Solar energy for home homes is nothing new. It has just been relegated to the background in lieu of skyrocketing cost of real estate ; newer more sophisticated building materials, design and the limitation of resources.
Since man started building homes, daylight played a major influence in the design. In fact, even in the more sophisticated urban planning technique of the Ancient Chinese and Greeks, the orientation of the buildings is as much as possible steered towards where it could capture the most sunlight.
The ancients would possibly not be as intellectually complicated then to use slogans as passive solar and thermal mass but when they build, they were building in compact proportion, employing overhangs, producing insulations and building in manners that direct the airflow in the structure and producing well lit, well ventilated spaces using the relative position of the sun to the orientation of their structures.
Lately, as the traditional sources of energy became dearer, homeowners were once again turning to the sun for energy wants.
Since the 1950’s, harnessing the sun’s rays has been developing and today the solar cell technology has achieved awfully efficient levels that modern ( supposed green house ) designs apply the sun’s power to provide energy for the home.
While solar energy is free, the device which will convert it to run our appliances is not. To provide solar energy for the home, solar cells called photovoltaic made from semi-conducting materials, are grouped into modules. These solar panels are mounted on rooftops, yards or open spaces where it can capture the maximum amount of daylight.
Whenever possible, the panels will be installed facing south to get the maximum out of the sunlight but tracking systems are also used to follow the direction of the sun. The solar panels collect the energy from the daylight. The method fundamentally is that when the panels are exposed to sunlight, the electrons are separated form the atoms. This movement of the electrons creates electricity.
To store power, pumps are frequently used – circulating water in the cells. The water goes into a storage tank where the power is stored, prepared for use. Infrequently, the employment of gravity is employed if it will just the same store the heated water in to the tank.
In spite of all of the development in solar energy though, the employment of this technology isn’t enough to provide power to the entire house. The best technique so far can only satisfy about 80% of a households power needs. Using solar energy for the home will still require the utilization of the conventional power distribution technique.
Powering the houses by solar means will still, for a while be enlarged by a local power distribution agency. To several, this is already a good kick off point. Homeowners that feel the high value of powering their houses through solar power, is justified when compared to the price that is now being paid for conventional electrification method where horrendous amounts of CO2 are getting dumped into the atmosphere simply to generate a pathetic quantity of electricity.
However, due in part to the rising costs of energy, the technology for solar energy has been undergoing rapid phases of development. Experts are confident that within 5 years, powering the home thru the solar methodology will be made widely available for people that like it as its sole energy source.
