Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Property Owners Will Be Resorting To Suns Power For Economical Reasons

By Albert Cranton


The two ways the light of the sun can be used are categorized as passive or active. The passive techniques include building methods that use materials that have thermal mass with light dispersing components. Space inside a building can be designed to circulate the air in a natural way. Solar energy, used actively collects the sunlight using Photovoltaic panels.

Active methods collect the rays of the sun in black photovoltaic panels. In a warm southern climate, the sun will be enough to provide all that is needed in a house. For those living in massachusetts, it will be insufficient in the winter.

This active method was prohibitively expensive when first used. The panels absorb and store the heat and light from the sun. In a warm climate it will be sufficient to run a household. However, in Massachusetts solar energy is not going to be enough. In addition to the photovoltaic panels on the roof, the homeowner must be connected to what is called a grid. This enables him to use electricity from another source when there is a cloudy or cold winter day.

A few decades ago, the cost of having photovoltaic panels installed was prohibitive. Now the cost is much lower due to increased production. Once installed, the panels are functional for twenty to twenty five years. It makes the initial investment worthwhile.

In addition there are government subsidies available for those who meet certain criteria. The savings can be in the form of paying for part of the installation, or giving a tax deduction to the family that owns the home. Over the twenty five year period, those panels can result in significant savings.

About fifty percent of light and heat emanating from the sun reaches the surface of planet Earth. Of the 174,000 terawatts of incoming radiation, thirty percent is reflected back into space. Clouds, oceans and ground absorb the rest. This absorption serves to raise temperatures.

Solar energy is a concept developed by a famous United States inventor. Frank Shuman was an engineer who built a small sun powered engine. It reflected the suns energy into square boxes of ether. This in turn powered a steam engine.

He collaborated with Sir Charles Vernon Boys, a British physicist, to develop an advanced version that used mirrors. In 1913 they constructed the first thermal power station. It was built in Maadi, Egypt. Then the availability of cheap oil in the 1930s curtailed the need for solar power development.

Kids are the scientists, homeowners and consumers of the future. It is time to get them excited about the development of solar powered - everything. Tell them about the solar panels on the big orange highway signs. They are not plugged in so how do they light up?

Tell them to look for the black photovoltaic panels on rooftops and the sides of cars and boats. Get them interested in the cars that will run on sunlight instead of petrol. The energy of the sun is converted into electricity to fuel them. New designs are being tested.

Do you know about the World Solar Challenge held in Australia? It is a race entered only by cars running on energy from the sun. That country also has a passenger ferry in Sydney Harbour called the Solar Sailor, which runs on sun, wind or battery power. It can run on diesel fuel, but only on cloudy days.

There are so many inventions and so much research into the use of sun power. It is an exciting time. Who knows, some kid might enter a sun powered robot in the next science fair, or possibly has already done so.




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