There are many way you can use Solar Power around your home & garden, here a just a few that can get you started in saving money and helping the environment.
1. Solar Garden Lights
Why go through the expense of digging up your garden and laying cables, when you could use Solar Powered Lights. They are easy to install and an attractive way to use Solar Power. They charge during the day and automatically turn on at dusk. You do have to think about where you place them in the garden, so they can get a full charge during the day.
2. Solar Water fountains
Easy to install and they can be a charming addition to any garden pond. Having a fountain can also keep your pond healthy, by stopping the water in the pool from stagnating. The sound off running water is also known way to relieve stress.
3. Solar Battery Chargers
Why charge the batteries for all your gadgets like you mobile phone or Ipod from the mains when you could use a Solar charger wherever you are. Solar Panels now come in many shapes and sizes. Some varieties can be rolled up so are easy to carry; you can even get them built into rucksacks. You can get a charger specifically designed for the Ipod, which uses solar power.
4. Solar Pool Heating
Why not use Solar Power to heat the water in your pool and then keep that heat in the pool by using a solar pool cover. If you are still heating your pool using power from the mains, you are literally making your money evaporate into the air.
5. Solar Panels
Create power or heat water for your home to help reduce your heating bills in the long run, the Solar Panels can be fitted to your roof and the suns light is converted into electricity or used to heat the water for your home. This is the most involved way to use Solar Power in your home, if you want to go this route, I would employ professionals who will be able to advise you in what the best plan of action would be, and the possible savings.
About the Author
Gavin Dye is the webmaster and author at http://www.solar-power-4u.com where you can learn more about solar power and alternative energy. Check out his blog at http://www.solar-power-4u.com/blog
Save Money With Solar Power, 5 Ways To Use The Solar Power Around Your Home And Garden
Portable Solar Power Systems – Keep Your Computer, Camera and More Charged With the Sun
By: Solar Matt
If you are like millions of Americans, you love to be on the go, enjoying the great outdoors. More and more Americans spend good portions of their summers at camps, camping in the wilderness, or hiking. Unfortunately, the realities of our day to day lives make it very hard to leave the world behind for more than a few hours, let alone a whole weekend, or more.
I came across two Portable Solar Power Systems from a company called Silicon Solar when I was searching the internet for a great present for one of my friends this past week. They offer two different Portable Solar Power Systems; a Large Portable Solar Power System and a Small Portable Solar Power System.
The Small Portable Solar Power System is perfect for small electronic devices like cell phones, PDAs, MP3 Players, rechargeable batteries, and small cameras. The Small Portable Solar Power System includes a small solar panel, a small sealed-lead acid battery and a 75W inverter with a single AC outlet (like you would find in your home). The inverter turns the DC power generated by your Solar Panel, and stored in your battery into the typical AC power that normal household appliances use to recharge and operate. You can purchase the Small Portable Solar Power System for under $150.
The Large Portable Solar Power System features a larger Solar Panel, larger battery for additional storage and charging capacity, and a 400 watt DC to AC Inverter with two standard AC outlets, which allows you to charge or use two different electronic devices at the same time. The Large Portable Solar Power System is great for charging all of the smaller electronic devices that the small Portable Solar Power System charges, as well as some larger devices like laptop computers, portable DVD players, Sewing Machines, and much, much more. And, the Large Portable Solar Power System comes with a number of different Solar Panels to choose from – depending of how much power you really need, and the best part? It costs under $350.
Both of these Portable Solar Power Systems are incredibly portable and lightweight, and can be toted from place to place in the included carrying cases. If you, like millions of Americans, need the power to stay connected to your busy life while you are enjoying some peace and quiet in the great outdoors, one of these Portable Solar Power Systems is probably the right choice for you. You can find these, and hundreds of other great Solar Products from Silicon Solar at their website; www.siliconsolar.com.
Silicon Solar Inc www.siliconsolar.com 800.653.8540
World needs more CO2, environment confab told
'There will be significant cooling very soon,' asserts solar scientist
Posted: April 03, 2008
11:15 pm Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
You could have heard a pin drop at the Hong Kong conference designed to persuade the airline industry to cut back on its production of so-called greenhouse gases to fight "global warming."
The "Greener Skies 2008" conference had just heard from David Archibald, a solar scientist asserting that climate change is mostly dictated by solar cycles, not carbon dioxide levels, as conventional wisdom suggests.
Archibald didn't just tell the group not to worry about carbon dioxide emissions. He told those gathered they should figure out ways of increasing CO2 output.
"In a few short years, we will have a reversal of the warming of the 20th century," Archibald warned, according to CargoNews Asia. "There will be significant cooling very soon. Our generation has known a warm, giving sun, but the new generation will suffer a sun that is less giving, and the earth will be less fruitful. Carbon dioxide is not even a little bit bad – it's wholly beneficial."
