Solar Heating

Posted on September 28, 2011 by cpgreene

Solar Heating

You can heat water for your home by using energy from the sun. Isn’t that amazing!

Solar water heating systems use heat from the sun to warm domestic hot water. A conventional boiler or immersion heater is then used to make the water hotter, or to provide hot water when solar energy is unobtainable.

Solar Water Heating Systems – How do they work?

Solar water heating systems use solar panels known in the industry as ‘collectors’. These collectors are fitted to the roof of the house. These collect heat from the sun and use it to warm water which is stored in a hot water cylinder.

Basically there are two main types of collectors:

Flat plate systems – which are made up of an absorber plate with a transparent cover to collect the sun’s heat. These can be fixed to the roof tiles or integrated into the roof.
Evacuated tube systems – which are made up of a row of glass tubes that each contain an absorber plate feeding into a manifold which transports the heated fluid.

Heat water

Having a boiler or immersion heater can be used to increase the temperature of the water further to reach the temperature set by the cylinders thermostat when the solar water heating system does not reach that temperature.

Heat the home

If larger solar panels are installed in your home it can also provide energy to heat your home as well in a similar fashion to heating the water. Although you will need a great amount of sun to heat the home in this way outside of the summer months.

Advantages of Solar Water Heating
Hot water throughout the year: the system works all year round, though you’ll need to heat the water further with a boiler or immersion heater during the winter months.
Cut your bills: sunlight is free, so once you’ve paid for the initial installation your hot water costs will be reduced.
Cut your carbon footprint: solar hot water is a green, renewable heating system and doesn’t release any harmful carbon dioxide or other pollutants
Should I install a solar water heating system in my home?

To tell if solar water heating is right for you, there are a few key questions to consider:

Do you have a sunny place to put solar panels?
Do you have space for a larger, or an extra, hot water cylinder?
Is your current boiler compatible with solar water heating?
Do you need planning permission?
Cost and savings

Costs for a typical solar water heating system range from £3,000 to £5,000.

Savings- It will save up to 580kg of CO2 emissions, depending on what fuel you will be replacing. Also solar water heating system can provide about a third of your hot water needs, reducing your water heating bill by between £50 and £85 per year.

Maintenance costs are very low. Most solar water heating systems come with a 5-10 year warranty and require little maintenance. You should take a look at your panels every year and have them checked more thoroughly by an accredited installer every 3-5 years, or as specified by your installer.

Call us today! NetPlumb has Worcester Bosch and Ecodan Solar Panel accredited installers.

http://www.netplumb.co.uk

Written by NetPlumb

evacuated tube heat pipes

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What do you know about Solar Water Heaters?

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

About Solar Water Heaters

Solar water heating is water heated by the use of solar energy. Levi Yissar built the first solar water heater in 1953 in Israel. Due to the energy crisis in 1970s people started installation of solar water heaters in all new homes. Israel is the world leader in the use of solar energy with 85% of the households using solar thermal systems today.

Solar heating systems are generally made out of solar thermal collectors. It is a fluid system to move the heat from the collector to the point where it is used. Solar water heaters have wide variety of uses, like home, business and industries.

Residential solar thermal heaters can be further divided into two types:

1. Passive systems

2. Active systems.

Let us see about Passive systems here in this article.

Passive systems

A passive system is also known as a compact system or monobloc. It has a tank for the heated water and a solar collector mounted on the same chassis. The system will function by natural convection (thermo siphon) or heat pipes that transfer the heat energy from the collector to the tank. A special type of passive system is the Integrated Collector Storage (ICS) also called as Batch Heaters, where the tank acts as both storage and solar collector. Batch heaters are often thin rectilinear tanks with glass in the front side of it. They are mostly not pressurized; they depend on the gravitational force to deliver water.

Batch Heaters cost’s lesser than the intense plate and tube collectors but they are suitable only in moderate climates with good sunshine.

The next step of the ICS is the Convection Heat Storage Unit. These are plate type intense collectors with built in insulated tanks. These units use convection (movement of hot water upward) to move the water from heater to tank thus making them more efficient than the ICS, as the intense collector heats smaller amount of water that is constantly rising to the tank. These Convection Heat Storage units can be used in areas where there is less sunshine than the ICS.

Passive systems made of metals are not suitable for cold climates. At night the remaining water can freeze and damage the panels, and the storage tank is exposed to the outdoor temperatures that will cause excessive heat losses on cold days.

