depending on the geographical
location.
By this I mean the amount of energy that's gone into
making the panel will be produced by the solar module
within a 17 month period. Given that solar panels have
such a long life, taken over the long term, that's a
much smaller footprint than ongoing production of coal
based electricity, even if it were produced by the so
called "clean coal" technology - a term that's somewhat
of an oxymoron.
Even in battery based
systems, again, the batteries can be recycled as can
just about everything in a solar power setup. This
differs greatly from coal fired energy generation where
there is only pollution and greenhouse gases every step
of the way.
How does solar power work?
Just briefly:
A solar panel consists of an array of PV, aka
photovoltaic (PV photo=light, voltaics=electricity),
cells which consist of a positive and a negative wafer
of silicon placed under a toughened layer of glass. When
exposed to sunlight, the sun's rays generates electron
activity and wires connected to the photovoltaic cells
capture these electrons - then when connected to a
circuit, a DC electrical current is created which then
travels down suitably sized DC wiring. Learn more about
solar panels.
What happens next depends on the type of solar power
system is being used.
Types of solar power systems
There's two main types of configurations; SAPS (Stand
Alone Power System) and mains grid connect.
Mains grid connect
Mains grid connect systems are those that are tied in
with a standard mains power supply.
When energy is is being generated by the solar panels, a
grid connect inverter converts that electricity from DC
to 120v or 240v AC, which can then be used directly by
standard electrical appliances. At night, your house
draws energy from the grid per usual.
In a situation where the system produces more
electricity than is immediately required, the extra is
then fed back into the power grid and you can often get
a credit from your utility on your next bill! It's quite
amazing to watch an electricity meter running backwards!
Grid connect systems are relatively simple to set up and
require next to no maintenance - usually just a wipe
down of the panels once a year.
Learn more about grid connect solar power
Grid connect system
Image provided by Energy Matters - the solar power
specialists
SAPS - Stand Alone Power System
A SAPS setup is isolated from the mains grid and uses a
deep cycle battery bank to store the electricity. This
is the type of system most often used in remote
locations.
The electrical charge from the panel is piped through DC
wiring to a solar regulator or charge controller; which
is a small box that controls the amount of charge going
into the batteries in order to prevent damage to the
battery bank. DC appliances can then be run directly off
the battery bank or an inverter added in order to
convert from DC to AC; which can then be used by
standard household appliances. The batteries used in a
stand alone solar power system are specially designed
for constant discharging and charging and if properly
selected, will last for years - these are known as deep
cycle batteries.
Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages,
for example, in a grid connect setup, if the mains
electricity supply suffers a blackout, that shuts down
electricity generation of your own system too - so
you'll be without power unless you have a battery
backup.
In a stand alone power system, while you're totally
independent, there is additional cost in the need for
batteries, plus a little more monitoring involved - but
looking after a SAPS system is by no means rocket
science. I'm proof of that :).
Solar energy equipment is getting cheaper
Ever since I became aware of solar power as a young 'un
in the 70's; the idea of creating electricity from the
sun has fascinated me. Back then, you needed to be a
millionaire to have the technology and these days it
still isn't dirt cheap; but prices are coming down and
renewable energy rebates offered by many governments now
puts solar power into the reach of many more people.
For people in remote areas it can be far cheaper to
install solar power that access mains electricity. For
example, the system I have for use on chunk 'o dirt in
the outback cost around $1600 and that gives me more
than enough power to run my notebook for 14 hours a day
plus some lighting.
In order to get mains electricity to the block would
have cost me upwards of $20,000! My system is also fully
mobile; at the end of each trip, I pack it all up which
only takes a few minutes and bring it back to suburbia -
so if we ever have a blackout here, I'm still able to
work!
Sizing up a solar power system
The two most common questions in relation to solar power
are:
"How big a system will I need and how much will that
cost?"
This varies greatly as different households have
different energy needs. To get a fairly accurate idea;
some sites offer solar system calculators. The one I
used in order to calculate my needs for the outback is
Energy Matters' free Solar System Builder - it's very
comprehensive and takes into account your geographic
location which is really important as different parts of
the world vary greatly in terms of useful solar hours.
Just to give you a general idea, at the time of writing,
it will cost an average household anywhere from - brace
yourself - $35,000 - $56,000 fully installed to gain all
of their power directly via solar electricity and more
for a stand alone system - but wait just a minute.
That's incredibly pricey, but before you decide solar
power is totally out of reach, there's some things to
consider that will *substantially* drop the cost. Those
prices are also based on a 4 - 5 kilowatt system;
meaning they'll crank out 4 - 5 kilowatts per hour
during peak sun hours; it's a lot of juice!
Cutting down the costs of solar
Firstly, you don't have to commit to buying enough solar
panels to provide all your needs if you already have an
alternate source of power such as mains. You can buy a
smaller system, then build on it later as prices should
continue to drop in the years ahead.
As mentioned, many governments also offer substantial
renewable energy rebates. For example, in Australia
householders can receive an $8,000 rebate on a solar
system as small as 1 kilowatt - which is around $12,000
before the rebate; so you only wind up paying around
$4,000.
One of the biggest ways you can cut down costs is to cut
down the amount of electricity you need - and this is
one of the wonderful things about solar power - it makes
you very energy aware and that provides additional
environmental benefits.
For example, let's take a look at my computing needs.
Previously I had a desktop computer and was running
normal lighting - so some quick calculations:
Desktop: 200 watts x 14 hours = 2800 watts
Lighting: 75 wats x 14 hours = 1050 watts
Total: 3850 watts
Then after my switch to a notebook and CFL (Compact
Fluorescent Lamp) lighting:
Notebook: 60 watts x 14 = 840 watts
Lighting: 5 watts x 14 = 70 watts
Total: 910 watts
.. and it was even less than that once I started using
power saving features of the note book and made a few
other minor modifications to the way I work.
These two changes meant I needed much less than a third
of the electricity I was using before and that
translated to needing less equipment to generate the
electricity - huge savings there, without sacrificing
any sort of performance.
There's so many ways we can cut power usage throughout
the home without having to make major sacrifices! Based
on that example, it should be quite doable for many
households to cut down their own energy consumption up
to half; therefore needing half the capacity in solar
panels and associated equipment.
If you're an independent sort of person who is concerned
about the environment; the satisfaction you'll feel from
sitting back and looking at your solar panel system
generating electricity quietly and without any emissions
is really hard to describe. It's empowering - that's
probably the best way I could sum it up. Knowing that
the panel I have will still be cranking out amps in over
2 decades from now is also very reassuring.
While the costs can be little difficult to swallow, it's
important to remember that the era of cheap energy is
now over - and while solar equipment is coming down in
price, the cost of oil due to peak oil and the price of
coal are rapidly escalating. At some stage in the future
and likely not too far away, I believe we'll see cost
parity between fossil fuel generated energy and green
power!
Source: green living tips
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