So what is in store for 2010? Will the U.S. make steady progress and devote the needed resources for a full commitment to clean energy? There is certainly some positive news to ponder.

Solar thermal panels

In 2010 up to 600 megawatts of solar power will be added across the U.S. A couple of other factors such as more steady flow of bank credit for this industry along with declining photovoltaic cell costs will assist in expanding solar resources.

Sun & Earth

California law now mandates its state utilities derrive 20 percent of its power sources from renewable energy this year increasing to 33 percent by 2020. In 2009 the state figure was 13% indicating a steady progressing and dedication to solar power and alternative energy sources.

Hello Nevada, are you listening? Nowhere is there more sun and more area available to incorporate solar power into its existing grid.

Hopefully California’s progressive solar energy incorporation strategies backed by solid alternative energy legislation will drive other states to move forward starting in 2010.

Power mogul Southern California Edison most likely receives state approval this week to construct 250 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity leading to auction contracts to be owned and maintained by independent power producers. Pacific Gas and Electric also has applied for a similar program leading further expansion within the state.

Solar energy will have a positive impact upon some states electricity consumption leading to a cleaner environment with long-term economic gain as well. At the state and national level, incorporating solar power presents many challenges that are presented everyday in a difficult economy. As individual home and business owners we can certainly take advantage of existing solar energy products and resources also to help fuel national advancements in alternative energy sources.

Now solar panels are catching on more than ever. I came across an article te other day about DIY solar installation. Some of our favorite mass retailers like Home Depot and Lowes are stocking them for online or onsite purchase for do-it-yourselfers. Is this is a good idea? Fixing a clogged toilet or changing the oil in your car is one thing but installing your own solar system…hmmm not so sure. In addition to the electricity that you will need to navigate you also have plenty of permission slips to get from utility companies and your city government before climbing up the ladder with large expensive solar panels usually costing about a grand each.

The popularity of solar energy has tripled since 2005 according to the Interstate<object Renewable Energy Council. It is estimated that a quarter million US homes generate some solar energy and a recent poll by the Solar Energy Industries Association indicates that half of the people surveyed were considering solar power for their home or business. Obviously popularity for solar energy is continuing to rise and it will be interesting to see if costs for home solar panels decrease over the next couple of years.

Many customers interested in converting to a solar home were already purchasing solar powered water heaters, outdoor solar landscape lighting, LED bulbs, and other energy saving items. These are a few ways home and business owners can prep their properties and convert to full solar power with a smaller footprint compared to a home with no energy efficient equipment or appliances.

Although do-it-yourself is going to occur regardless, as a third of total costs can be saved this way, most people still rely on professional installation. With grants and incentives available to home and business owners for converting to solar power, a professional install makes sense and probably will save a lot of headaches and accidents.

A positive certainty to your investment in solar panels is that once you purchase a system, your costs are basically fixed. In other words your cost for those panels is set as you have already paid for that energy by already purchasing the solar panels. The cost of electricity will continue to rise and significant increases are common as most consumers already realize. At some point you will end up paying less than non-solar users for the same amount of energy. How long it takes before you are paying less depends on how much your panels cost and how much you would have been paying if you continued to purchase electricity from your power company.

A ball park figure to install solar power to supply your home would roughly cost approximately $20,000 or about $10 per watt. If you are not up to this investment just yet, you can also use solar power to reduce costs for smaller household functions as well. For example you could purchase and install a small solar powered system that could power your computer and a couple of other small household appliances for about $800-$1,000.

There are many great advantages to LEDs compared to conventional incandescent bulbs. The LED doesn’t include a filament that ultimately burns out requiring regular replacement. This resuts in an LED bulb lasts much longer often up to 20 times longer operating life. Strength and durability is also a factor as the tough plastic casing of the LED is much more damage resistant than traditional bulbs. Modern electronics also welcome LED bulbs much more than larger bulbs as they can be easily integrated into many designs where light is needed.

Beyond the physical advantages to the LED bulb, it is their energy efficiency that is most recognized. Incandescent bulbs emit lights thanks to the high generation of heat as the internal filament requires this to operate.  As a result a great deal of energy is expended to heat the filament for the production of light. Most of the generated heat escapes nor is it used to generate the visible light. Now LEDs inside your electronic devices or your solar powered garden lights generate barely any heat and just a small amount of energy is required to produce light. The end result is very beneficial to consumers as the cost and use of electricity is greatly reduced thus saving money and energy.