One observer at the February conference said there would have been fewer jaws dropping had Archibald stripped off his clothes before the assembled.
"Plant growth responds to atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment," he continued. "In a world of higher atmospheric carbon dioxide, crops will use less water per unit of carbon dioxide uptake. Thus the productivity of semi-arid lands will increase the most."
But the real shocker was not just his unorthodox view of carbon dioxide. Unlike most of those in the conference, Archibald doesn't see a future threat of global warming, but an imminent and dire future of global cooling.
"We will need this increase in agricultural productivity to offset the colder weather coming," he said. "It also follows that if the developed countries of the world want to be caring and sharing to the countries of the Third World, the best thing that could be done for them is to increase atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. It is the equivalent of giving them free phosphate fertilizer. Who would want to deny the Third World such a wonderful benefit?''
After Archibald's speech, Martin Craigs, president of Aerospace Forum Asia, went to the microphone and asked: "Don't you have Al Gore's e-mail address?" "How can you be right and 2,000 scientists wrong?"
After Archibald's speech, Martin Craigs, president of Aerospace Forum Asia, went to the microphone and asked: "Don't you have Al Gore's e-mail address?" "How can you be right and 2,000 scientists wrong?"
Nanosolar a leader in the drive to make solar affordable -
Nanosolar has developed proprietary technology that makes it possible to simply roll-print solar cells that require only 1/100th as thick an absorber as a silicon-wafer cell yet deliver similar performance and durability. Efficient and durable thin-film CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide) and innovated production throughput deliver the world’s most cost-efficient solar electricity cell.
According to their home page, Nanosolar is on track to make solar electricity:
* cost-efficient for ubiquitous deployment
* mass-produced on a global scale
* available in many versatile forms
The spray-on film is printed on a material that can be rolled out on any surface, so it could be built into building materials such as roof tiles and windows.
Nanosolar says that their panels will be the world's lowest-cost solar panel, selling for as little as $.99/Watt
great video about israel's new solar technologies
This video present a nice overview of isreal great technologies for solar power. this small country is lack of natural resources but have a lot of sun...
I think that both technologies are great, but the second is more practical for large scale production. the first one is more promising for the future, and need some more fine tunning to become realisctic and economical.
good luck to these scientists.
enjoy.
solar energy equipment
Gardening is an American pastime, and interest in it is growing rapidly. People are recognizing how much nice plants and landscaping will help the appearance of their home. It also is an enjoyable hobby to cultivate plants from seed to maturity in your own backyard garden. Adding decorative touches like stepping stones, fountains, or solar garden lighting can show your personal style.
With solar lighting in your garden, you can light a path, or highlight certain plants or features. The best part about it is that it does not need any external power. No chords or anything at all. Just like your plants, it will use the sun's energy to power itself.
A solar garden light is made up of a plastic shell with a solar cell inside. It also has a nickel and cadmium battery, a control board, an LED light source, and a photo resistor.
The sun charges the battery, which powers the solar cell. The control board and the light itself is powered by these. At night, the battery can't charge since the sunlight is gone, so the photo resistor turns on the LED. The LED can run for about 15 hours on a charged battery.
Outdoor electrical wiring can be a hassle to install, especially if your garden is not right next to your home. The solar lighting can easily fix that. It will cost more at first to install the solar lighting, but the money that will be saved in electric bills will more than make up for it.
You can chose the style, shape, and color of the lighting based upon your personal taste and the style of the rest of your garden. Plastic dome lighting is common, for example. This type is used most often for pathways or borders. There are spikes on the bottom so you can simply stick the lights into the ground.
Other shapes that are available include tubes, discs, lanterns, tiki torches, and globes. Besides putting them in the ground, you can mount some on your home or deck, or hang them on poles, etc. The number of options is amazing.
Light can add a really special quality to your garden, especially if you use the area to entertain friends and family in the evenings.
In addition to working well and looking great, landscape solar garden lights are good for the environment and your electricity bill. The lights are a great investment that will last.
Article Source: http://www.solarenergyarticles.com
For more information on the topic of solar garden lights Beginners, advanced and experts all turn to us as their source for information and products www.plant-care.com/solar_lighting_tips.php.
The effects of clouds on A Solar Panel
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?
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% 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 GermanyGermany 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.
About the Author: Anna Hart. Anna Hart invites you to read more of her articles about solar power at http://www.solar-energy-connection.com. Anna has posted articles on that site about various applications of this useful technology. If you want to know more about the benefits of solar power, you won't want to miss her article on the subject.
