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Property Owners Are Resorting To Suns Power For Economical Reasons

By Albert Cranton


The two ways the light of the sun can be used are categorized as passive or active. The passive techniques include building methods that use materials that have thermal mass with light dispersing components. Space inside a building can be designed to circulate the air in a natural way. Solar energy, used actively collects the sunlight using Photovoltaic panels.



The homeowner with photovoltaic panels on the roof will also have to be connected to a grid. It will enable him to get electricity from another source, such as a local electric utility in the area.

Photovoltaic panels and their installation were once too expensive for the average homeowner to buy. The decrease in cost is due to its popularity increasing production. Now the initial investment is worth the cost. The panels are functional for more than two decades once they are installed.

In addition there are government subsidies available for those who meet certain criteria. The savings can be in the form of paying for part of the installation, or giving a tax deduction to the family that owns the home. Over the twenty five year period, those panels can result in significant savings.

Only half of the light that emanates from the sun gets to the ground on earth. The amount of incoming radiation is 174,000 terawatts, thirty percent of which is reflected upwards. The rest is absorbed by the oceans, clouds and ground. It serves to raise temperatures in the environment.

The individual responsible for building the first sun powered engine was a well-known US Senator, Frank Shuman. It collected the radiation from the sun in small boxes of ether. This was sufficient to power a steam engine.

He collaborated with Sir Charles Vernon Boys, a British physicist, to develop an advanced version that used mirrors. In 1913 they constructed the first thermal power station. It was built in Maadi, Egypt. Then the availability of cheap oil in the 1930s curtailed the need for solar power development.

Kids are the scientists, homeowners and consumers of the future. It is time to get them excited about the development of solar powered - everything. Tell them about the solar panels on the big orange highway signs. They are not plugged in so how do they light up?

Tell them to look for the black photovoltaic panels on rooftops and the sides of cars and boats. Get them interested in the cars that will run on sunlight instead of petrol. The energy of the sun is converted into electricity to fuel them. New designs are being tested.

Kids should be excited to hear about the World Solar Challenge, a race held in Australia. This race only allows the use of cars that run on energy from the sun. In Sydney, Australia there is a passenger ferry in Sydney Harbour called the Solar Sailor. It has the capability to run on solar energy, wind, battery power or diesel fuel.

Researchers are discovering new ways to use solar power every day. It is a field that is exciting. The children will someday become scientists, researchers and inventors. They may start by inventing things that run on sun power and enter them in the science fair at their school.




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