Showing posts with label Solar panels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solar panels. Show all posts

Monday, February 15, 2021

WHY IT’S TIME TO SWITCH TO SOLAR - Scientists have calculated that each hour the sun shines its light energy on earth, that capacity, once harnessed, can meet the earth’s energy needs for a whole year! While solar companies are doing their bit to help make an ever-popular renewable energy source easily available to consumers, solar technology only meets 1/10th of one percent of the earth’s energy demand. Both commercial and residential incentives for solar power installation remain, so the time couldn’t be better to switch to solar either at home or at the office. Most folks have gotten used to some of the most basic uses of solar technology, so much so it may have become passé on a small scale. Most individuals are aware conceptually of photovoltaic cells used in solar panels at home, commercially, on spacecraft, etc. — even many handheld devices such as calculators. Each small cell is comprised of semiconductor materials such as those found in computer chips. As the sun hits each cell, the light knocks electrons free from their atoms, setting their flow in motion, which subsequently generates electricity. In contrast, large-scale explanations display some diverse applications and techniques that generate energy and heat. Once generated, heat can boil water to drive steam turbines which, in turn, generates electricity similar to coal or nuclear power, yet without the disastrous carbon emissions so damaging and deleterious to life and the environment.

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Why It’s Time To Switch To Solar

by Contributing Writer



Scientists have calculated that each hour the sun shines its light energy on earth, that capacity, once harnessed, can meet the earth’s energy needs for a whole year!

While solar companies are doing their bit to help make an ever-popular renewable energy source easily available to consumers, solar technology only meets 1/10th of one percent of the earth’s energy demand.

Both commercial and residential incentives for solar power installation remain, so the time couldn’t be better to switch to solar in 2013 either at home or at the office.

How It Works: From The Simple To The Complex

Most folks have gotten used to some of the most basic uses of solar technology, so much so it may have become passé on a small scale.

For example, most individuals are aware conceptually of photovoltaic cells used in solar panels at home, commercially, on spacecraft, etc. — even many handheld devices such as calculators.

Each small cell is comprised of semiconductor materials such as those found in computer chips.

As the sun hits each cell, the light knocks electrons free from their atoms, setting their flow in motion, which subsequently generates electricity. That’s the most basic description.

In contrast, large-scale explanations display some diverse applications and techniques that generate energy and heat.

Once generated, heat can boil water to drive steam turbines which, in turn, generates electricity similar to coal or nuclear power, yet without the disastrous carbon emissions so damaging and deleterious to life and the environment.

One solar collection process employs long troughs of U-shaped mirrors, which focus sunlight on pipes of oil running through their middle.

Once heated, the hot oil boils water for electric generation.

Another process takes movable mirrors and focuses the sun’s rays on a collector tower that has molten salt in a receiver, which, as it passes through, generates power.

At its most passive, solar power can harness the heat that passes through large banks of windows.

The sunlight is absorbed into heat-trapping material on walls and floors, which then release that heat to keep the room or building warm.

Of course, most individuals are now familiar with solar panels and plates on rooftops that generates electricity for appliances in the home or office.

Increased Solar Presence

Even though the sun’s capacity is infinite, applications have not become extensive although they are increasing at a significant pace — about 20% year over year in the last decade alone.

Innovation continues to abound with solar energy powering automobiles, satellites, tortilla ovens in Mexico, as well as increasing applications by power companies, with alternate renewable energy use such as wind turbines complimenting solar production.

Because solar power is clean, infinite and essentially noise free, it continues to provide an inexhaustible power source for the future.

Finally, because financing incentives are still available through solar companies and because the systems typically pay for themselves within 10 years, often less depending on size and consumption needs, solar energy remains a smart buy.

Article courtesy of solar electricity company, Baker Electric Solar. Let them help you make the switch to a renewable solar energy source today.

Contributing Writer iSustainableEarth.com works with experts across the industry to provide our customers with the most up to date Sustainable Living tips and news. Our contributing writing staff cover a broad range of Going Green topics such as water conservation, green products, green jobs and much more. Should you have any questions regarding the topics covered by our contributing writing staff please use the Contact Us link at the bottom of our website.

http://www.isustainableearth.com/energyefficiency/why-its-time-to-switch-to-solar


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Saturday, October 31, 2020

SOLAR SAILS - Solar sails are a spacecraft propulsion method utilizing a curious quirk of photons. These particles of light have no mass and yet when they impinge on something, they can impart momentum and provide a tiny push. You get shoved by photons every time you step out into the sunshine but their incredibly small force is essentially unnoticeable to your body. In space, things take a different turn. The laws of physics state that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, so, when photons from the sun bounce off a spaceship, the ship is propelled ever so slightly in a direction away from the sun. With a single photon the change is negligible but a large collection of them can provide significant thrust. Place a large, flat, mirror-like sheet in front of a spacecraft and the sun's power will push it forward. The material must also be strong and gossamer-thin in order to catch and control the sunlight. Solar sails can tack like regular sails to travel in many directions, according to the Planetary Society. The technology has an advantage over other propulsion methods because a ship does not need to carry fuel wherever it goes, instead relying on the freely-available light of stars. Since they get a continuous push from the sun, solar-sail-powered ships can constantly accelerate as they journey to the edge of the solar system, achieving super-fast speeds that would be much more difficult for chemical rockets.

