Light Star Solar: 2019

Light Star Solar Power: Being Environment-Friendly

Solar Power: Being Environment-Friendly

The issue of global warming is gaining wide acceptance with more and more countries making the endeavor to delay the catastrophic effects of this phenomenon. Today, scientists and environmentalists are offering people, across the world, alternatives that can be used in their everyday life.

Using solar power or the power of the sun’s heat is one such attempt. Solar energy is considered to be one of the most powerful forms of all energies on earth. It is derived from the sun, which has been producing energy for billions of years. Solar energy reaches the earth in the form of solar radiation and is converted directly or indirectly into various forms of energy like electricity and heat.

In spite of it being one of the primary sources of energy, solar energy has some drawbacks.

They are:

The irregular and variable manner of its reaching the earth's surface
There is a need for a large area to collect it

Solar energy can be used for multiple purposes from heating water for use at homes to drying agricultural products and even generating electrical energy.

Trivia: British astronomer John Herschel used a solar collector box on his expedition to Africa to cook food in the 1830’s.

Some of the advantages of using solar power or energy are:

Solar power is a renewable resource and it will take another billion years for the sun to disintegrate if ever it does. As a result, solar energy will be able to provide us with enough power to carry day-to-day operations like electricity for homes, cooking etc and can be used for commercial applications as well.
One of the biggest advantages is that solar power is non-polluting. As compared to any other energy resource like oil or coal, solar power will not emit greenhouse gases into the air and hence is considered environmentally friendly.
Solar power is for free. As compared to oil or coal, which you have to buy, using solar power will cost you much less or almost zero in the long run. Initially, you might have to invest a little in the solar panels or cells. The maintenance of solar cells or panels is zero. Apart from this, the life of the solar cells is much longer and comes with a lifetime warranty. You can use solar cells to heat water or even drive a car. The solar cells can convert light into electricity and are often known as photovoltaic cells.

But today, things are different and the situation at hand is grim. You can use solar energy for various purposes. Some of the uses of solar energy by organizations and individuals are as follows:

Companies are trying to implement photovoltaics in electric utilities. Photovoltaic is a process through which solar energy can be converted into electricity directly.
Electricity can also be produced directly from steam generators using solar thermal collectors that can heat the working fluid.
There are many companies globally who have started to implement Solar PV modules, which can easily be retrofitted into existing roofs. Solar PV modules can be connected to a buildings grid supply for generating electricity, which can be used by offices on the premises.

Photovoltaic Energy

Photovoltaic energy can convert sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PVs) cells. These cells are commonly known as solar cells. Photovoltaic cells are non-mechanical devices that are made primarily from silicon alloys.

Sunlight is basically composed of millions of different particles of solar energy also known as photons. Each photon contains a different degree of energy that corresponds to different wavelengths within the solar spectrum.

When a photon strikes a photovoltaic cell, they will either get absorbed, reflected, or pass right through. The photons which get absorbed can provide enough energy to generate electricity. When the required amount of energy gets absorbed by a semiconductor, then the electrons get dislodged from their material atoms.

Photovoltaic cells are being increasingly used in driving solar powered products. Here are some of them:

Solar chargers

These chargers can charge some of the most powerful electronic devices like mp3 players, cell phones and digital cameras.
Some of the top companies of the world use them for their electronic devices like Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Palm/Treo.
These chargers consist of folding solar panels of different outputs like 6.5 watts, 12 watts and 25 watts.
They are made with high-efficiency solar cells that are compact and light in weight.
These chargers powered with solar cells can recharge lanterns, flashlights, cell phones, satellite phones, GPS units, MP3 players and many others.

Solar Modules

The solar modules are mostly he mono-crystalline silicon and are composed of composed of solar cells that have an average conversion efficiency of 15% or more and comes with solar glass and Tedlar (TPT) back sheet and EVA sheet compounded from fluoric-plastic and dacron

Thanks for reading,

Light Star Solar

Why Use Solar Power - 6 Great Reasons by Light Star Solar

Why Use Solar Power - 6 Great Reasons

Perhaps you are happy with the status quo of today. Perhaps you feel all is fine and you don't feel the need to change a system that's worked for over a century. If you do, consider a few of these benefits to solar power and you may just recognize its potential in a somewhat more responsible, yet selfish, light.

I don't care about the environment?

Perhaps everything in the world is fine with your life. The last thing you care about are trees, fresh air, and clean water. Heck, the water shows up every time you turn on a faucet, the heat comes on when it's cold, the light switch brings you light. What's there to worry about? Consider that this is just the problem. If you don’t care for the environment, the faucet may not bring you clean water, the heat may not go on and the car certainly will not start. If the environment is kept clean and left to do what it was intended to do, everything will continue to work fine. But get in its way and everything you thought was fine won’t be for long.

One way to accomplish the goal of keeping all the comforts of home working properly is by using other sources of power generation like the sun, not generating nasty things that get in the way of the environment doing its job. Current sources of power come from dead things like old forests are gone millennium ago. Environmentally responsible power, heat, and transport come from living or energized things like water and oxygen molecules. Sun can be turned into electricity and used to power your car, heat your home and generate your light. But to make the process work, you need to be able to see the sun, which means caring for the environment and not getting in its way.

