A Beginner’s To Guide Solar Energy Power

Solar energy power for the beginner is a simple look at what solar energy is and how to integrate this clean renewable alternative energy source into your own day by day life!

Solar Power – How it works

Solar energy is a natural form of renewable power that comes from the sun. The sun releases energy through both light waves and various unseen energy waves and particles such as photons, infrared, etc. Sunlight is a renewable energy source. Unlike coal or oil, sunlight is likely to be available for free with no environmental consequences for centuries to come.

There are challenges to using solar to the same extent as oil and coal for a power source. While we can control the flow of oil and coal as we remove it from the ground, solar energy is at the whim of the weather and, of course, nighttime there isn’t any. So we need to have sufficient storage capacity to get us through the times when the sun is down or covered by clouds.  Although the sunlight itself is free, harnessing and storing solar power can be expensive. The good news is that both collection and storage of energy from the sun is getting cheaper.

How is Solar Power Used?

Energy from the sun has been used since the begiining of time by humans, animals and nature. Think of how we manage the sun everyday. We manage it as a simple light source, a winter heat source, and in the summer it helps our food grow. Animals management it the same way. The sun provides plants with the energy required for them to grow and produce food. The sun heats our oceans, rivers, lakes and streams, and by heating certain areas more than others, it causes the wind to blow.

We have finally learned to convert sunlight into energy with solar panels both to power appliances and gadgets and heat water. Solar panels capture the solar energy and batteries stockpile the energy so we can power our homes. What’s more, in many states now, there are laws requiring power companies to buy excess power generated by your home’s solar panels.

Types of Solar Power

There are two types of solar power for residential use. These are passive and active solar.

Passive solar is the collection of energy directly from the sun. It is usually collected through windows to directly heat the interior of a home and with the use of solar chimneys, passive solar energy can actually cool a house. And, of course, plants use this kind of direct solar energy for photosynthesis. Passive solar energy does not require any mechanical management devices to work. Hence the name ‘passive.’

Active solar is captured and stored energy which is collected through solar cells and solar panels. This allows it to be used for things like creating electricity, heating water or selling power to the power company. Active solar can work generators, engines, panels, appliances and lights. These days almost everybody can manage solar power.

The imminent rise of Solar Power

Solar energy has been a to a certain extent a slowly growing power source. This has mostly been due to the overhead costs associated with manufacturing the solar panels. The good news is, manufacturing costs are going away down at this point and knowledge is advancing to help brand solar a viable and usable energy source.

With the depletion of fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources, our planet needs options like sustainable and renewable energy. Solar energy, because of its abundance and intensity, has the potential to become one of our top energy sources!

Originally posted 2010-01-10 08:33:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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