You can’t believe that a passive system can save up to 4.5 tones annually of greenhouse gas emissions, several countries are offering subsidies to the end users nowadays. These systems are designed to work for up to 25 years with minimum maintenance. When the electric heating element is not working due to reasons like power failure etc. these systems keeps on working. They do not use any external source for power as water flows due to thermo siphon principle.

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How to Cut The Cost of Your Water Heating Bill

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

Install aerating, low-flow faucets and shower heads, can reduce the water you use by up to 40% or greater.(This tip uses saves money on both water and energy bills).

Place heat traps on the hot and cold pipes at the water heater to prevent heat loss.(Some new model water heaters have built-in heat traps already installed).

Insulate your electric hot-water storage tank, but be very careful not to cover the thermostat. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Insulate your natural gas or oil hot-water storage tank can be done, but be very careful as not to cover either the bottom or top of the water-heater, the thermostat, or the burner compartment. As with the electric water-heater follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, but if you have any doubts please get professional help.

Repair leaky faucets promptly; as a leaky faucet can waste gallons of water a day.

Draining a quart o the water from your water tank 4 times a year can remove sediments that impedes heat transfer and lowers the efficiency of your heater. The type and model of you water tanks determine the steps needed to drain the tank, so please follow the manufacture’ s advice.

Helpful tips.

If your in the market for new appliances consider buying new energy and water efficient ENERGY STAR models to reduce energy and hot water use.

Consider installing a drain water waste heat recovery system. A recent DOE study showed energy savings of 25% to about 30% for water heating using such a system.

Consider installing a solar water heater.

Think about getting an natural gas on-demand or tank less water heater. recent research has shown savings up to 30% compared to the standard natural gas storage tank water heater.

Written by whiteroseknight
Freelance writer

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How to Make a Home Solar Powered

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

Have you been pondering about installing solar power for your home? Do you want to go totally solar or just partially solar? This article will define solar technology and inform you so that you can make your home solar powered as there are several options for the homeowner. This article will convey the information necessary to decide if solar is for you.

Things you’ll need

Desire to go solar

Money

Own your own home

Step 1

What does it mean to go solar? Solar thermal technologies use the sun’s heat to produce electricity. Modules are comprised of an assembly of solar cells and ancillary parts intended to generate power when exposed to sunlight. There are different types of solar generation systems. Fixed panel, Single Axis Tracking, and Dual Axis Tracking systems are as their name implies, the fixed remain stationary and the other track the sun in order to obtain the most sun possible in a day.

Houses that are solar powered by solar modules, store electricity generated during the day in batteries. The battery is a storage device that operates on the principal of changing electrical energy to chemical energy and then back to electrical energy. Sound complicated. Not really. The battery stores the energy needed for nighttime and cloudy days.

Step 2

As a homeowner, you have two choices for solar power: Off-grid installations and grid-tied installations. An off-grid simply means that the house has no connection to the electrical utility grid, i.e., all electricity used by the home is manufactured by the home electrical generation equipment. Such an installation is also called a stand alone system. The PV (photovoltaic) system could utilize a propane, diesel, or gasoline driven motor-generator to be used as a backup to the PV generating system. Cloudy days or a PV system failure could leave your family in the dark and the generator would then be a welcome insurance policy.

What about a grid-tied photovoltaic system? This type of system is tied into your electrical utility company. When the PV system produces more electricity than the house can use, the excess electricity can be fed back into the utility grid. When the house requires more power than can be supplied by the PV system, power is drawn from the utility grid. Some grid-tied residential systems have a battery back up system, some don’t. If for some reason the electrical utility grid goes down, those systems without a back up battery system will also shut down. A back up battery system will allow a grid-tied system to continue supplying power to the house after first disconnecting the house from the utility grid.

Step 3

After deciding which type of system is appropriate for you, you should contact your local city and county office to check for zoning restrictions. Also, check with any home owner’s associations or division management offices for restrictions. Obtain any permits and permissions necessary. It seems we can’t go green without permission!

Step 4

Now you need to check for both federal and state incentives for renewable energy. This will help to offset the costs associated with making your home solar powered. The DSIRE website is the most complete website I have found for renewable energy incentives. Check your individual state listing. I have listed it below in the Resource Section.

If you find any rebates, read the instructions carefully as there are often restrictions as to types of PV systems and the contractors that can be used.

Step 5

Choose your solar system and your company. There are many companies that are well equipped to sell and install solar systems. Each has its own positives and negatives. My advice is to do your research and request information from companies in your area. Be sure to get three bids and check the company with the Better Business Bureau. I’ve listed a link below.

I hope this information helps you to make your happy home solar powered!

Tips

You can also go partially solar with a solar powered water heater.

