A brief introduction to solar power technology

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We have come to know that solar power is an incredibly and dramatically important issue in today’s world. Solar power technologies can use the sun’s energy and light to provide heat, light, hot water, electricity, and even cooling for such things as homes, businesses and industries. Today there are several primary solar technologies that are in common use, which include: photovoltaics, passive solar heating, concentrating solar power, solar hot water and space heating and cooling.

 
We have all seen those solar panels on temporary work-site traffic signs. and they operate using photovoltaics. Photovoltaics are solar cells which are used to directly convert sunlight into electricity. These solar power cells are made of semi conducting materials, the most common of which is crystalline silicon. It is Used in many forms, including: single-crystalline or monocrystalline silicon, multicrystalline or polycrystalline silicon, ribbon and sheet silicon, and thin-layer silicon. With no moving parts, these solar cells are used in applications ranging from satellites to recreational vehicles. You likely have one on your battery-less desk calculator!

 
A cat lying in a sunny window is absorbing solar power but passive solar power heating mainly involves buildings which are designed to absorb the sun’s heat energy during the day suffcient to continute keeping the interior warm during the non-daylight hours. These buildings incorporate design features such as that of south-facing windows and massive heat absorbing materials such as rock and concrete to slowly release the sun’s heat. Passive solar heating means that there are no mechanical means at all used, and passive solar designs often include natural ventilations for cooling.

 
The concentrating of solar power involves that of technologies which use reflective materials such as mirrors in order to concentrate the sun’s energy; this then concentrated form of energy is converted into electricity or heat. Solar hot water heaters on the other hand, use the sun to either heat water or some other type of heat-transfer fluid in solar panel collectors. A typical solar hot water and space heating and cooling system may reduce the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds, which is obviously a quite dramatic savings.

 
While we might not have thought so, solar power, besides providing heat and light, is also what causes the wind that we feel on Earth. This is because winds are created when various layers of that atmosphere absorb different amount of heat and therefore expand differently, thus creating regions of lower and higher pressure, which results in masses of air that circulate both at ground level as well as that of higher altitudes. Solar power is also responsible for creating the fossil fuels including petroleum, natural gas and coal.  These substances were created as through the decay and compression of large masses of decayed plant matter, which had absorbed solar energy when living.

To make power in your own home with solar power and wind energy to reduce or even eliminate your power bill, get our complete home owner’s solar power guide.