Mindzle

It is no surprise that the abundant source of solar power is becoming more interesting to a lot of people, if you think about the ongoing energy crisis and the threat of peak oil. Solar power is environmentally friendly and easy to use.

Is it true that solar power solutions for your home are too expensive and difficult to install, as many people believe? Would you be surprised to hear that it can actually be quite economical and not difficult at all to install solar power at your home? By installing solar power solutions at your home, you can drastically reduce your power bills and contribute to the next generation being left with a green and functioning environment.

In this article, we will look at three different solar solutions for home use:

Solar Oven/Cooker:Cooking with Solar Power: Using a solar oven or cooker is the easiest application of solar power. These solar cookers or ovens come in different configurations, like box and panel cookers or parabolic cookers. By concentrating the sun rays into one area through use of reflective material arranged in a certain way, they allow you to generate enough heat for cooking and baking.

Solar Heating Systems: The solar collector, a dark painted box with a glass cover through which pipes are fed, is the main component of a solar heating system. Filled with anti-freeze, the fluid in these pipes is heated by the sun’s rays. The pipes are wound through the hot water tank, where they heat the water.The hot water system and the solar collector pipes are both closed systems and only the heat is exchanged in the hot water tank – not the fluid.
We distinguish two systems to move the working fluid – an active system, where a pump moves the fluid around and a passive system, where natural convection moves the fluid.
You can use the generated hot water for different purposes, like running hot water for kitchen or bath, for house heating or even heating the pool, if you have one.

Solar Power Generation: The light rays of the sun can be turned into electric current by using certain materials, which is called a photovoltaic effect (PV). This process was first discovered by a young French physicist called Edmund Becquerel. Later in 1923, Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his theories describing the photoelectric effect, which is the basis for the photovoltaic processes.

The use of photovoltaic technology in space craft in the 60s and 70s of the last century made this technology viable for general use as reliability was improved and costs reduced.

Several solar cells can be connected to form a photovoltaic module. The amount of voltage and current generated depends on the size of the PV module and the amount of available sun light.

Solar energy either has to be used when available or stored, as no solar power is available at night or during very overcast days, which is one of its greatest disadvantages. For your solar power solutions for your home you would have to use rechargeable batteries to store the excess solar energy.

Solar cells are readily available these days and they have become very efficient.

Even a not so experienced home-handyman can now create his own do it yourself solar power system, saving a lot of money. At the same time you can show your neighbors how environmentally responsible you are and that you contribute to solving our energy crisis.

If you want to know more about how to create your own Solar Power at home, then take a look at: DIY Solar Power Solution for your Home for under $200