Cost savings

One of the best things about caring for the suns ability to do its job is that it saves you money in the long run. Once solar systems are purchased and installed, they cost little if anything to operate. In most instances, the government will even help to pay for the upfront costs of installing the system through tax incentives. Additionally, power companies in most regions are required to pay you for energy that you have generated and not used. Yes, you read correctly, the power company will pay you!

Profitable

In most instances, 70% of the northern hemisphere can generate enough solar power to run and heat their homes with existing solar systems. This means that whatever is left over goes back to the power grid if you so choose. Just think of your power meter running backward. The extra power you need for that cloudy day is stored in ever more efficient batteries. Most current users indicate that the use of solar systems only takes a little thought in power management.

Off the grid

Depending on how you feel about the topic, one of the better reasons to use solar power is that you can take yourself off the "grid" so to speak. Many people don’t enjoy being a part of the social collective that is interconnectivity. Going solar takes you away from this one aspect of community and puts you closer to self-reliance.

Versatile

Even though the solar power generation systems of today have come a long way to providing power, heat and a host of other services there is still a long way to go. This is not to indicate, however, that solar power is not currently versatile in form and function. Solar panels can currently be formed into thin sheets that can be installed on the tops of electric cars. They can cover suburban rooftops and not be noticed, unlike those 1970’s units. Costs are also coming down almost as fast as the price of flat-screen TVs of today. Flat screens that solar power can power up through the use of a process called photovoltaic’s.

Personal responsibility

Past the cost savings and environmental benefits that solar power brings you should consider using it because you are part of a larger social order that will procreate. The human species has not been around for all that long and is doing its best to end its run in one way or another. If you would like to give your children’s children a better shot at continuing the human species run on this planet solar power is one small contribution that you can make all by your little self.

Thanks,
Light Star Solar

Light Star Solar - Everything You wanted To Know About Solar Panels

Everything You Wanted To Know About Solar Panels

The history of solar panels can be dated back to 1839 as this was the period when French physicist Antoine-Cesar Becquerel made the astonishing discovery of the photovoltaic effect. This surprising discovery took place during an experiment that involved an electrolytic cell made from two metal electrodes and was placed within an electrolyte solution. Antoine-Cesar Becquerel discovered during the experiment that when the electrolytic cells were exposed to light, it produced a certain amount of electricity. The more the light, the more the production of electricity and that is how solar panels actually came into the picture.

Almost 50 years later in 1883, the first solar cell was developed by Charles Fritts and it was formed using selenium coating sheets with a micro-thin layer of gold. Between the period of 1883 and 1941, there were several scientists as well as inventors who with the help of companies started experimenting with solar energy. It was during this period that Clarence Kemp, an inventor from Baltimore patented the first ever commercial water heater that was being powered by solar energy. Apart from this, the great scientist Albert Einstein also published a thesis on the photoelectric effect and within a short period of time received the coveted Nobel Prize for his thesis and valuable research.

Around 1941, an American inventor named Russell Ohl who was working for Bell Laboratories patented the first ever silicon solar cell. This new invention was spearheaded by the Bell Laboratories and they went on to produce the first-ever crystalline silicon solar panel in the year 1954. This was the most effective solar cells in that era as it achieved a 4 percent return on overall energy conversion. In the next few years several scientists from all over the world continued their research, study, and experimentation to improve upon the original solar cells and started producing solar cells that gave 6% efficiency on overall energy conversion.

The first-ever large scale deployment and use of solar energy ever recorded was in space satellites. The USA was the first country to enable production of solar cells that gave 20% efficiency and this was in the year 1980. By 2000, USA had produced several solar cells that were producing 24% efficiency. Last year, two large companies, Emcore Photovoltaics and Spectrolab rose to dominate the world of solar cell production by producing cells that gave 28% efficiency.

The Making of Solar Panels

The solar panel basically consists of pure silicon. Silicon is first stripped of all its impurities and hence provides the most ideal neutral platform for enhancing the transmission of electrons. In its natural state, Silicon can carry at the max four electrons although it has the ability to carry eight. So mathematically speaking it has enough room for 4 more electrons.

When a silicon atom is made to come into contact with a second silicon atom then each of them receive each other's extra four electrons. So the 8 electrons satisfy a single silicon atoms' needs and this results in the creations of a strong bond but the fact is that there are no negative or positive charges. To produce a large piece of pure silicon, the silicon atoms have to go through the process of combination for years. Once the pure silicon is ready, it is applied on to the plates of solar panels. When silicon is combined with other elements then it produces a positive or negative charge.

Solar panels are being looked at the provider of tomorrow as the other forms of creating electricity are getting replenished by the day. There are several online sources and websites who are selling solar panels with a power range that varies from 10WP to 280WP.

Thanks for reading!
Light Star Solar

Wednesday, January 23, 2019