Solar Thermal Energy

Solar water heaters can be used to heat swimming pools and spas.

Solar Water Heating One of the most cost-effective ways to include renewable technologies into a building is by incorporating solar hot water. A typical residential solar water-heating system reduces the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds. It minimizes the expense of electricity or fossil fuel to heat the water and reduces the associated environmental impacts.

The reason that solar thermal has such a fast pay back is because it converts up to 80% of the sun's energy compare with 15% for Solar Photovoltaic (PV).

Concentrated Solar Thermal

A number of other key components make up the balance of system in the parabolic trough solar field, including: * Pylons and foundations * Drive * Controls * Collector interconnect

The parabolic trough linear receiver, also called a heat collection element (HCE), is one of the primary reasons for the high efficiency of the original Luz parabolic trough collector design.

Concentrator Structure The structural skeleton of the parabolic trough solar collector is the concentrator structure. The concentrator structure: * Supports the mirrors and receivers, maintaining them in optical alignment * Withstands external forces, such as wind * Allows the collector to rotate, so the mirrors and receiver can track the sun.

The most obvious features of the parabolic trough solar collector are its parabolic-shaped mirrors or reflectors. The mirrors are curved in the shape of a parabola, which allows them to concentrate the sun's direct beam radiation on the linear receiver.

Photovoltaics (PV)

The basic photovoltaic or solar cell typically produces only a small amount of power. To produce more power, cells can be interconnected to form modules, which can in turn be connected into arrays to produce yet more power. Because of this modularity, PV systems can be designed to meet any electrical requirement, no matter how large or how small.

The photoelectric effect is the basic physical process by which a PV cell converts sunlight into electricity. When light shines on a PV cell, it may be reflected, absorbed, or pass right through. But only the absorbed light generates electricity.

Photovoltaic devices can be made from various types of semiconductor materials, deposited or arranged in various structures, to produce solar cells that have optimal performance.

Home Energy Savings

You can reduce your home's heating and cooling costs through proper insulation and air sealing techniques. These techniques will also make your home more comfortable.

Professional energy audits generally go into great detail. The energy auditor should do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills. Many professional energy audits will include a blower door test. Most will also include a thermographic scan. There's also another type of test—the PFT air infiltration measurement technique—but it is rarely offered.

You can easily conduct a home energy audit yourself. With a simple but diligent walk-through, you can spot many problems in any type of house. When auditing your home, keep a checklist of areas you have inspected and problems you found. This list will help you prioritize your energy efficiency upgrades.

Estimating Appliance and Home Electronic Energy Use

If you're trying to decide whether to invest in a more energy-efficient appliance or you'd like to determine your electricity loads, you may want to estimate appliance energy consumption. Click on the link above for formulas for Estimating Energy Consumption.You can use this formula to estimate an appliance's energy use.

Glossary

Are you interested in solar electricity, but not sure what "photovoltaic conversion efficiency" means? You're not alone. In fact, because technical terms like these come up frequently, especially in discussions of photovoltaics (PV), we prepared this glossary of terms. In it you will find definitions of many important terms having to do with electricity, power generation, concentrating solar power (CSP), solar heating, solar lighting, and solar electricity, also known as PV.