At any time the Sun transmits on the terrestrial orbit 1367 watts per sq meters. Taking into account the fact that the Earth is a rotating sphere, the average solar radiation at the American latitudes is of about 200 watts / m. Multiplying the average power per square meter for the land surface of the northern hemisphere moment to moment exposed to the sun you get a power greater than 50 million GW.

The amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth’s soil is so huge, approximately ten thousand times greater than all the energy used by humanity as a whole, but not very concentrated in the sense that it is necessary to collect energy from vast areas to have significant quantities. To produce energy a system requires generally high cost products, considerably expensive than other methods of generating energy.

The development of technologies that could make economic use of solar energy is an area of active research but, for now, had no revolutionary results. Solar energy can be used to generate electricity (photovoltaic) or to generate heat (solar thermal).

There are three main technologies to transform energy exploitable in the sun’s energy:

• Solar Water Heater: A solar panel that uses sunlight to heat a liquid with special features, contained in its internal transfers heat through a heat exchanger.
• The concentration solar panel uses a series of parabolic mirrors in a linear structure to focus sunlight on a receiver tube that runs a heat transfer fluid or a series of mirrors which concentrate plans rays at a tower where there is a boiler.
• Photovoltaic Panel: A solar panel that uses the special properties of semiconductor components to produce electricity when requested by the light.

Currently, solar panels are used to provide hot water (solar thermal) and heating to homes and small complexes. The photovoltaic panels are used mainly to feed devices away from electricity grids (space probes, phone repeaters in the high mountains or Traffic signals, parking meters, etc.).

Obviously, these devices must be equipped with batteries that can accumulate the electricity produced in excess during the day to fuel equipment at night and during cloudy periods.

With current technology, photovoltaic panels are also sensitive to infrared radiation (invisible) of sunlight and thus produce current in the event of time clouds and rain. The amount of energy released, however, is variable and difficult to predict, this gap makes it difficult to meet at all times application of current, less than a production with a wide safety margin above the peak annual demand.

So, solar and wind power are intermittent plants that provide energy in constant movement, but is the peak of production for solar energy in summer it can offset the increased domestic demand due to air conditioners.

In Germany, as example, the citizen pays the bill in the difference between what they consume and what they produce. If the balance is positive then they get a credit. Similar legislation was recently introduced in U.S.A with a tax credit to help increase the use of solar powered systems in home energy production.

Valery Forty is the editor of the blog www.12VoltSolarPanels.net, a free online resource to help people get detailed info on solar power and read reviews on the latest products.

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Reviews on Tips to Solar Power Your Life

By enrico forte Published: 10/24/2008

Powering everything with solar energy isn’t possible just yet, since the UK doesn’t produce enough sunlight to do this.

Hi-tech ways to capture enough sunlight per day every day to power everything in a home or business hasn’t been discovered yet. The current cost of solar panels can run into thousands of pounds, which would require the panels to produce electricity for years without maintenance in order to see a return on investment. What is needed is more grants available to people to enable them to afford renewable energy in the homes. Otherwise only the relatively well off will be able to afford paying over 2000 for solar panels and then saving money over the next 10-20 years. B & Q and other retailers in the UK have now started to advertise solar and wind turbines on TV, they must becoming more mainstream for them to do this.

Currently, many people use solar panels, which can be placed on a side of a roof to attract sunlight during the day to heat a small number of rooms and water. Solar panels can be purchased at a number of locations throughout the UK, as well as online. To view UK companies involved in renewable sources of energy see the green directory. Panels do a great job of helping families and businesses to conserve energy. Hopefully, solar panels will become a part of daily life, in order to prevent the disappearance of natural resources and to maintain energy conservation. In August 2006 high street chain Currys have said that they will start to sell off the shelf solar panels at a substantial discount to existing suppliers. Also, houses that are being built locally now have wind turbines attached to create energy! At last progress from the house builders are making an effort – they can be the real drivers behind this change.

In the recent 2006 Budget announcement by Gorden Brown, millions of pounds have been allocated to helping homes and businesses take advantage of renewable energy and the benefits that it brings. This is a welcoming strategy by the government. More and more homes are also attaching mini-wind turbines to their homes to boost the electricity generated by solar panels, British Gas (Centrica) have recently been looking for volunteers to pilot this with.

Developing countries with sunny climates such as Africa are the perfect place to take advantage of this renewable energy especially in rural areas that are not connected to the national grid for electricity. There needs to be a commitment from the G8 and other government around the world in providing funds to achieve this.

I have just read about the founding of google and the founders are keep to develop solar power and have invested in a number of companies that have solar panels attached to like a mat that you can roll out and stick onto a building instead of the current large, expensive panels that are available at the moment!

By Mark Marris Published: 10/23/2006