All posts in category Solar energy

Handbag with Solar Energy

So what is it a bag with solar energy? Well, to carry all the electronic gadgets catera of the self-respecting geek brings: MP3, mobile, camera, PDA … The bag is loaded while walking and apparatus “suck” the energy through an internal USB port. Conscious technophiles can add this bag to the existing list of green [...]

Solar Power

Solar thermal is a branch of the solar energy is harnessing the sun’s heat energy in the life of human beings. It can be used domestically, such as for cooking (stoves, solar) to generate hot water (SWH) or for heating. It is also used at industrial level, where water is heated to evaporate the water [...]

How convert solar energy into useful energy for daily use?

This renewable energy is used primarily for two things, though not the only, first to heat things like food or water, known as solar thermal, and second to generate electricity, known as photovoltaics. The main equipment used in thermal solar energy are the water heaters and solar stoves. To generate electricity using solar cells, which [...]

The literally shocking truth about the quality of solar arrays

Solar panels are supposed to be a set-and-forget technology. Mine have performed just as advertised. All the installer said I need to do is look them over a couple of times a year and rinse off any dirt buildup. The approval and installation process had its delays and gaffes , but all’s well that ends [...]

How home solar arrays can help to stabilize the grid, Part 2 of 2

Editor’s Note: Scientific American’s George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar). Read his introduction here and see all posts here . In the first installment of this post, Arnold Mckinley of Xslent Energy Technologies described how “reactive power” — that is, power stored momentarily by [...]

Solar panels versus historic districts: A conflict we need to resolve

Editor’s Note: Scientific American’s George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar). Read his introduction here and see all posts here . A few posts ago, I talked about the tragic conflict between preserving historic homes and reducing their carbon footprint. I thought our solar array [...]

How home solar arrays can help to stabilize the grid, Part 1 of 2

Editor’s Note: Scientific American’s George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar). Read his introduction here and see all posts here . Solar arrays can do more than feed energy into the power grid. They might also be able to help the grid cope with a [...]

Cutting the cost of solar by watching every nut and bolt

Editor’s Note: Scientific American ‘s George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar). Read his introduction here and see all posts here . Solar power involves wondrous quantum physics and materials science , but its fate may hinge on whether contractors can learn to bolt on [...]

Focus your mind: The rise of concentrated solar power

Editor’s Note: Scientific American ‘s George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar). Read his introduction here and see all posts here . I had a fun talk yesterday afternoon with Bob MacDonald, the CEO of Skyline Solar , makers of a new concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) [...]

Happy equinox! A very special time of year for solar arrays

Editor’s Note: Scientific American ‘s George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar ). Read his introduction here and see all posts here . Who could put a price on spring? Ah, the reawakened life, the budding flowers, the dabbles of green in the grey wood. [...]