We seem to be much too preoccupied
now with solar power as a great form of
alternative energy. But
way back in 1931, Thomas Alva Edison had a tête-à-tête
with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, opening his heart
to the forerunners of automobile industry and said, “I
would put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a
source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil
and coal run out before we tackle that”. But we had to
wait for 70 odd years, before Edison’s brainstorm
materialized into a modern solar panel.
Yet retrospectively, what have we
actually achieved? The sun supplies enough energy to our
small planet in one hour to satisfy all of our energy
needs for a year whereas solar power provides less than
half of 1% of our residential energy needs. But all that
has started to change – and that is the good
news.
Solar power is derived from
Photovoltaic cells or solar cells that can transform the
sun’s light energy into electric current by processing
the photons. As light strikes the PV cell, a portion of
it get absorbed in the semiconductor. As a result of
this, the electrons loose their footing and starts
roaming freely. The electric fields within the PV cells
then guide the freed electrons to flow in a chosen
direction which forms the energy. When several PV cells
are electronically bound together, they form a module
while several modules in an assembled form make
photovoltaic or solar panel that generates electricity
for our homes or workplaces.
Electricity is also available from
another form of alternative energy
resource like the wind. Of course, here
the method applied is rather simple though its
application may not be so. First of all, the device that
will generate electricity has to be installed in a site
where the wind should blow at a certain speed in a
steady stream. Though the device is called a wind
turbine, in reality it is nothing but a small motor with
a high rated capacity and having a blade attached to its
shaft. Unlike a solar panel that does not have any
moving parts and is a silent worker, the turbine must
run at a high speed to generate the desired amount of
power.
To avail uninterrupted supply of
electricity, people often use both solar panel and wind
turbine together. Throughout the day, when sunlight is
plentiful but wind flow is low, the solar panel provides
the desired current but when the sun goes down, the
nightly high wind helps run the turbine that does its
duty fully. But when you connect your solar power system
to the grid, you can get electricity even in the
night.
Are
you ready to install a solar power system? No you do not
need an expert for this – you can do it yourself
provided you know a few basics such as the best place to
set it up, know all about the installation and wiring,
and can find out the best places for cheap parts. Plus,
you will also need to know the safety precautions. The
cheap solar panels will save your electricity bills and
also contribute to clean up the
environment.
