• Home
• About

Solar Lighting

November 16th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Since the creation of the universe, the energy of the sun has been the central life support for all living creatures on our planet. As civilization progresses, man’s insatiable search for purpose have revealed an ever increasing knowledge on how the sun’s energy could be used to our benefit.

It is common knowledge that the sun is the source of light. As such throughout the last century, especially at the turn of the century, the sun became the primary source of interior lighting for buildings during the day. It was only when the cost, convenience and performance of the electric lamps improved that the sun was replaced as our primary source of lighting building interiors.

As our technology makes further headway, we found a more interesting way of harnessing the energy of the sun by the use of solar panels. The use of solar energy becomes a new source of generating electricity for powering homes and for solar lighting. In recent years solar lighting has taken many different forms. It is used for almost everything from solar garden lighting to park lights.

Advancements in photovoltaic technology have made solar lighting a big business today. Solar lighting is a common practice to light exteriors at night as solar lighting is the perfect alternative to installing traditional grid-tied lighting system.

Solar sign lights has been specially designed to illuminate business signs, community entrance gates, churches or other commercial sign applications for the convenience of passersby to locate destinations while driving at night.

Most high-output solar lighting kits are easy to assemble and install. They are constructed of high impact plastic or metal housing, a battery system and high quality solar panel. Each unit is capable of casting enough light to illuminate an area from 6-10 feet in diameter, depending on how high off the ground it is installed. These lights can also be used for lighting the interior of a small tool shed or other such structures.

Basic mounting configurations allow the unit to be attached to a post, placed on the actual sign or bolted to concrete or masonry work, keeping them safe where they belong.

?

?

HOW SOLAR PANELS WORK

November 14th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

In rural areas, particularly in places where utility power isn’t available, solar panels are the answer. Irrespective of where electrical power is needed, be it for a mountain–top cabin, a cruising sailboat or a family home, there is a solar system to fill the needs. We’ll delve into the details on how do solar panels work l

Solar panels harvest the sun’s energy to produce electricity to power lights and appliances or for any use that requires electrical power.

Solar photovoltaic cells are arranged in a grid-like pattern on the surface of the solar panel. These solar voltaic cells collect sunlight during the day and convert it into energy. Energy is created when sunlight strikes the solar panels crystals and causes some electrons to break loose.

The amount of power produced depends largely on the quality of the solar panels and the technology in making it. Panels of special semiconductors like silicon convert the sun’s energy directly into electricity.

Of the three main types of solar panels available, monocrystalline panels have the highest output per cell area and are the most high-priced. Polycrystalline cells are slightly less expensive. Thin film type, though considered unbreakable, are only half as efficient per cell area.

We are now moving closer to harnessing the full potential of solar energy, but much has still to be done in terms of research to make it cost-efficient before it can be used on a widespread basis. The advantages of using solar panels to harvest the energy of the sun for general household use will dramatically cut electric bills and reduce pollution.

Solar modules are used to harness solar energy. These modules can be customized to cater for different power generation needs. On a commercial basis, the modules of crystalline silicon is the most efficient available. These modules are designed in complete packages for residential, commercial and industrial purposes.

Solar panels in the past have been of silicon but as silicon is becoming more pricey, research have turned to other materials. Lately, a whole new type of solar panel is produced. They are made of plastic and the price is comparatively cheap. These plastic panels work just as well to power just about any appliance that is used in a home out in a remote location.

Solar panels are mostly put on the roof. The power generated is transmitted to a battery for storage and household power needs are drawn from this storage.

Solar energy is also most suitable for heating water for household use, swimming pools and hot tubs. The ideal thing about solar power is that it does not release harmful emissions or effluents leading to global warming, acid rains and smog .

Research and competition is slowly bringing down the price of solar panels. Solar panels used to be popular in rural areas but now the scenario is changing and solar power is fast entering the urban areas. When , one day , the use of solar energy for household use becomes a common practice , power companies will have to decrease rates to the benefit of everybody irrespective of whether the household uses solar panels or not .

If you’re thinking of installing solar panels for your home use , ensure that your property have good access to sunlight . Be prepared also to spend in the region of more than $ 20,000. This may look costly but it will save you a lot in the long run .

The utility of solar panels is great. Having solar panels installed to your home, you can live anywhere even in rural areas without foregoing the conveniences of the city and without having to install pricey electrical line extensions from noisy generators.

With electricity immediately available, you can enjoy all the facilities you would have enjoyed in your urban home, with an added bonus of being free from noise and pollution through the use of solar panels.

?

?

