| Solar Energy Systems Primer |
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| Environment - Environment |
| Written by Roger Black Joe Summers Earl Jones |
| Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:19 |
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For thousands of years solar energy has been used in heating homes and heating water, using modern technology even electricity can now be converted to power homes. The sun is a valuable resource in conserving energy to use for your every day needs.
For thousands of years solar energy has been used in heating homes and heating water, using modern technology even electricity can now be converted to power homes. The sun is a valuable resource in conserving energy to use for your every day needs. It is important for you to have a good understanding of how solar energy systems work. Solar panels use the suns energy to convert solar power into electricity to power your house. Renewable energy systems are able to hold enough solar energy so your reliance on the power company is very limited. Solar energy systems consist of three components, they use photovoltaic panes as a power source, they have a power storage unit and they all have a load capacity to store the unused energy. Photovoltaic panes are like turbines or fossil fuel generators but on a much smaller version. The power unit stores the energy for future use and the load is based on how much energy your home attracts to the solar system. There are 3 types of solar energy systems to choose from for your home. You will want to learn about each one to make an educated decision as to which one is best for your needs. The On grid solar energy system receives the power from your local power company. You are able to sell back any unused power to your local power company, in the event of a power failure, keep in mind you will be without power. When using the off grid solar energy system, you are not connected to your local power company and in the event of a power failure; you will continue to have power. The third type of solar energy system is called grid plus battery. This type has a battery back up connected to your local electric company. In case of power outage, the grid plus battery solar energy system will continue to operate using the stored solar battery power. With the grid plus battery system, you may want to consider selling overages of solar power back to your local electric company. Before making any decisions on which solar energy system is best for your needs, you will want to find out how power you use on a monthly basis. You will want to make your home as energy efficient as possible by changing all light bulbs to florescent, updating appliances to energy efficient or converting to gas appliances and installing double paned windows. After you have completed the improvements, you will be able to choose the best solar energy system for your home. |