Thinking beyond the backyard or other household appliances powered by solar energy, the solar thermal power plant is an amazing technology that can impact communities. These plants convert the sun’s energy into a useable heat source. This heat then boils water resulting in the release of steam to generate electricity through a turbine in a similar fashion to a nuclear power plant. This technology can benefit thousands of residents at a time serving entire communities with solar generated useable electricity.

Other solar power technologies being perfected including a method that utilizes mirrors to redirect sunlight onto an oil filled pipe. The heated oil then boils water for the generation of electricity. Mirrors are used in another technique in directing sun’s energy onto a collector which rests a receiver. A generator is then powered by molten salt that flows through the receiver.

Other technologies in use also includes less direct solar power uses such as the collection of solar energy through large windows allowing heat absorbing materials in the walls and floors of buildings to collect heat. At night this heat is released to maintain a steady temperature throughout the building. In a similar method heat absorbing poles installed on a rooftop can heat liquid in cylinders that provides a home with hot water.

If there are any negatives to the use and applications of solar power it may be due to costs and advancing solar technologies are expensive and they require large amounts of land in order to allow enough energy to be collected to impact an entire community. Thanks to new developing technologies and international recognition to the benefits of solar power, the push for using solar has increased by more than 20% since 1995. Solar panels used to be very expensive to develop but prices have dropped significantly and they are more efficient leading to the development of new major international markets. Cost incentives to go solar from our government permits the investment in solar electricity even more worthwhile allowing for a system to be paid for in five to ten years.

When it comes to the environment and energy alternatives, solar energy and the global advantages it creates, is at the forefront of the green energy movement. All other energy sources we use are limited or produce harmful by-products. Nuclear energy has radioactive waste and we all know the political and public hot potato that source is. Also, there’s no such thing as clean coal and we know that electrical power is another form of dirty energy that also is not in endless abundance.

Now consider solar power, the ultimate alternative energy source that will be available providing that our sun continues to rise. However, tapping into this ultimate source and converting it into useable energy for all societies is the challenge that lies ahead. As we all know great advancements have already been made in this field and will continue to move forward.

Every day the sun provides enough solar energy to power the globe for a year. Despite continued advancements in the collection and utilization of solar power, just one tenth of one percent is harnessed towards the global demand of energy. Now according to a recent National Geographic story, solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies could generate enough electricity equal to 40 times the world’s present electricity use. Photovoltaic cells, or solar panels, are a familiar site to most as they are commonly seen on roof tops, outdoor solar garden lighting, in calculators, and of course used on NASA spacecraft. When sunlight heats these solar panels electrons are released from their atoms resulting in the generation of electricity as the electrons flow the solar cell.

Maybe less obvious to most is another feature solar powered garden lighting brings to your home, added safety and security. This could prove to be the most beneficial aspect brought to you courtesy of solar powered home lighting. At no additional charge, outdoor solar lighting can help protect your home and most importatnly your family from possible unwanted intruders. Your home will always appear to be occupied and busy after the sun sets thanks to the glow of your yard. This is a perimeter feature that may have potential burglars thinking that your home is not such an easy target.

Furthermore, you and your family will be able to freely navigate throughout your yard with reduced risk of tripping or other hazards that may reveal themselves without the presence of night time lighting. A subtle but noticeable glow throughout your yard courtesy of solar powered landscape lighting certainly brings out the beauty and character of your home and garden and provides just one more deterrant from possible intruders.

As you plan your outdoor landscape lighting layout, you can place a variety of solar powered lights around your home to improve safety. Of course there is no guarantee that your home will always remain safe, lighting is a great perimeter deterrent from potential burglars. Adding a home alarm with your landscape lighting obviously adds safety and security to your

At age 14 William had to quit school and return to Masitala as his parents were unable to afford the $80 annual tuition. He has always dreamed of bringing water and electricity to his village and thwarting the hunger that has become so prevalent in his region.
After one of Malawi’s worst droughts in 2002, resulting in the death of thousands of people William and his family were on the brink of starvation. Now unable to attend school he continued to study by using his village library. William was intrigued by science and one day his life and the lives of many others changed when he located a used book containing the picture of a windmill.

William told BC news that: “I was very interested when I saw the windmill could make electricity and pump water. He thought this could make a difference with hunger and decided to build one for himself.

Now 22 years old, William concocted a turbine from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber. He also used and fashioned blades from plastic pipes that were flattened by being held over a fire. It took several months of backbreaking work to complete his turbine project. The end result was a 16 foot high wooden tower resembling an oversized tinker toy creation.

