Solar Alternative Energy

March 8, 2009   ·   Solar Alternative Energy   ·   819 views   ·    Print This Post

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Solar alternative energy is nothing new,, in fact pre-historic cultures implemented it in the heating of their dwellings, the drying of clothing, and the curing of food. In fact the Sun in many cultures was worshipped as the life giving and sustaining god. 

Many ancient cultures thought so highly of the sun that they built observatories to track it’s location in the sky (ie. pyramids and stonehenge). In ancient Rome it was illegal for someone to build a structure that was tall enough to block the sunlight of a neighbors dwelling.

Other ancient cultures such as the Anasazi cliff dwellers used their understanding of the sun’s motion to heat and cool their homes. All of their dwelling were built on the side of cliffs that faced the south, while utilizing the overhangs from the cliffs to shade their homes in the summer. 

When fossil fuels came onto the scene, solar energy was mostly forgotten, and basically relegated to situations only where conventional power methods were not available. A perfect example of this would be for satellite use, where it would be impossible to carry the quantity of fuel that the satellite would require for operation over it’s lifetime.

Believe it or not, some homeowner associations around the US and UK prohibit the installation of solar panels on residences, and hanging clothes outside to dry. Solar alternative energy is usually thought of as the small little black squares on calculators, which are photovoltaic panels. 

Photovoltaic solar systems are not the only type on the market, solar thermal systems use sunlight to boil water which feeds a turbine generator, similar to what takes place in a normal run of the mill power plant. to accomplish the feat of heating water to the boiling point you have to concentrate the sunlight from a large area to a small area, like a magnifying glass.

Solar alternative energy have similar efficiencies to those of a coal, nuclear or natural gas powered plant. As this article is written this type of system produces electricity at a cost that is slightly more than $.10/kWhr, 2 times the efficiency of coal or natural gas. 

As yesterday so today solar alternative energy is best utilized for the purpose of heating, in fact in most instances it is used to heat the air in homes or offices or to replace the hot water system. There are three main components of solar alternative systems, a collector, a heat transfer fluid and a storage unit. 

There are many advantages to switching to a solar alternative energy: 

1. Money saving - After recovering the funds used to install the system, basically all of the rest of your energy comes freely from the sun. 

2. Environmentally friendly - Solar energy is clean, renewable and sustainable. 

3. Solar energy can lead you to be totally independent or semi-independent from local power, depending on which avenue you take. 

4. Low to no maintenance - Once installed, there are no recurring costs and are virtually maintenance free. 

It is going to take people like you and I who change the world by their action. Get involved and encourage your local politicians and policymakers, global citizens, energy officials, companies, investors and other interested parties to support solar power by taking the necessary steps which will help more than a billion people to get electricity from the sun, harnessing the full potential of solar alternative energy for our common good and all of mankind.

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