There are the solar cells themselves. They are a transparent silicon wafer, and release a flow of electrons once the sun strikes the silicon atoms, which creates an electrical current. Many are usually wired together to produce more energy. The direct current (DC) electricity that is produced is stored in batteries or directly converted to the conventional alternating current (AC) electricity. A seperate inverter does this (or it did in 2000). However, my text says that Solarex is building new panels that will be equipped with built in converters.

There is a breaker panel, where energy is transferred after being converted. Then, there is the inverter, as talked about above, and a battery bank to store the DC electricity.

Hoped this helped some!

The more, the better. The arguments should be at least remotely feasible. I'm looking for ecological arguments why Solar Energy is a better alternative than Nuclear Reactors.
Just list as many as you can come up with.

Its all about the "after life" of the energy source. With solar panels there is some carbon and other things that can (hopefully) be reclaimed and recycled. With nuclear power you get things like Yucca Mountain. However, unless we invest in breeder reactors and breeder nuclear fusion to enrich the uranium waste into plutonium. This is great because the waste that would other wise be carted off to Yucca Mountain gets recycled.

Plutonium caries a stigma due to the fact that it can be easily weaponized. More over breeder plants use liquid sodium. Liquid sodium is highly volatile when exposed to air or water. They can also be cooled using helium.

The down falls of solar are that the productivity will decrease with the age of the panels. disposal (nothing like radio-active storage). And power generation at night (overcome with the use of solar towers).

Solar power generation has very little environmental impact beyond mining the resources, manufacturing, and disposal.

Best of luck.

I wish to build a solar panel for domestic i.e. in the absence of electricity the same can be used to run fan, tv, computer if not A/c and refrig. How to do the same and what will be the cost involved?

Solar panel cannot be built at home…But you can of course buy one. Also if its your hobby and you are doing it just for fun, then forget it. Solar panels are very expensive and a small panel with an output of 1.5V will cost you around 15-20 AUD. Imagine how many you need to run a 240V fan. Also there are large commercially sold solar panels and you can get a GOVT. rebate (check website) if you buy from GOVT. registered resellers. You can get upto $8000 rebate. This is very expensive stuff to buy as you need batteries and a new electricity back up system installed at your place. BUT once installed with a very little maintenance, you can enjoy the benefits.

Hope this Info. Helps!!!!

Cheers

I have Green Mountain Energy for my home electricity and cannot find how I can pay my bill on-line.

Thru your bank.. If you have online banking…

I think that solar panels are the future and i think that the conventional way of generating electricity is going to be replaced by solar panels. I would like to be part of this industry as an entrepreneur but i do not know how to since i do not have a technical background. I would like to sell solar panels to consumers and to business. Should I start a manufacturing company that manufactures solar panels? Should I buy solar panels from manufactures and sell them to consumers? What should I do?

Manufacturing your own electrical solar panels is out of the question. They are built much like computer chips and setting up a plant to do this would cost millions of dollars.

You could become a solar system installer. These businesses install solar systems on homes and are paid for this service. You will need a significant amount of technical training to do this though, I would guess at least two years (the last thing you would want to do is damage someones home or design a system that is dangerous).

I would suggest that you go into business making energy improvements to homes that do not involve solar energy. Most people can get the best value for their money by improving the "air tightness" of their homes (several tubes of well placed caulk). Other things you could offer would be the upgrading of door, Windows and electrical box seals. Insulation jackets around hot water heaters is also something a small firm could offer home owners. Other energy improvement are also possible and you could offer a whole "shopping list" of improvements to a customer.

Good luck

Im doing a project for science on energy resources and i happened to chose solar and hydro power energy. I need some opinions about them.. Are these good energy sources..Tell me what you guys think.

All power sources have drawbacks. The two you mention, like nuclear, are relatively clean, which is a plus.

Hydro is very cheap for the amount of energy we get, but our rivers are basically all dammed up already - there isn't a lot more hydropower we can get.

Solar is one of the most expensive ways to generate electricity on a utility scale, but could be the cheapest way to generate electricity on a homeowner scale, at least for many urban homes. Unless one has a stream running through their property to run a water wheel, or strong steady wind, the other choices for getting power are using a gas- or oil-powered generator, or buying retail electricity from the grid. The generator will cost more per kWh over the life of the system, and the grid electricity could be more or less expensive, depending on where one lives. At the moment, the grid is usually cheaper, but not in all parts of the country.

If i can not make solar panel in the home then i request you to kindly tell me to how to produce elctricity in the home

You don't BUILD a solar panel… that would not be cost effective. Do a GOOGLE SEARCH on SOLAR PANELS… that will give you company names and then you can contact them for information about living on 12 volts… you DO understand batteries, invertors and charging systems, I assume.. because that is critical knowledge for installing a solar panel system in a home that will actually WORK.

My sim has a want that is to buy a green energy source. I'm not sure where to find it

might be one of those extra thingies that only unlock over time. there are cheat codes on the internet to get them sooner tho. http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/pccheatss/a/sims2nightlife.htm

I have just read an ad for Power4Home solar panel kit, and was wondering if there is an independent review for it. All the reviews are obviously written by Power4Home themselves, including "comparisons" of other DIY kits. Has anyone actually bought these books and been able to come close to building a solar panel with "parts available from the hardware store" as claimed? Photovoltaic cells are expensive, yet they claim it can be done for about $200.
.

Sounds like a variation on Earth4Energy. Here are some comments from other victims, I mean, customers:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q5=earth4energy&q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&Search=Search

We have commercial solar panels on our house, so I feel I have a good understanding of what's involved in making a reliable, practical panel. It's beyond my skill, probably beyond most people's. Certainly not an easy project.

Please help w/ these questions..And provide Sources/References !

- Type of energy transformations that take place in harnessing the solar energy.
- efficiency of the (solar) energy transformations
- The amount of energy obtained from solar energy?

Thank you !

I saw a link to Earth4Energy above. Earth4Energy is a scam, so beware. I wrote it up in my hall of shame at http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.html

The two common collection methods are photoelectric cells (solar cells) that make electricity, and solar heat collectors. Heat collectors are usually either the flat plate variety, or evacuated tube collectors. Wikipedia is a good place to read about how solar cells work. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectric_effect

I have a few pictures posted at http://www.nlcpr.com/SolarInsolation.html that you will find interesting. The houses are from the Solar Decathlon at Washington DC.

The amount of energy is dependent on where you are on Earth and the time of year. Most governments publish solar insolation maps you can use. I will post links below. For Canada use the link for natural resources Canada. For the USA use NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab). NASA has maps that cover the entire Earth. If you know the annual solar energy per square meter in your area, you can multiply it by the efficiency of the collector to get a feel for how much energy you can extract.

The efficiency of a evacuated tube collector is complex to calculate, but you can get practical equations from Institute SPF - they are European and respected. SPF tests both flat plate and evacuated tube models. I have a graph on my web site that shows the efficiency of Apricus brand tubes. Efficiency will likely be somewhere around 50%. If course, it depends on how cold it is outside. There is also space between each tube, so be careful with the math.

So, in summary: Get the total amount of energy from a solar insolation map (NASA, NREL or NRC). Get solar collector (heat) efficiencies from Institute SPF. Get the solar panel efficiencies from a reputable manufacturer like BP (British Petroleum). Use Wikipedia for links to the theory.

Wind energy is indirect solar energy if you want to enlarge the scope of your studies.

If you need a specific resource, use the contact form on my web site and if I can find what you need, I will post it on my links page for everyone.

Have fun with your project/assignment.