Solar Living News

When it comes to politics and the topic of solar energy or any alternative clean energy source for that matter, it is never smooth sailing. Despite obvious advantages to solar power, the transformation to clean energy is often clouded with logistics, challenges, and lots of red tape covering every green effort there is.

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.

According to Green Inc.. twice as many megawatts of solar power electricity will be added across the U.S. this year compared to 2009. Leading the way will be new projects in California and New Jersey with the state of Florida showing a lot of progress in solar energy development. A beefed-up $2.3 billion in tax credits for the solar energy sector approved by President Obama shows that progress is being made in the alternative energy field.

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.

Hopefully, advancements in California will result in solar energy progress for other western states.

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.

Sure it’s freezing cold across most of the country and snow blankets many of our front yards. Now is the time to cozy up to a good book and a crackling fire as staying warm inside far outweighs any thoughts of outside home maintenance. However, the fact remains that outdoor solar garden lighting is a great safety feature for any home for many reasons.  Primarily, safety and security is just as important in the winter as it is during warmer months. You and your family need to watch your step on icy walkways and you should show house guests the same courtesy.  At the same time a well lit home also presents itself as a busy home leaving strangers with other places to consider.

Stay warm and secure inside and out with a well lit home that is safe and secure and it stays that way for free. By installing solar landscape lighting you provide outdoor lighting for free with clean electricity from the sun that is environmentally and economically friendly. Perhaps best of all you don’t have to wait for spring to install solar garden lights as they are simply staked into the ground without any wiring or electrical access.

Right now at www.solarselectives.com you will find great prices on colorful quality outdoor solar garden lighting available in many bright LED colors and light styles. Many styles like the globe shaped <a href=”http://www.solarselectives.com/product/35005″>GS-35 Solar Accent Light</a> are reduced by at least 25% off our low regular discount prices. Or you can line your driveway and pathways for safe night time navigation with the GS-335 solar accent light available in multiple LED colors with various display and mounting options.

If you use solar power to provide light in or around you home, such as outdoor solar garden lights, the light present is delivered through one or more LEDs or Light Emitting Diodes. The LED is specifically made to release light and to do it efficiently with minimal energy absorption. The diode itself is contained within a plastic casing designed to promote the release of light in a specific direction. A large portion of the light produced inside the casing bounces off the side walls before its release through the rounded end.

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.

On a smaller scale most of us already realize that the use solar power already is common place with many home and business owners. Plenty of neighborhoods have outdoor solar garden lights for landscaping or solar panels on a rooftop is a frequent site, especially in states where sunlight is more frequent. The benefits and technologies of solar power are now present on a much larger scale.

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.

Everywhere you turn, whether in advertisement or just in general discussion, the social catch phrase now seems to be “go green”. Whether its energy conservation or natural and organic lifestyle, the word green has taken on new meaning over the past decade.

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.

There are plenty of ways home and business owners can save money by making a few simple adjustments and taking advantage of cost saving opportunities available with green products. Not only are you playing nice with the planet, you will save money on your power bill every month. One adjustment comes in the form of those cool little curly light bulbs called the CFL or Compact Fluorescent Lamp. The old outdated and power draining incandescent bulbs have been around since Edison introduced them to the world but out with the old and in with the sheik new curly CFLs.

The old incandescent worked when electricity heated both sides of a carbon filament resulting in a light emission. A CFL bulb operates in a completely non related manner. The CFL is actually a closed glass tube with a fluorescent coating which glows when electrical current connects to the argon and mercury vapors inside the tubing.
True, incandescent bulbs are much cheaper upfront than the CFL bulb. However, using traditional bulbs will cost you much more in the long run with any significant use.
Incandescent bulbs wear out much quicker and they require substantially more electricity to operate. To compare, a CFL bulb, with average use will save you over $25 throughout its lifetime and will not need to be replaced unlike incandescent bulbs. The CFL will pay for itself in less than half a year.

It is also very interesting to view the electricity outputs for the CFL compared to the incandescent bulb. The same light emission for a 40-watt incandescent can be achieved with just 9 watts for the CFL bulb. You can replace a 100-watt incandescent with a 23 to 30 watt CFL.

This is a great way to conserve energy indoors and the same practices can be apply outside your home as well. As an alternative to electrical in-line systems you can easily install outdoor solar powered landscape lighting to save money and energy as well. These lights use Light Emitting Diodes (LED) that are completely poered by the sun.

Indoor or outside you can start your environmental and cost savings plan by simply changing your bulbs. Your wallet and your world will smile a little brighter.

This is a truly remarkable story that does include alternative energy but even more importantly the human spirit. Last week the BBC News Africa as reported by Jude Sheerin, found a truly amazing Malawian teenager by the name of William Kamkwamba who is inspired by global green energy efforts and climate change campaigns and now is featured in a new book. William literally saved his father’s farm and home village of Masitala by building two functioning windmills out of scrap and debris.

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.

We may say and act like we are environmentally conscious but truly, are we? We can save aluminum cans, recycle paper and plastics, use bio-degradable materials and we can conserve electricity just to name a few eco-friendly examples. Most people do not realize this but over 5% of all electricity consumed by Americans is wasted and that figure may go up two or three times that amount by 2010 according to estimates from the US Department of Energy.

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.

With many environmental concerns and changes, we are in the midst of a world-wide movement to protect our eco-system with energy saving technologies, recycling, and the protection of natural resources are all huge topics of discussion within the “green” movement. It will take concentrated efforts and continued education from industrialized nations to develop a global preservation plan if we are to help protect the generations to follow.

A positive development is the amazing technological advancements in the conversion of the sun’s energy into useful forms of clean energy with tremendous benefits both on social and environmental levels. Solar energy can be converted to heat energy (thermal) and is useful for heating spaces, like your home or a building, or for heating water. Solar energy is also converted into electricity in two ways, through solar power plants or through Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. It’s amazing to ponder the advancements that have been made in this field but it remains a far cry from our current dependence upon fossil fuels for energy. In time, perhaps the pendulum will swing towards the utilization of solar energy on a more level playing field and reduce our consumption of waste emitting energy sources. All things may be possible when you consider the power of the sun. Here are some solar facts that you may not be aware of.

The sun is simply a star and it’s smaller than some of the stars you view at night but it’s much closer to earth than many stars. The sun is 93 million miles from earth and is much larger than earth. The earth could fit inside the sun a million times! If we could all of the energy emitted by the sun it would provide enough power for everybody.

It takes about eight minutes for the sun’s rays to reach earth. If you drove 60 mph in a car it would take 176 years to get there. It is estimated that the sun is more than 4 billion years old. In several more billion years scientists believe the sun will have burned all of the hydrogen that’s present then it will expand 100 times its size and burn helium. Ever wonder how hot the sun is? At the core it is about 10 million degrees and around 6,000 degrees on its surface.

With all that mass and intensity it only makes sense that we try to harness what sun provides for us day in and day out.