Solar Power Systems at Their Best

Solar power systems are one of the most popular initiatives of the ‘green’ revolution. Take a look at how many ways solar power can be used at our homes.

1)       Charging Batteries through Solar Energy: Solar energy can be used top charge batteries. It can be used to power up water pumps, celling fans and even lighting up lights. Special solar energy battery chargers are available in the market that can charge your video games, cell phones and alarm clocks. Solar energy systems acting as reserve energy banks can also be installed at home, that store sunlight in the day and power up equipment in the night.

2)     Run your Home with Solar Power: Whole houses can be powered with just a few solar system products. People place solar arrays on their rooftops or on their lawns to capture enough sunlight to power up their entire homes. Once the sunlight is collected, it is converted to direct current- the direct current then passes through an inverter and turns into alternate current that runs in our homes. With the use of safety device, this current can now be safely used to power up the electronic appliances in your home.

3)      Solar Power for Cooking: Many people cook with electric stoves and ovens that can produce a huge electricity bill. Cooking with solar energy can drastically reduce your cost- what’s more you can easily build one at home. With just a few basic items like an empty box, aluminum foil, duct tape, cooking bag, Styrofoam and thermometer, you can easily prepare your cooking oven.

4)     Lighting through Solar Energy: With LED lights you can have the best sort of lighting with the least energy consumption. LED lights run on electricity and also has a small back up battery based on solar cells. In the day, this back up battery can be charged with sunlight; in the night these batteries get activated and light up the bulbs.

5)     Security Lighting through Solar Energy: You can install a solar powered pole night outside your home to provide security for free. Solar powered pole lights operate with solar cells and kick in during the night. This way when you get home from work, you can see your front door lit up and can easily get out your keys. You will just have to pay initially to install the solar lights; after that all lighting is free.

3 Most Popular Green Energy Sources

A lot of people all over the worlds are ‘going green’ in an effort to reduce pollution and conserve the environment for a brighter future. Using alternative, cleaner sources of energy can decrease carbon footprint, reduce the toxicity form the earth and save non-renewable fossil fuels like oil and gas.

Here are the three most popular form so f alternative energies that are currently being used.

1)       Solar Energy: Solar energy system is actively being used to generate electricity for heating, ventilation, cooking and even desalination of water.  Photovoltaic cells found in solar system products trap the sunlight and generates electricity from it; this electricity can be used to heat water, work power pumps, cook and ventilate. Parabolic mirrors are used to reflect sunlight to heat water (think of magnifying glass used to focus sun rays) and simply by opening windows, you allow sunrays to warm the room.

Pros: Solar power is a renewable resource and cannot deplete as long as the sun remains. Its usage does not produce any toxic fumes or harmful pollutants that harm the environment. Solar energy is being used to generate electricity for homes and corporations; it is even used for decorative purpose like placing differently shaped solar lights in your garden to light it up at night.

2)      Wind Energy: Wind energy is generated by harnessing the power of wind to turn turbines and wind mills. An electrical generator converts the kinetic energy of the turbine blades to the potential energy of electricity. Netherlands is famous for its windmills that harnessed wind to move machinery to grind grains and pump up water. Now a days, places that are open and have a lot of wind are equipped with wind towers; a wind farm is one such place that can generate large scale electricity for small homes or isolated locations.

Pros: Wind power does not produces any chemical by-products as no chemical reaction takes place. Wind farms allow farming and grazing that can result in the production of bio-fuels. So long as there is wind in the world, wind power will exist, making it a renewable and sustainable energy resource. It can be installed both on shore and off shore easily.

3)      Hydroelectric Energy: Hydroelectric power can be harnessed from the energy in the damned water that is used to turn water turbines and generators. Another way water can be used to create energy is through sources like rushing water or tidal waves. Hydro power plants in conjunction with dams and barrages, use the concentrated pressure and flow of water (made from the river’s descent and compressed by dams to a single place) to turn wheels and turbines to generate electricity.

Pros: Water can be placed in reservoirs and dams depending on how much energy is required; hence during peak periods, a hydroelectric power plant can increase to full capacity in a short notice. Water used for generating hydroelectric power can be used again. Hydroelectric generators can pump back the water for later use.