Home Solar Power

Every now and again along comes an invention that makes you think “Why on earth hasn’t it been done before?”

New Jersey based Entech Solar have devised a solar panel that produces both electricity and hot water at the same time.  The panels contain PV cells as well as a fluid pipe that heats water.

“The devices will be set up in arrays ranging from 100 kilowatts to 5 to 10 megawatts in size and sold largely to industrial customers and corporate campuses”

Sadly not available for home use but it’s a pointer to the future.

Via Greentech Media

Electricity, Hot Water Electricity, Hot Water, Solar Power

All of life here on this planet is made possible by the light and heat from the sun. Without our sun, we would not be here. There is an unlimited supply of home solar power. It has been there for several billion year and should continue for many billion more. It causes absolutely zero pollution and creates no carbon-dioxide greenhouse gases.

The question I put to you is “why are we not all using this free unlimited source of energy?” We have all been spoiled by relatively cheap energy derived from fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. These are no longer as inexpensive as they once were and the carbon dioxide being release when we burn them in our power stations is undoubtedly leading to climate change.

Free solar energy has a number advantages over conventional fossil fuel sources of energy. The power from our sun is free and unlimited. Our only expense is that of collecting, using and storing this energy. These cost of recovery, whilst still high, are falling as new technology comes on line and it’s now becoming possible to generate much of the power for your own home from alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power.

There are two main methods for recovering solar energy for the home:

Flat-Plate Hot-Water Collectors: These can allow every home to provide free hot water heated directly by the sun. They are relatively inexpensive to buy and install and have a payback time that makes these an economical prospect in sunnier climes. They are often composed of a number of copper pipes running through an enclosed sealed panel. They are mounted on a south or south-west-facing wall or roof and will provide hot water dring most of the year, even on cloudy days.

Solar Electricity Generators: These are photo voltaic cells which convert sunlight directly into usable electricity. These cells have become the world’s fastest-growing energy technology with production doubling every two years. This increase in manufacturing capacity has caused the prices of these cells to fall to a level that is affordable for use in home home solar power generation.

Electricity, Hot Water, Solar Power Climate Change, Electricity, Flat Plate Collectors, Global Warming, Home Solar Power, Hot Water