Energize Your RV with Solar

November 1st, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

An invitation to a camping trip is always mouth-watering. You can immediately visualize the free outdoor life, with a lot of activities in the day and cozily curled in your sleeping bag at night in a tent that shields you from the elements. A tent and sleeping never escape our attention. Maybe as far as you are concerned this is the only way to camp.

There are others who envisage a different scenario. The comforts of home are preferred and in order to ensure this, the only way to camp is by bring along your recreational car or RV. By bringing the RV along, the facilities of home can be made available. To ensure a smooth ride and comfortable camping, your RV must have adequate electrical power. This is even the more necessary if you are planning to be away for an extended period and wants to stay on a low budget. Against a backdrop of an ever rising fuel prices, it is only logical for you to conserve fuel and replenish it with some other source of substitute power and in the process offset the extra expenses.

One of the best ways is to invest in a solar panel system for your RV. Nowadays RV solar panels have become the popular choice among campers since it represents a big savings compared to running an RV generator to charge the batteries. Its noiseless operation is a bonus to you and other campers who all seek to enjoy their camping in relative peace and quiet. A generator is definite out under the circumstances. RV solar panels is tops on this score though their reflective characteristics might not be so welcome by other campers during the day as they might be reflecting sunlight into their eyes.

The main function of the solar panel is to charge the batteries during the day. It absorns the sun’s light during the day and convert it directly into direct current electricity, which is stored in the RV’s batteries for use at night. Some campers might require a more powerful solar system that would provide extra power to run appliances such as oven or air conditioner.

The investment in solar panels for RV is proportional to the size and use of the system .
A easy one for charging batteries is quite reasonable while a system that can operate a micro oven will be quite pricey. Your RV solar electric system can be tailored according to your needs. If you occasionally boondocks your RV, then you might not need a big system. But if you live in your RV off-grid, you will require a more powerful system.

Whatever it is and however you look at it, the determining factor ultimately rests on the premise that the use of fuel to run your generator is costly. Running a generator is noisy and not in the spirit of peaceful and quiet camping. Anything that keeps presents a money-saving alternative is worth every penny spent. By investing in an RV solar panel, you save money on high-priced fuel, you preserve and conserve a small portion of the environment and do your part to minimize the noise pollution in an environment that demands silence.
 

Buying Wholesale Solar

October 29th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Solar panels that are used to harness the energy of the sun and convert it to electric energy can be purchased at wholesale volumes to qualify for bigger discounts. Before you make the decision of buying wholesale solar panels, you need to educate yourself on the basics of solar systems. Basically, there are two main types of solar electric systems, the stand alone and the grid connected. Let us explore the choice you have and the advantage and disadvantage of each system.

A stand alone system is an independent system that works completely unattached to the utility grid. Such systems are commonly used on remote home, cabins, house boats, RVs and telecommunications installations. For a stand alone system you can either use be AC or a DC system. AC systems are the used in appliances of modern life such as blenders, washing machines, microwave. DC is fine for telecommunications. Between the two, AC is the most cost effective. To convert DC power to AC we use an inverter.  Inverter comes in two forms, the modified square wave and sine wave inverter.
Grid connected systems uses an AC system, and may or may not use batteries, and they need be equipped with a sine wave inverter. The advantage of using a grid connected systems is that it does not need generator back up due to the nature of the utility grid itself serves.

Before you move on with your decision of buying wholesale solar panels, decide on the kind of mount you want. Roof mounts are neat though they are hard to reach to adjust the angle. Side of pole mount is another alternative. They are designed to hold 1 to 4 modules and attached to poles with hose clamps or U-bolts.

Ground Mount is probably the easiest way to mount your solar panels. This mount actually resembles an A-frame. It is wise to attach this structure to a cement slab to secure it safely in place. Ground mounts can handle from 1 to 8 solar modules. Ground mounts can be used too to attach solar panels either to the ground, to a roof and or even to a vertical surface. Some ground mounts have adjustable legs while others are fixed. Take note that panels which are mounted on the roof of a residence are required by U.L. code to have ground fault protection, and that can easily add $200 - $240 to the overall cost of your system. Make sure that all panels should be grounded to minimize damage from lightning strikes. Vehicle mounted racks allow you to attach your panels where you need them and when you need them.

Before you make the final step in buying wholesale solar panels, take time to educate yourself. Browse the internet, ask for catalogs from the many renewable energy companies and read them. You will most often find that the equipment is fairly standard and the costs are similar. You can then familiarize yourself with the types and sizes of components available. Solar panels have a lifetime of 20 or more years and new ones have good manufacturers guarantee too. When you have done all the necessary research, then go ahead make your first wholesale solar panel purchase

Copyright © 2007

Credits: Work From Home | Matteo Turchetto | Andreas Viklund