Living Clean

Solar Hot Water

Solar hot water heating systems are an effective way of conserving energy and reducing your energy bill.

Contrary to popular belief, solar water heating is not a new technology. Solar water heating systems have been used commercially for over a century now, with the first commercial water heater (the Climax Solar-Water Heater) going on sale in 1891 in the United States. By the year 1900, over 1600 houses in California were equipped with this solar water heater.

Due to its effectiveness and low cost, the solar water heating gained popularity until, by 1941, more than half the population of Florida was getting its hot water through solar water heaters!

Solar water heating only lost its popularity as a result of lowered electricity rates, and an aggressive campaign by Florida Power and Light to increase electrical consumption. This was done by offering electric water heaters at bargain prices. Thus Florida's solar water heating was brought to halt.

The United States is not the only country with a solar water heating history. There are many other countries where solar water heating was used in the past and has since fallen out of use - but not all of them. In fact, currently more than ten million Japanese households heat their water using solar water heating systems. This is definite proof that it is a workable technology.

Important Facts about Solar Hot Water Heating Systems

* Solar water heating can be used in any climate. Sound unbelievable? Check it out on the U.S. Department of Energy website. They say so as well.

* The fuel used to run a solar water heater is sunshine. And, at the time of this writing, sunshine is free - no tax has been added yet.

* A solar water heater can reduce your water heating bill by 50%-80%. But with energy prices going up, the amount of savings will soon be even higher.

* Aside from reducing your energy bill right now, a solar water heating system will protect you from future energy price increases. Your heating will no longer rely on fossil fuels for electricity.

* When building a new home, or when refinancing, the economic aspect of this becomes even more interesting.

You can, for instance, include the cost of a solar water heater with a new thirty-year mortgage package. This would usually amount to about $13.00 -$20.00 a month. Federal income tax deductions for mortgage interest would reduce the payment for the solar water heater by about $3.00 -$5.00 per month.

If your fuel savings with a solar water heating system is $15.00 or more per month (which it likely will be) you will have reduced your monthly heating bill right then and there.

* Solar water heating will significantly reduce your carbon footprint, and reduce the demand for fossil fuels which pollute the environment.

* Solar heaters can be installed in combination with backup systems. In fact, you could install a solar water heater next to your existing system and make it possible switch to conventional water heating whenever necessary. This way you are guaranteed always to have hot water.

Types of Solar Hot Water Heating Systems

There are two types of solar water heating systems, active solar water heating systems and passive solar water heating systems. They both work on the same principles.

The only difference is that active systems have a pump or other mechanical means of moving the water through the solar heating systems, and passive systems rely on nature's principles: warm water rises to the top, and cold water sinks to the bottom. With a passive solar water heating system, the water storage tank must therefore always be positioned above the solar water heater collector.

Active Solar Hot Water Heating

There are two main designs of active water heating systems. Which one is best for you depends on the climate you live in.

There is what's called an "indirect circulation system" which uses a non-freezing heat-transfer fluid to transfer heat from the collector to a heat exchanger (a device used to transfer heat from the heat transfer fluid to the water in your storage tank). This is good for colder climates.

There is also the direct circulation system, where water is simply passed through solar heat collector and then routed to the water storage tank for use. This system works fine in milder climates.

Passive Solar Hot Water Heating

Passive solar water heating systems are usually cheaper than "active solar water heating systems," as they do not need controls or pumps to circulate the water.

But generally, they are not as effective as the active systems. If you live in a warm climate, a passive water heating system might be all you need. Passive water heating systems are also known for being very reliable.

Essentially, solar water heating systems consist of a water storage tank and its solar collectors. The solar collectors are used to collect solar energy which heats water, and the tanks store the heated water. That's all there is to it.

Find more information about Solar Hot Water.

Facts about Solar Energy

Solar energy consists of the light and heat which is emitted by the sun as electromagnetic radiation.

With today's technology, we are able to capture this radiation and turn it into usable forms of solar energy - such as heating or electricity.

Although one could go into technical dissertations on the subject of electromagnetic radiation, how it is converted into solar energy, and the exact qualities of its electromagnetic rays, this is not something the average person needs or wants to know.

But in order to be able to benefit from the use of solar energy, there are a few facts you should know. Knowing these facts can assist you to make sound decisions, when looking at the use of solar power as a clean energy source for your home, RV, or whatever the case may be.

- Environmental Facts about Solar Energy

All life on earth is dependent upon solar energy. In fact, without solar energy, there would be no life at all. Even the lowest life forms, such as plankton and microbes, need solar energy (in the form of sunlight) in order to survive.

Solar energy is completely environmental friendly, producing absolutely no carbon emissions or other harmful byproducts whatsoever.

Solar energy can be used successfully and cost-effectively just about anywhere on the planet. You do not need to live in a tropical or desert climate in order to benefit from the use of solar energy. Solar power has been used successfully in many cold climates and even in the polar regions.

Every part of the United States receives sufficient sunlight to benefit from and make use of solar energy and solar technology.

