Solar Power
There are many advantages to using solar power. Some of the main reasons for solar power are lower utility costs, a cleaner technology, and a sustainable resource.
Solar Power and Utility Cost
Once your photovoltaic system is paid off, you can get “free power”. It is a nice feeling to be free of a lifetime of utility bills. A solar powered system can make you feel free. You are generating your own power without government help. You are standing on your own two feet.
Many utilities will offer you a rebate to artificially inflate the price of the solar power that you are selling back to the grid. The increased price can help you pay off up to half of your solar investment.
In some cases, with all incentives, solar power is actually cheaper than hooking up to the local power company forever.
Solar Power is Clean
Do you like to have clean healthy air to breathe? Fossil fuels pollute the air and create smog and haze. In the Winter, sometimes the air will become trapped down low and everyone will get stuck breathing in a lot of exhaust fumes. City officials will warn citizens not to go outside and do anything because of the polluted air.
If you don't like polluted air, then solar makes a lot of sense. The technology is really clean. You do not get any emissions or burnings from solar power. Even if solar power is more expensive, it makes sense to do because the air you breathe will be a lot cleaner.
Solar Power is Sustainable
Everyone knows that oil is going to run out. One day, there will be nowhere near enough oil to go around. The demand of oils is quickly outstripping supply and that means much higher prices into the future. People will continue to fight over the precious oil and there will be no real winners. The price to maintain oil control will become a very high price to pay.
When Rome was on its last days, Romans would spend so much time and energy protecting resources that it had a serious drain on the empire financially. In much the same way, as oil demand outstrips supply nations will be forced to defend their own oil and much strife will result.
Sustainable energy is peaceful. Sustainable energy will create good long term jobs. The other good thing is the economics of sustainable energy. As you build more and more sustainable energy sources, the source of energy will increase forever. There is an abundance of sustainable energy. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are limited in supply and dwindle over time. New oil wells need drilled as older wells run dry. Coal fired power plants must be moved to new sources of coal. Sustainable resources like solar and wind can build up continually.
Solar Panels Harness the Suns Energy
Solar power is the ultimate resource. Sun is the source of all energy and life. Without the sun, there would be no wind, waves, or solar.
Solar panels harness the suns energy. The sun's energy is very concentrated at the sun source and is dispersed widely over a long range before it gets to earth. The solar rays are actually made up of particles. These particles make up a stream of photons that hit surfaces. Some bombarded atoms will lose an electron. The free electrons look for other atoms to join. The process of losing and getting atoms creates an electrical force. The force is known as the photo electric effect that was one of Albert Einsteins main pieces of great work.
A solar panel is typically made of silicon (i.e. sand) wafers that are cut very thin. The wafers lose electrons as they are bombarded and then the electrons reattach themselves to the out edge of the solar cell. Scientists put many solar cells together to create solar arrays. Arrays are then used to power homes and commercial buildings.
There are different types of solar panels. For example, there are monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous. Each type of panel has different conversion rates and perform differently under a variety of conditions. With all that said, current production is mostly of polycrystalline because it is more economical and conversion rates are still good. Monocrystalline is best for partial shade areas and amorphous is primarily used for solar devices that do not need a lot of power.
Thin Film Solar Panels
The latest innovations are taking place in thin film solar. There are three companies that are to be looked at seriously. They are Honda Motor Company, Nanosolar, and Covalent Solar.
Honda is a company that has always been serious about the environment. Their company slogan is do no harm. They are the only company that is producing a viable commercial hydrogen car. In fact, there are a few hundred cars in production in southern California. Honda is also the only company that is still making a natural gas production car. Honda cars have always got good gas mileage and been very efficient. Honda sincerely wants to be part of the solution to the worlds problems. The reason for this background is to show how serious Honda is. They are currently focused and very serious about selling thin film solar. Honda has recently created a subsidiary called Soltec Co. Ltd in Kumamoto, Japan. Because of Hondas track record, we can expect them to be a driving force in thin film solar.
Nanosolar is a company that was funded by the founders of Google. The company has a great efficient way of producing solar panels. They take nanotech particles and submerge them in ink. The ink is printed onto plastic panels in layers. The result is a low cost solar panel that was printed with ink. The technology is amazing. Nanosolar, at this time, probably has the best technological advances in thin film solar. Nanosolar claims that they will be in production in a few years.
Covalent Solar is a new start up out of MIT. Covalent Solar takes plastic films and dyes. They put the plastic films together and create a solar panel with a superior conversion rate. Covalent Solar claims that they can get conversion rates up to 40%. That high of a conversion rate is unheard of. The world record for solar conversion rates is around 38% and is not in production. Conversion rates of today are in the high teens and the highest conversion rates approach 20%. With the new interest in green energy, it is estimated that innovation will greatly increase conversion rates and make solar much less expensive.
The final main benefit of thin film solar is not the conversion rates; it is the low cost of production. You might need a large solar array, but it will be very inexpensive to produce. It is good that there are several thin film players because it will create enough competition to get the cost down. The main cost of traditional solar panels are the silicon wafers and glass panels. Thin film solar is just a thin sheet of plastic with special dyes or inks used.
Solar Power and the Future
Solar is really the first and foremost power. Solar is the source of life for everyone. Is it any wonder that solar power is the way to go. Solar power is clean and sustainable. Solar power will create more economic freedom as dependency on fossil fuels is eliminated.
Many people think that solar will continue to double every two to three years over the next decade. If it plays out that way, solar will be the dominate power source in 10 to 20 years. Many people are rooting for solar. It is just so cool to have something so efficient, quiet, long lasting, and independent. Once solar is cheaper than coal fired plants, it will, for sure, have so much investment put into it that innovations will increase ten fold and prices will come down dramatically.
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