But what appeared to be a novelty and was quite a curious structure to neighbors, soon turned from amusement to amazement when William scrambled up the windmill and hooked a car light bulb to the turbine. As the blades began spinning just like designed the bulb then began to flicker to life and a crowd of villagers went wild.

Later his original windmill capacity was upgraded to 48-volts and anchored into concrete after its original base was chewed away by termites. Then he built a new windmill, dubbed the Green Machine, which turned a water pump to irrigate his family’s field.
The popularity and amazing results of William’s story has led to great responses around the globe. He is often at guest speaking arrangements and is attending a prestigious school in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This is a great example of human dedication and the power to succeed. It also demonstrates how natural resources can be utilized to enhance civilization through application and determination. For more articles and information about solar energy and clean energy resources please visit http://www.solarselectives.com a great resource for outdoor solar powered landscape lighting.

If the United States is more environmentally aware than ever taking efforts to utilize green resources as a clean alternative to fossil fuels and other limited “dirty energy” sources like electricity, than how can we be so wasteful? The answer is painfully simple and obvious but overlooked by most Americans every day. A few simple adjustments in our daily routines combined with simple awareness would greatly reduce our daily waste of electrical power.

So what is cause of this wasteful practice? It is our use and dependence upon electronics in our daily lives. It is not the use that is so wasteful but the answer lies in the non-use of all of our electronic gadgets. You see even when our cell phones, DVD players, televisions, stereos, and other electronic devices remain in “off” mode they continue to draw small amounts of power as long as they remain plugged in to a power source. All of these electronic devices and many others do not turn off or power down while at rest, they remain in standby mode ready for the next use.

Over time this small amount of wasted standby power begins to add up significantly. Probably the most common example comes from our dependence on cell phones. Even when a phone is at full charge or when the phone is disconnected from the charger, the charger itself will continue to use electricity as long as it remains plugged into your wall socket.

Some electronics will continue to draw 30 or 40 watts during not in use. The biggest energy drains comes from old appliances. If you are still using a dated refrigerator from 10-15 years ago, that antique requires three times more energy to operate than a modern energy efficient refrigerator of the same size. Washing machines and hot water heaters that are old are not doing you any favors either when it comes to electricity conservation. Now solar power technologies can be utilized as a method of heating water within your home and many incentives to convert to a solar powered system are available. Outdoor garden lighting also does not require electricity as there are many solar landscape lights available on the market. For major appliances you may want to consider an upgrade to energy star models in the near future.

There are many simple steps and practices that we can use to promote energy conservation within our daily lives. Washing your clothes strictly in cold water and insuring proper insulation of your hot water heater are a couple of examples. If you are considering a new refrigerator, models with a top or bottom freezer compartment use up to 15% less energy than a side by side model. Also, you can skip the dry cycle on your dishwasher and turn off ceiling fans when you are gone. Unplug appliances where applicable such as the coffee maker and of course the cell phone chargers, toasters, TV, and any other electronics within reach. Everybody knows the curly fluorescent light bulbs are much more energy efficient than the traditional incandescent bulbs that are being phased out alltogether.

Please check out www.solarselectives.com featuring many other energy saving articles and information. Solar powered accent lighting is featured and many other solar energy articles and resources are available for review.

Solar garden lighting also can be displayed with a variety of options as well. Now there are solar powered lights for ground level application on direct surfaces to highlight stairs or tripping hazards. The most traditional and probably the most popular display style are the stake supported lights mounted 12-24 inches above ground as driveway solar lights and to illuminate pathways. As the outdoor solar garden light industry gains in popularity due to environmental and economic benefits new and unique solar outdoor yard lighting such as the 19th century gas lamp style solar lamp posts continue to be developed by solar lighitng manufacturers. These maybe the most powerful of all outdoor solar garden lights as they are mounted high off the ground to illuminate a wider radius of your yard and landscape. These attention grabbing lights are made to be admired with their weather resisten iron lamp posts measuring four to seven feet in height with mounted solar powered accent llights featuring glass beveled panes with a 19th century gas lamp style appeal.

Say goodbye to the boring cookie cutter cheap outdoor lighting fixtures that used to be the norm when outdoor solar garden lights first hit the market many years ago. Variety is the spice of life and variety is what you find with multiple solar garden lighting styles and colors to consider. Solar landscape lighting manufacturers like Gama Sonic USA are creating great options for environmentally conscious homeowners everywhere.