This artist's conception shows a solar sail high above the Earth.
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Solar Sails

What Is a Solar Sail?

By Adam Mann


 

Like mariners of ancient days, cosmic adventurers might one day harness the power of sails to journey through the stars.

But rather than the ocean's wind, future space travelers would use sunlight to drive a technology known as a solar sail. 

How do solar sails work?

Solar sails are a spacecraft propulsion method utilizing a curious quirk of photons.

These particles of light have no mass and yet when they impinge on something, they can impart momentum and provide a tiny push.

You get shoved by photons every time you step out into the sunshine but their incredibly small force is essentially unnoticeable to your body. 

In space, things take a different turn.

The laws of physics state that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, so, when photons from the sun bounce off a spaceship, the ship is propelled ever so slightly in a direction away from the sun.

With a single photon the change is negligible but a large collection of them can provide significant thrust. 

Place a large, flat, mirror-like sheet in front of a spacecraft and the sun's power will push it forward.

The material must also be strong and gossamer-thin in order to catch and control the sunlight.

Solar sails can tack like regular sails to travel in many directions, according to the Planetary Society.

The technology has an advantage over other propulsion methods because a ship does not need to carry fuel wherever it goes, instead relying on the freely-available light of stars. 

Since they get a continuous push from the sun, solar-sail-powered ships can constantly accelerate as they journey to the edge of the solar system, achieving super-fast speeds that would be much more difficult for chemical rockets.

Alternatively, solar sails can also be driven by gargantuan laser beams.

Examples of solar sails

NASA tested the concept of solar sailing in 1974 with its Mariner 10 spacecraft, which was designed to fly past Venus and Mercury.

When the probe ran out of fuel, mission control turned its solar panels to just the right angle to catch the sun's rays and push the spacecraft forward. 

The first human-made solar sail to successfully fly was the Japanese Space Exploration Agency's Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun (IKAROS) spacecraft.

The robot deployed its 46-foot-wide (14 meters) sail in June 2010 and proved the ability to control its direction and change orientation on command. 

That same year, NASA launched the tiny NanoSail-D demonstrator mission, which had a diamond-shaped sail 10 feet (3 m) to a side.

The probe unfurled its solar sail in 2011 and circled the Earth for eight months before burning up in the atmosphere.

Lightweight and with little room to carry fuel, small satellites are thought to be ideal candidates for this type of propulsion. 

In 2015, the Planetary Society launched the LightSail-1 spacecraft into orbit, which sported a 344-square-foot (32-square-m) solar sail, about the size of a boxing ring.

Despite some successes, and a selfie or two, the mission suffered from technical glitches and eventually stopped transmitting signals before entering the atmosphere a few weeks after it was launched. 

But the Planetary Society is back at it and has high hopes for their new LightSail-2 mission. Launching at the end of June 2019, the craft is about the size of a bread loaf and intends to release a similarly-sized sail as its predecessor.

Mission planners said that one day solar-sail-driven ships could travel to the edge of the solar system or beyond. 

The Breakthrough Starshot Initiative intends to do just that, sending lightweight microchip-sized probes to explore the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, which is 4.3 light-years away.

Announced in 2016, the $100-million venture is investigating the feasibility of using a colossal Earth-based laser to accelerate the chips to 20% the speed of light and reaching Alpha Centauri in only 20 years. 

Adam Mann is a journalist specializing in astronomy and physics stories. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Nature, Science, New Scientist, and many other places. He lives in Oakland, California, where he enjoys riding his bike. Follow him on Twitter @adamspacemann.

https://www.space.com/solar-sail.html

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

SOLAR PANELS - How Solar Panels Work - A solar panel can be described as a photovoltaic panel, which is what is used in the professional solar power industry to generate electricity from the rays of the sun. Future solar panels will, hopefully, be much more efficient and supply much of the world’s energy needs.


