Solar Cells and Panels for Active Solar Power

Check out solar energy advantages in using solar cells. Solar cells are long lasting sources of energy which can be used almost anywhere. They are particularly useful where there is no national grid and also where there are no people such as remote site water pumping or in space.

Solar cells require very little maintenance (they have no moving parts that will need to be fixed), and they last a long time

Solar cells provide cost effective solutions to energy problems in places where there is no mains electricity. Solar cells are also totally More »

Solar Energy Advantages

Solar energy advantages. Looking to supplement your electric power and beat the utility bills. check out a few advantages by going solar.

The source of solar energy is free – it needs no fuel and produces no waste or pollution. It makes a great resource if you live in a sunny climate and would like to go on or off grid.Solar power is handy for low-power uses such as solar powered garden lights and battery chargers.

Solar energy is More »

Solar Power Systems

Solar power systems have experienced a surge in popularity because of the rising cost of conventional energy sources. By adding a solar energy system to your home, you can recoup your investment over a few years and continue to save money on utility bills for the life of your system.
For many households, the lion’s share of the electric utility expense is used in heating the house in the winter and cooling the house during summer months. If you live in the northern climates with intensely cold winters, heating bills during the winter can be astronomical for a home that is only mid-sized. In the Deep South, the greatest expense is often from cooling the house during the hot, humid spring, summer and fall months. Solar power systems More »

Solar Power Start Kit

If you want to purchase a solar power kit to install solar power for your home, there are some specific factors you will want to consider. Whether you want a solar kit for your home’s power or for a cabin, a camp house or supplemental power to reduce the bills from traditional power, you will want a top-quality kit that will work well and be easy to install.

Any solar power kit you consider should include a photovoltaic power collector. This collector can be used to heat hot water for your needs or to produce battery stored power for your electric needs. The collector will More »

Solar Power Cars

People think that solar power cars are only a thing of the future. Yet, they are right on the horizon for use on the highways of American and other countries. Each year, the solar power cars that race across various countries prove that the concept is viable and can work for everyone.

The idea at this time is not to do away completely with other fuel sources for cars on the world’s highways. Simply supplementing the use of traditional fuel will save both the environment and the economy a great deal each and every year.

Today, the solar power cars used in the races are run only on solar power and therefore are rather odd in appearance. Because they are designed to collect the most solar energy in order to gain the speed and obtain the efficiency desired, the solar cells are large More »

Solar Power for Residential Homes

Solar power for residential homes can provide hot water, warm pools, heating and even energy for cooking. This resource can be tapped with an initial investment that will pay for itself over a reasonably short period of time. Instead of paying power companies for use of non-renewable resources, families can not only save money, but help save the environment as well.

Most systems that provide solar power for residential homes compliment the traditional power systems More »

Solar Energy Projects

Solar energy projects can save you money on home water heating and other energy needs or you can start a solar energy project that is fun as a science project. In fact, solar energy is used in many objects in your life today. Have you every looked at that small cordless calculator you use and noticed five or six little cells on the front? These are collectors for solar or light energy. The same concepts that operate your calculator are used in larger projects from residential to commercial to small science projects for More »

Solar cell much less silicon – cheaper power. New design from CalTech.

New Solar Cells Promises Cheaper Power

California Institute of Technology physics professor Harry Atwater has come up with a new way of making efficient solar cells that use only 1 to 2% of the silicon needed to make conventional silicon based photovoltaic solar cells.

“Our technology uses 50-100 times less silicon,” Atwater said, “in the form of a sparse array of wires. And that sparse array of wires has exactly the same light absorption and electricity-collection properties as the conventional silicon wafer cell.”

The cost of the purified silicon needed for silicon based solar cells is very high, so anything that cuts down on the amount of silicon used leads to cheaper solar cells. More »