Solar Energy

Solar panels hold a wealth of benefits, both for individuals and for the world at large. Economically, solar panels promise to lower the cost of electrical power. Environmentally, solar panels can give us cleaner power, sustainable power that will not require further damage to the environment. Solar power can reach remote areas. It can carry education, or urgently needed medical information.

The effects of clouds on a solar panel, though, might diminish those and other promising benefits.

The effects of clouds on a solar panel might make it far less efficient in certain parts of the world and at certain seasons.

For that reason, people who are considering solar panels for their homes are often heard to ask: will clouds affect my solar panels?

Will Clouds Affect My Solar Panels?

Clouds do affect solar panels. The amount of power your solar panels can produce is directly dependent on the level of light they receive.

In full, bright sunlight, solar panels receive maximum levels of light. During those “peak” sunlight hours, your solar panels will produce power at their maximum capacity.

When clouds cover the sun, light levels are reduced. This does not shut down power production, however. If there is enough light to cast a shadow, in spite of the clouds, your solar panels should operate at about half of their full capacity. Thicker cloud cover will reduce operations further. Eventually, with heavy cloud cover, solar panels will produce very little useful power.

The Good News!

The effects of clouds on a solar panel can be surprising good, however. Incredibly, your solar panels will put out their ultimate amount of peak power during cloudy weather!

As the sun moves into a hole between the clouds, your solar panels will see something wonderful. They will see full direct sunlight “plus” reflected light from the clouds! They will drink in more energy than they could on a cloudless day!

The effects of clouds on a solar panel could then produce peaks at or above 50 percent more than its direct-sun output!

Meeting the Challenge

There are ways to meet the cloud challenge.

1. If you often have clouds in the afternoon, but mornings are clear, aim your solar panels slightly toward the east.

2. Be sure you use a large enough battery system to maximize the amount of power stored for use when the clouds arrive.

3. Make sure your controller has plenty of headroom over the rated panel output power so that it can absorb the surges when the sun reflects off the clouds.

Those tricks and more are practiced in cloudy regions of the world where people have sprinted far ahead of the United States in their use of solar panel energy.

Effects of Clouds on a Solar Panel in Germany

Germany is typically a very cloudy country. Read about the climate of Germany, and you will find that it is “temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind” according to Nation Master’s website.

In spite of its cloudy climate, though, Germany is by far the world’s biggest user of solar panels. If you lived in Germany, you could sell back to the main power grid all of the excess electricity produced by your solar panels. Why would I even care in such a cloudy climate? If clouds affect my solar panels too much, I would not worry about selling back to the main grid.

In 2006, Germany opened the largest solar park in the world. Germany also has Europe’s most modern solar housing project - a solar village of 50 solar houses that produce more energy than they use!

Will clouds affect my solar panels? Even if I lived in Germany, the effect would not be enough to forego solar power.

Tip: There are few places that are so consistently cloudy that solar power is out of the question. Improvements are being made constantly, and even solar panels small enough to fold into a briefcase can produce helpful amounts of power.

Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/effects-of-clouds-on-a-solar-panel-136546.html

Why you should build a solar power. solar energy is ecologically clean, produce more power and it is easy to build. Solar panel is able to convert sunlight into electricity, it collects the radiation from the sun and actively converts it into energy. A solar panel consists of 6 groups of photovoltaic cells altogether it produce renewable energy. In this article, I want to show you how to make a solar panel at a low cost.

For the experiment, you would need a case fan and a solar panel. A case fan is use as part of a computer component to keep the temperature low. You can get it at an inexpensive price. Whenever the solar panel receives sunlight the case fan begin to work. If the solar power is being covered away from the light it stops. It is the most basic experiment you can do at your home.

A solar panel can convert the renewable energy to the equivalent of a household power for less than $200, it is free of carbon and reduce electricity cost. This can be use to convert your bedroom and office power usage with a solar panel. This produce clean energy which keeps the environment green and help you to save a lot of money on electricity bill. But the side affect of a solar power is may cause the battery to produce flammable amounts of hydrogen. Do not worry about its problem because solar power is built with safety parts which does not cause any harm. The equipment is created accordance to industrial standard.

A solar power can be built for less than $200. It works with a car battery which uses to store the energy. The battery can be scrounged from a local car dealer. An inverter is use to direct current to an alternating current through a switcher. It outputs energy to an electronic device. A single solar panel can power up a light bulb, laptop, mobile phone and a DVD player in a single room. So why invest for a solar power which cost over $1000, in fact you can build one for less than $200.