Website links:

DSIRE Website for Renewable Energy Incentives

http://www.dsireusa.org/Index.cfm?EE=1&RE=1

Better Business Bureau

http://www.bbb.org/

Written by MrsCrafty

see more at: produceyourgreenpower.com See this solar panel system with lights. Inexpensive, easy to install, reduce your power bill. Cheap Solar Power. Cheap Home System. See my part update video on the Solar Panels.

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Switching to Solar Power Energy to Run Your Home

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

Our worldwide need for electricity keeps on increasing every day, creating more environmental problems from the carbon emissions produced.  Fortunately solar power has become very suitable alternative to burning dirty pollution producing fossil fuels. The sun is an extremely powerful source of clean renewable and readily attainable energy for us to tap into.

Some people have come up with the idea that if we collect this powerful sun energy and convert into electricity and then place it into batteries we could actually supply everyone in the world with enough electricity that can last for a whole year! Unfortunately no one has found a viable way to do this yet, but the sun will be there for a very long time, so solar power is completely renewable as it will never expire or run out. Solar power has become more and more popular because it is continually becoming more efficient & affordable for consumers, especially in countries like Australia whose governments are providing generous incentives and rebates.

There is some important information that you need to know about solar power before actually deciding to purchase one for your own use. Here are some of the benefits that solar power can give you;

does not cost any money. You just need to make an initial investment to purchase the panels and have it fitted.
Solar panels last for a very long time, at least 20 years with little maintenance. This means that you should be able to pay off the costs of the investment quite quickly through savings from your power bill; at current prices it takes 4-7 years.
Solar power is very environmentally friendly. Burning of fuels usually releases pollution and greenhouse gases into our environment; which now resulted to the global warming we are experiencing. It is no surprise that so many people have readily adopted  solar power, as so many want to help save the environment and be more responsible about their carbon footprint every day.

Before purchasing the , speak to a company in your area who specialises in solar PV systems and who will make an appointment to come to your home and do an on-site assessment. They should look at the physical features of your roof and surrounds, what your current electricity usage is, and your available budget, and then design a system for you accordingly that will give the best return so that you can pay off your initial cost as quickly as possible. This will be influenced by any government rebates you have access to, and any extra schemes that are in place like the feed in tariff. In Australia the details of these vary depending on where you live, but again your solar provider should be able to give in depth advice.

Premier Solar is committed to being Australia’s leading Solar Power & Renewable Energy solutions provider for both homes and medium to large scale commercial solar projects. We are specialists in effective and affordable solar panel System design and use only fully certified installers and product components which pass all government standards and certifications, to enable our customers to access full discounts and rebates, as well enjoy the peace of mind of 25 year warranties from long established manufacturers.

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Cheap Solar Power For Your Remote Cabin

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

Do you have a remote cottage or cabin which you have difficulty getting access to power? Get cheap solar power for your remote cabin or cottage by taking advantage of renewable energy and become self-sufficient. Learn how to build you own homemade solar panel for under 0 or your own homemade windmill for under 0 and live off-the-grid.

There are many advantages of renewable energy. Solar power and wind power are usually extremely reliable, and can generate electric power continuously for many thousands of hours with little or no maintenance. You won’t have to worry about power company ‘hook-up charges’ or a monthly power bill, which is great for people who only occasionally stay at their cabin.

A home solar energy system will generate power during the day (even on cloudy days), while the home wind power system will generate power whenever the wind is blowing. These systems compliment each other, making up for each others weaknesses. You can then optionally store the power in a deep-cycle battery grid for future use.

I highly recommend implementing cheap solar energy for your remote cabin or cottage and going off-the-grid. You’ll never have to worry about the power going out for days or paying a power bill again. Going off-grid can be done for personal reasons or to lower the environmental impact of everyday life. There are lots of guides out there that teach you how to build you own solar power or wind power.

But which ones are great and which ones are junk? I purchased some of the most popular products and reviewed them to save you time and money. See which guides are the best for cheap solar power for your remote cabin or cottage. Go to http://www.squidoo.com/solarcabin to see my reviews of solar power and wind power products and see which are the best value.

Written by Tonic42

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A Bright Future for Solar Energy: An Alternative Energy Source

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

A Bright Future for Solar Energy: An Alternative Energy Source

I was first introduced to solar energy in the movie, Race the Sun with James Belushi and Halley Berry in the lead. It was a story about low- income and under achieving Hawaiian students encouraged by their teacher to join the Solar Car race. In the movie, a car shaped like a cockroach and covered with solar panels used the sun’s rays as an alternative energy source to run the car.