The cheapest and most effective method of utilizing solar energy in your home is currently the use of solar water heating systems. In fact, for over one hundred years, solar water heating systems have been commercially available in the United States.

Solar energy can be used for heating homes effectively in cold climates, as well as in warm climates. In fact, solar heating has been in use many cold-climate northern European countries for several decades now.

Solar energy technology has advanced far enough that it can be a viable and cost-effective replacement for regular grid-electricity.

Solar energy is rapidly increasing in popularity - so much so that the demand for solar-powered gadgets is currently greater than the supply.

- Facts about Solar Energy Usage

Solar energy can be used to provide electricity, heating and hot water for homes.

Solar energy can also be used to heat swimming pools. In fact, many pools in Scandinavia and Europe are heated with solar energy.

Solar Energy can be used to power vehicles, such as solar powered cars, and even a solar powered airplanes. NASA has successfully designed, built, and tested an airplane which is powered wholly by solar energy.

A few examples are: solar battery chargers, solar flashlights, solar calculators, solar radios, solar-powered attic fans, solar power backpacks (to recharge batteries for small devices), hybrid solar chargers (for cell phones, satellite phones, and more), solar-powered garden lights ... and much, much more.

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For further information and explanations about solar energy and how you can use it to save money and protect the environment, visit Facts about Solar Energy and Alternative Energy.

Solar Cells

A "solar cell" is a device which changes sunlight into electricity. More technically, a solar cell is also referred to as a "photovoltaic cell."

The term "photo" derives from the Greek word for "light," and the term "voltaic" comes from the word "volt" which means "electrical force." A "cell" is a small receptacle or container containing electrodes which generate power.

Thus, a photovoltaic cell is a container that creates electric force, through light.

Whereas a solar cell can generate electricity from any light source, its intended use is the collection of solar energy from the sun.

- How a Solar Cell Works

The solar cell works as follows:

Photons (which are particles of light in sun rays) hit the surface of the solar cell and are absorbed a semiconductor, such as silicon.

These photons (bits of sunlight) knock electrons loose from the atoms inside the semiconductor. The photons then push the electrons along, leaving a "gap" in the atom. Another electron is then pulled from an adjacent atom to fill the gap. And so an electrical flow is generated.

The simplicity of this is that one atom has an extra electron, and the other atom is missing one. This is referred to as a "difference in potential." Nature, wanting to remain balanced, tries to even things out by pulling another electron from the neighboring atom.

A solar panel is made up of a group of solar cells linked together to produce the desired amount of electrical energy.

A group of solar cells linked together can also be referred to as a "module." Thus the terms "solar panel," and "solar module," are synonymous to each other, and essentially mean the exact same thing. "Solar panel" is the more common term, and "solar module" is the technical term.

One can use solar panels individually or one can link several together in order to generate more electricity. When a group of solar panels are linked together, it is called a "solar array". The more solar panels are included in a solar array, the more power they produce.

Solar Power is a clean energy source which is virtually unlimited. I say "virtually unlimited" because the sun itself won't last forever. But we won't have to worry about that for the next few billion years.

Since solar power is a clean energy source which has been around for decades, one might wonder why its not used more. The answer to this lies partially in the cost of producing solar panels, as well as in the efficiency of the solar panels.

We are currently in the second generation of solar panel technology and verging on the third. A lot has changed since the first generation. Solar panels a are becoming a viable source of clean energy.

The first solar cells were relatively large and bulky compared to our current models. In view of the amount of energy and material required to produce them, and the amount of energy they actually produced, it was more costly to use solar energy than to use fossil fuels. The only exception was in places where no fossil fuels were available, such as in space.

With the second-generation solar cells, we attempted to tackle this exact problem. We attempted improve manufacturing techniques so as to reduce the costs, materials and energy needed for the production of solar cells.

Recently, major advances have been made in the production of solar cells, which have reduced production costs.

One contribution in this area was the development of techniques to coat glass or ceramic materials with very thin layers of semi-conductive substances. This made it possible to produce solar panels using only a fraction of the semi-conductive material that was required earlier. The production of solar panels using this second-generation technology is referred to as "Thin Film Technology."

Third-generation solar energy technologies are currently being researched and developed. The objective is to improve the power of solar cells even further (while keeping production costs to a minimum) in which case thirty to sixty percent of the sunlight hitting the panels will be converted into electricity. (Current solar panels only convert about twenty percent.)

But regardless of third generation solar technology, the second-generation solar cell is efficient enough to make solar technology viable - and a host of new solar-powered products have hit the consumer market.

Solar-powered calculators have been around for a while now, we've all seen them. We have even seen a few other novelty devices. But only in the last few years have solar devices come into serious and practical use.

The last two years in particular have seen a virtual explosion of solar devices hitting the market. Solar flashlights (I've often wandered what use they were), solar-powered radios, and, recently, solar battery chargers.

One can also now find a wide range of portable solar chargers and panels, which are lightweight and easy to transport, yet capable of providing a decent amount of power in even the most remote locations. Solar chargers are becoming a standard part of emergency preparedness kits and wilderness survival kits.