Let me show you how to successfully create a solar system for less than $200

Jonathan Valentine
http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/earth-4-energy-how-to-make-a-solar-panel-at-a-low-cost-692576.html

The modern lifestyle depends tremendously on the use and existence of fossil fuels. With levels of these fuels constantly decreasing, we should act now to become less dependant on fossil fuels and more dependent on renewable energy sources.

The decreasing levels of fossil fuels isn’t the only reason why we should begin to use renewable energy. Pollution is becoming a huge problem in many countries around the world, especially the developing world. With carbon emissions at an all time high, air quality can be very low in some areas, this can lead to respiratory diseases and cancer.

The main reason to switch to cleaner energy production methods is the global warming aspect. The more carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere, the greater the effect becomes. We can’t just stop using fossil fuels thinking that global warming will go away, but we can slow down and dilute the effects of global warming through the wide spread use of renewable energy resources.

There are many natural energy sources out there, but you have to decide which method is best for you, as all of these sources depend on your current environment.

The installation of a solar panel or a wind turbine to boost every homes power supply would be an amazing step forward. Some governments are in the process of supplying solar panels to hundreds of households to test this method of energy saving.

A technology set to be very important in the future is geothermal energy. With geothermal energy, you are able to extract heat from within the earth and transform it either into a hot water system, or if there is plenty of this energy, a geothermal power plant. Huge amounts of money have been flowed into research of this method, especially in recent years, in order to make the current technology more effective.

So there we have the reasons why we should turn to renewable energy resources which are more than likely to play a very vital and important role in our future society.

http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com

James Bratley
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/the-importance-of-renewable-energy-resources-107389.html

I’m not saying I’m against renewable energy. I’m just wondering - what would everybody do with their car that runs on regular gas?

I think we are a long way from renewable energy replacing the combustion engine. When I think of renewable energy I think of electricity for houses and businesses. But when we do settle on one or a few technologies to replace the conventional gas engine. I think there will be a transitional period where new cars will have the new technology but we will still have the infrastructure for gas engines, it could take decades to phase out the older cars.

Here in CA we have tougher emissions laws, so if you have an older car you could get an exemption for not passing emissions, it was a program that let just the oldest cars be exempt, then every few years they let a few more years be exempt. Now all the cars that were sold after the date the laws went into effect have to pass smog, if you didn’t buy the car in CA then you will need to get a catalytic converter put on it to pass. Millions of cars are junked each year, when you turn in an old clunker when you buy a new car they are often sold for scrap and they are taken off the road. All that being said, to say that people won’t be forced to convert cars or get rid of them for many many years.

Where can I find good instructions to build a cheap solar panel on my own?

To build an effective but cheap solar panel, you need some expert advice. I recommend you get your hands on the comprehensive e-book and video instructions by Michael Harvey. His guide is very easy to follow and it will help you make a complete solar power system for less than $200. He also teaches how to make windmills.

You can find more information at his website:

http://cfurl.net/earth4energy/

I hope this helps!

I have made a wind generator out of cheap, everyday materials.
Is it possible to make solar panels for generating electricity from everyday materials, perhaps something like a thermocouple with two different metals?

Not unless you can figure out a way to produce a semi-conductor at home. Basically a solar cell (photovoltaic cell) is a couple of layers of silicon P type and N type. Electrons become excited when light quanta penetrates into the P layer. The excited electrons move to the N type and (very oversimplified) create electricity.

I doubt you would have the facilities to create the materials at home.

What are some drawbacks from using solar energy? I know that it is expensive, and it only works when the sun is out, what are 3 other drawbacks?

Well for one, solar panels are not yet fully developed to the point where they're efficient enough for normal use for everyone and everywhere. solar panels will gain popularity in the next 10 to 15 years as electrovoltaic cells get further developed. Another draw back is that you need a lot of them to power an entire house for example. You would probably need 5 to 10 panels sized at around 2 by 5 feet. And of course as you mentioned, they are expensive (at least for now). And finally, before solar panels probably get developed well enough, you'll have better solutions such as panels that can work at night and attract UV rays and get energy from those. (Although that one is still in the works and a big question mark.) Personally I prefer wind energy to solar, and think wind farms are more versatile and aesthetic, and a lot more eco-friendly when constructed compared to solar panels.

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