Solar Panels
How Solar Panels Work       
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Solar panels are technically any kind of panel that uses solar thermal energy to produce electricity.
There are a variety of panel types, from those used to heat water as with solar hot water panels, to those which are used to store solar energy, such as solar thermal energy panels.
Furthermore, a solar panel can be described as a photovoltaic panel, which is what is used in the professional solar power industry to generate electricity from the rays of the sun.
Despite the type of solar panel being discussed, almost all solar panels are flat. This is due to the fact that the surface needs to be at a 90 degree angle from the sun’s rays for optimal configuration.
Photovoltaic panels, the most common form of solar panels in the professional electrical generation industry, are able to absorb energy from the sun through a variety of smaller solar cells on their surface.
Much like how a plant is able to absorb energy from the sun for photosynthetic purposes, solar cells behave in a similar fashion.
As the photons from the sun’s rays hit the solar cells on a photovoltaic panel, the energy is transferred to a silicon semiconductor.
The photon is then transformed into electricity and then passed through connecting wires to finally enter a power generation facility or battery.
The solar cells on calculators and satellites are photovoltaic (PV) cells or simply a group of cells electrically connected and parceled in one frame.
Photovoltaics, where photo means light and voltaic means electricity, transforms sunlight directly into electricity.
¬Photovoltaic cells are prepared with particular materials called semiconductors such as silicon, which is presently the most generally used.
When light hits the ¬Photovoltaic cell, a specific share of it is absorbed inside the semiconductor material.
This means that the energy of the absorbed light is given to the semiconductor. The energy unfastens the electrons, permitting them to run freely.
¬Photovoltaic cells also have one or more electric fields that act to compel electrons unfastened by light absorption to flow in a specific direction.
This flow of electrons i¬s a current, and by introducing metal links on the top and bottom of the -Photovoltaic cell, the current can be drawn to use it externally.
The Future of Solar Panels
The current generation solar panels are extremely inefficient, and can really only harness as much as thirty percent of a sun ray’s power in the form of usable electricity.
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The current generation solar panels are extremely inefficient, and can really only harness as much as thirty percent of a sun ray’s power in the form of usable electricity.
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This problem is partly due to the materials used in the design of the solar panel as well as the size of solar panel itself.
Because of the relatively small range of wavelengths of light that can be harnessed by solar panels, much of the energy which could be gained from the sun’s light is simply left to waste.
Furthermore, if a photon of light hits the solar panel at too high of a speed, the energy will not be properly transferred to the solar panel as usable energy.
Modern materials and new techniques for designing solar panels are on the horizon, but promises of increased efficiency have yet to be delivered.
The newer silicon crystals that are cheaper to manufacture have the downside that they are not as efficient as the original crystal silicon, but larger panels are cheaper to produce giving a similar or better amount electricity for the same investment.

How to Make Solar Panels
Solar panels are rather complicated yet very simple at the same time.This can be shown below.

Silicon
The reason that solar panels are made of silicon is that silicon atoms hold three separate groups of electrons.
One group has two electrons, another has eight electrons, and the third has four electrons. Because the third group only has four electrons, it still has four open spots in which electrons from other atoms can fill.
When this happens, the silicon atom and the other atoms become bonded together to form a crystalline lattice.
Crystalline lattices are important to solar panels because they allow electrons to break away from the structure later on in the process.
Doping

Doping refers to purposely adding impurities to an element, such as silicon.
Doping is a part of the solar panel process because pure silicon is not a very good conductor of electricity. This is because pure silicon forms such a tightly-bound structure that its electrons are no longer able to move freely.
By doping the silicon with an impurity such as phosphorous, which has five electrons in its shell instead of four, there are a lot more free carriers.
Free Carriers
A free carrier is an electron that has been knocked loose from its atom and is able to move to a different atom, carrying its electric charge with it.
Free carriers are caused by overloads from electric forces, such as heat from light energy.
In silicon-phosphorous compounds, the phosphorous atoms provide free carriers as each phosphorous atom has one additional electron that is not connected to the silicon atoms.
Because there is an excess of electrons in a silicon-phosphorous compound, the silicon atom has a negative charge.
As the other side of a solar panel is doped with boron, an element that’s shell only has three electrons (a lack of electrons when compared to silicon), it has a positive charge.
The negative charge then flows to the positive charge, creating an electric current.
Efficiency
The average solar panel used in industrial purposes has an efficiency rate of about 12%.
The most ground-breaking research in the world has invented a solar panel that has a 40% efficiency rate.
While this is good, it is still not as good as scientists would like. That is because 1,000 watts of electricity from the Sun is constantly shining on every square meter on the Earth’s surface.
If scientists could get 100% of that electricity, or close to it, people worldwide would be able to power their homes for free and live much more energy-efficient lifestyles without burning any fossil fuels.
Future Solar Panels
Future solar panels will, hopefully, be much more efficient and supply much of the world’s energy needs.
Future solar panels may cover all roofs, building tops, walls, and cars.
There may also be large “solar farms” where solar energy is collected, such as the vast numbers of solar panels located at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
It is unclear how exactly society will incorporate solar panels into their daily lives but it is clear that solar panels are getting better all the time and they will continue to do so for a long time.

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