Solar energy is the light and the heat from the sun. Solar energy is free and its supplies are unlimited. There are n air and water pollution caused about by using solar energy. But there is still some impacts on the environment although indirect.

Photovoltaic cells used to convert sunlight into electricity uses silicon and also produce some waste materials. There are also large solar thermal farms and these farms can also be harmful to the environment and desert ecosystems if not properly managed.

Solar energy can be used on different aspects. Solar energy can be used in agriculture. Greenhouses (which is entirely different from greenhouse gas) convert solar light to heat to be maximized in enhancing the growth of plants and crops. Greenhouses has been around since the Roman times and modern greenhouses were built in Europe in 16th century. Greenhouses are still an important part of horticulture nowadays,

Daylight systems are also being used to maximize the energy released by the sun. It is used to provide interior illumination replacing the artificial lighting. Daylight systems include sawtooth roofs, light shelf, skylights, and light tube. Daylight systems when they are properly implemented can reduce lighting-related energy consumption by 25 percent.

Solar energy can also be developed into solar thermal technologies which can be used for water heating, space heating, space cooling and process heat generation. Solar energy can also be used to distil water and make saline or brackish water potable or drinkable.

The solar water disinfection or SODIS involves exposing water-filled plastic polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles. This process takes a long time, since the exposure time varies on the weather conditions. It requires a minimum of six hours to two days during days with overcast conditions. Currently, there are two million people in developing centuries use SODIS for their daily drinking water needs.

Also sunlight can be converted into electricity using photovoltaics or PV. PV has been mainly used to power small and medium-sized things like a calculator powered by a single solar cell. There are homes powered by photovoltaics. Using solar energy for water and space heating is the most widely use application of solar energy. While ventilation and solar air heating is also growing in popularity.

There are three main ways in using solar energy. The main way of using and converting solar energy is by using the solar cells. Solar cells convert light directly into electricity. Solar cells are also called photovoltaic or photoelectric cells.

Meanwhile, solar furnaces use a huge array of mirrors to concentrate on the Sun’s energy into a small space and produced very high temperatures. Solar furnaces are also called “solar cookers”. A solar cooker can be used in hot countries to cook food.

With all the benefits if using solar energy, there is still a downside for this alternative energy source. It does not work during night time. The cost of setting up solar stations is expensive, but the benefit of using solar energy when accumulated is so much more.

Written by clost67

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Why are solar energy systems ideal for Danville homes and commercial set-ups?

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

Solar electric systems are believed to be the best eco-friendly electric systems for residential and commercial set ups in Danville, East Bay, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, and other parts of California. The solar electric systems can be used to power homes or businesses. By virtue of using this natural form of energy, the solar electric systems help reduce the dependency on non-renewable energy forms like gas, oil, and other fuels. It helps households and businesses to participate actively in energy conservation.

Solar electric systems in Danville can easily meet varied domestic and commercial energy requirements. Solar panels are able to tap the maximum amount of solar energy and utilize it for powering anything you can plug into an outlet. Depending on your solar electric system, the energy generated which is not used can be stored in large batteries.

Solar electric panels generate what can be termed as “green energy” as they do not release carbon dioxide and other harmful substances in to the air. This helps home owners and industries contribute towards reducing their carbon footprint in the environment, thereby reducing global warming and air pollution.

Solar power systems offer an economical energy solution to households and commercial set ups who are tired of ever increasing energy costs. Solar energy systems can help reduce electricity bills by almost 60-70% and thereby save a good amount of money for the users. Moreover, the Government pays for upto 45% of the initial cost and after installation, you can enjoy free energy with very small initial costs.

If you wish to enjoy the benefits offered by solar electric systems, buy a solar system today. There are several stores that sell solar electric systems. Some of them even provide professional installation services for residential and commercial set ups to let the users get the most out of their solar electric systems.

If you are wondering where you can buy the highest quality solar electric systems at competitive rates, please visit diablosolar.com. Diablo Solar is a leading provider of high quality solar power panels in Danville, East Bay, San Ramon and solar energy systems in Walnut Creek at attractive rates.

Diablo Solar Services is the leading solar equipment provider in East Bay area catering to both commercial and residential solar heating requirements. Know more about various topics like solar pool heating East Bay, solar panels in Danville & solar power in San Ramon.

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Some Disadvantages of Solar Energy

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

The solar energy is proving to be the best alternative source for producing energy. But as they say all things invented have their own disadvantages or bad side; this article will discuss some of the disadvantages that solar energy has.

