Living in Nevada, the sun is an almost constant companion. This gives Nevadans a unique opportunity to use solar radiation powers for good. In April, a tour of southern Nevada homes shed some light on the subject of solar powered homes. Hosted by the American Solar Energy Society, this Nevada branch of the National Solar Tour explored homes that used both passive and active solar power, thermal hot water systems, and other environmentally features. However, unless you’re a green technologies expert, or took the tour, you may not know the difference between passive and active solar, or how thermal hot water is different than average. Let me help you understand!
Active solar technology is the one that most people may be familiar with. It involves having a solar panel that collects the sun’s energy and converts it into electricity. These have a battery where energy is stored, so electricity can still be used at night, and, to a certain extent, on cloudy days. Solar panels are an excellent way to make electricity, especially in remote areas. While they are moderately costly to set up, and do require some maintenance, they provide reliable and free electricity, even in climates far less sunny than Nevada’s.
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Solar water heating is an effective way to conserve heat from sunrays with the help of domestic hot water systems.
Better than the conventional water heating systems, the technology used in solar water heating is suitable for all kinds of electrical equipment and supports a variety of applications. As surveys reveal, water heating is the second largest means of energy consumption in usual households. This engulfs a huge wastage of electricity and rise of electric bills, and in turn facilitates the exhaustion of valuable non renewable energy resources. Hence, solar water heating proves as an ideal way to solve all problems regarding usage of domestic electricity and water heating.
The best thing about the solar water heating systems is that the fuel they use is free i.e. sunlight. A solar water heater can convert both direct and indirect sunlight into heat and other sources of energy. So it works even with an overcast sky. Solar water heating systems include two major components. They are:
Storage tanks.
Solar collectors.
The Storage tanks are responsible for holding heated water for bathing and warming purposes. This tank is well insulated so the inner temperature is maintained. more…
Solar Panels are the simplest form of technology for making the best use of renewable energy. The Sun is considered as the ultimate source for energy for all living forms on earth.
As known widely, on a bright sunny day, the sun supplied around 1000 watts of energy on every square meter of earth’s surface. The most appropriate method to conserve fuel sources and yet produce sufficient energy for our domestic as well as industrial purposes is to collect this solar energy. Solar Panels are devices that collect and convert this solar energy from sun and convert into electricity and heat.
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