All of this is a result of the developments in solar cell technology, and the coming of the Solar Age.

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Anna is the webmaster of Portable Solar Power and Solar Chargers and Living Clean.

Solar Energy

Light (particularly sunlight) can be used to create heat or generate electrical power. This is referred to as solar energy.

It is a clean form of energy production, which doesn't pollute the environment, as some other forms of energy production do.

There are two forms of solar energy. The first is solar thermal conversion, which uses sunlight to create heat and then electrical power. The second is photovoltaic conversion, which uses sheets of special materials to create electricity from the sun. Photo- means "light," and voltaic means "producing electricity."

Solar Thermal Conversion

Solar thermal conversion systems use reflectors or mirrors to concentrate sunlight to extremely intense levels of heat. (Solar means "of the sun," thermal means "of heat" and conversion means "changing something from one form to another.")

You can understand this better if you consider the example of using a magnifying glass to start a fire. You may have heard of this or even tried it before. You can hold a magnifying glass under the sun, and concentrate the light on a small pile of flammable materials. The magnifying glass will make the sun's heat much stronger, and will light the materials on fire. It has been said that a magnifying glass one meter in diameter, held under the sun, will create a ray hot enough to melt stone.

If you want to experiment, hold a magnifying glass flat under the sun and put your hand under it. Very soon you will need to move your hand away - don't burn yourself.

Solar thermal conversion systems use mirrors or reflectors to concentrate sunlight onto containers full of liquid. Sometimes water is used. Sometimes other liquids are used, which retain heat better than water.

The liquids are heated up to high temperatures, and this produces steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine. The turning motion of the turbine is used to create electricity.

How does a rotating motion create electricity? When you set up a coiled wire or similar device to rotate between two magnets, it generates an electric current. This is how electric generators work, as well as windmills, nuclear power plants, and other energy plants which use such things as coal, gas, or petroleum.

Windmills use the wind to create the turning motion. Nuclear power or fossil fuels are used to heat water up, thus creating steam to turn the turbines.

Solar heating is another form of solar thermal conversion. In solar heating, an absorber is used to take in sunlight and convert it to heat. The absorber could be something simple, like black paint, or it could be a special ceramic material. A heat absorber is considered to a be good one when it collects at least 95 percent of the sun's radiation.

The absorbers are then used to heat a fluid, which is then circulated to warm up buildings or to create hot-water supplies.

Photovoltaic Conversion

As covered above, photo means "light." It comes from the Greek word phos, which means "light."

Voltaic means, "producing electric current." The word comes from the name of Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist who was a pioneer in the field of electricity during the 1700's. (His name is also where the word "volt" comes from.)

Photovoltaic means, "creating electrical energy when exposed to light."

A cell is a device that produces electricity. An example of an electrical cell is a flashlight battery.

Photovoltaic cells produce electricity when they are exposed to light. They usually consist of panels. The panels contain two layers of different materials.

When light hits these two layers, one of the layers becomes positively charged, and the other becomes negatively charged.

This works similarly to a regular flashlight battery, which has a positive end and a negative end. When a wire connects the two ends, they produce an electric current.

When the two layers of material in a solar cell are exposed to light, they create an electric current.

The AMOUNT of electricity generated by a solar power cell depends on several factors. Mainly:

-How big is the solar power device, and how much surface is exposed to the sun?

-How strong is the sun? (This depends on time of day, weather, latitude, etc.)

-How long is the solar power device exposed?

-How much impediment is there to the light? (Clouds, mist, dust, dirt, etc.)

In other words, a solar power cell generates electricity faster when the sun (or light) is brighter. A device with larger solar panels will produce more electricity than one with smaller panels. Exposing the cell for a longer period of time will create more electricity than exposing it for a shorter period of time. A panel near the equator will be more effective than one in an arctic region. A solar panel in misty or dusty conditions does not create as much electricity as it would in full, unobstructed sun.

Some solar cells produce only enough current to power small electronic devices, but can be "daisy-chained" (connected together) in order to create more electricity for other items.

Solar cells which produce enough electricity to run larger equipment (such as laptops) may be larger, more expensive, or heavier than the others.

But there are many varieties available. Individuals and companies are consistently striving to create lighter and more efficient portable solar cells.

Solar Energy and the Future

An advantage to solar power is that it can reduce expenses. It can also be portable. When one is backpacking in the wilderness or travelling far from power grids, solar power can provide a means of powering electronic equipment. Another advantage is, of course, the lack of pollution created by solar energy production. In fact, if all of our electrical energy were produced by such means, we might not be worrying about global warming and the other destructive effects of pollution on our environment.

These threats to our environment also pose a threat to mankind. Solar power could be developed to a point where it, along with other forms of renewable energy, would replace harmful means of electricity production.

It isn't necessarily impossible to have a clean and safe Earth. We just have to work on it.

Find information on solar chargers, solar battery chargers, and how many watts you need in a solar charger.