The main disadvantage that has for many people would be the initial installation cost. The initial set-up of the equipment has in the past has been too much for an average family but things have improved now with reduced prices & generous government subsidies & rebates available.

Solar energy is still the best clean renewable alternative source to use compared the available dirty fossil fuel technologies. With the price of the solar panels continuing to decrease with improved technology and more widespread manufacturing there is likely to be a widespread increase the use of the solar cells to generate electricity for both home and industrial purposes.

Another disadvantage of solar energy installation is that it requires a large available area (generally roof space) for the system to a high enough KWh size to be efficient in providing a large source of electricity. This can be a problem in high density urban areas where space is minimal and often expensive to own as well in some cities.  High Pollution can also cause a disadvantage to the solar panels as it can degrade the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells.

Clouds also give a similar disadvantage, as clouds lessen the energy of the sun rays. These disadvantages were more pronounced with the older solar components and designs however, and the newer designs of have features that lessen these kinds of effects…… As we already know solar energy needs the sunlight to produce and convert energy into electricity so solar panels can only be useful during the day and at night your expensive solar equipment is useless. However, the use of solar battery chargers helps to reduce this disadvantage, or even better in Australia & Germany there are effective Feed In Tariff programs that allow people to sell their solar produced electricity during the day at a profit & buy fossil fuel produced electricity at night for a cheaper rate.

It’s important that solar panels are properly placed where they can get the maximum amount of direct sunlight so that your systems optimal output can be reached. Obviously Solar panels should not be placed in an area that has obstructions like buildings and landscaping, and the direction & aspect of the roof is also very important. Make sure your solar system is installed by an experienced and accredited installer.

So these are the disadvantages of making the switch to renewable solar energy. People should always consider the positive or the advantages of solar energy. At this point in our environmental crisis solar energy is proving to be one of the greatest invention of mankind, and it is set to become even more crucial and bigger in the future!

Premier Solar is committed to being Australia’s leading Solar Power & Renewable Energy solutions provider for both homes and medium to large scale commercial solar projects. We are specialists in effective and affordable solar panel System design and use only fully certified installers and product components which pass all government standards and certifications, to enable our customers to access full discounts and rebates, as well enjoy the peace of mind of 25 year warranties from long established manufacturers.

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What You Should Know Green Energy

Posted on July 2, 2011 by cpgreene

Green energy refers to the use of power that is not only more efficient than fossil fuel but that is friendly to the environment as well. Green energy is generally defined as energy sources that dont pollute and are renewable.

There are several categories of green energy. They are anaerobic digestion, wind power, geothermal power, hydropower on a small scale, biomass power, solar power and wave power. Waste incineration can even be a source of green energy.

Nuclear power plants claim that they produce green energy as well, though this source is fraught with controversy, as we all know. While nuclear energy may be sustainable, may be considered renewable and does not pollute the atmosphere while it is producing energy, its waste does pollute the biosphere as it is released.

The transport, mining and phases before and after production of nuclear energy does produce and release carbon dioxide and similar destructive greenhouse gases. When we read of green energy, therefore, we rarely see nuclear power included.

Those who support nuclear energy say that nuclear waste is not, in fact, released into our earths biosphere during its normal production cycle. They stress as well that the carbon dioxide that nuclear energy production releases is comparable, in terms of each kilowatt hour of electricity, to such sources of green energy as wind power.

As an example of the green energy production the average wind turbine, such as the one in Reading England, can produce enough energy daily to be the only energy source for 1000 households.

Many countries now offer household and commercial consumers to opt for total use of green energy. They do this one of two ways. Consumers can buy their electricity from a company that only uses renewable green energy technology, or they can buy from their general supplies such as the local utility company who then buys from green energy resources only as much of a supply as consumers pay for.

The latter is generally a more cost – efficient way of supplying a home or office with green energy, as the supplier can reap the economic benefits of a mass purchase. Green energy generally costs more per kilowatt hour than standard fossil fuel energy.

Consumers can also purchase green energy certificates, which are alternately referred to as green tags or green certificates. These are available in both Europe and the United States, and are the most convenient method for the average consumer to support green energy. More than 35 million European households and one million American households now buy these green energy certificates.

While green energy is a great step in the direction of keeping our environment healthy and our air as pollutant free as possible, it must be noted that no matter what the energy, it will negatively impact the environment to some extent.

Every energy source, green or otherwise, requires energy. The production of this energy will create pollution during its manufacture. Green energys impact is minimal, however.

James Copper owns www.propertycareerskills.co.uk who offer energy training and assessment.

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