How Is Solar Energy Used Today?

Jump to: Residential || Commercial || Photovoltaics || Solar Hot Water

 

Residential Solar Energy

 

Today, many homes are being built using passive and active solar methods. The simplist passive solar building technique is having walls face the sun. Heat is absorbed into rock or concrete walls during the day, keeping the house warm into the evening.

 

In North America, "active" solar energy users in residential areas are growing faster than commercial use. Many residences use solar panels to provide electricity and solar water heaters. Recent trends show that once users have implemented one solar application they often re-invest in a more comprehensive system. Solar is also used throughout remote areas such as Cambodia and the Philippines - providing inexpensive energy to people who otherwise would go without.

 

Commercial Solar

Business owners are increasingly using passive solar to heat office buildings and private commercial solar electricity-generation using photovoltaic panels.

The Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are using solar energy to power desalinization plants. In South East Asian villages use solar energy to power schools and public health centers. In Indonesia, solar energy has also been used to power offshore tsunami warning buoys. In many cities around the world, pay stations for parking zones are now powered by solar energy. Many regions are utilizing solar powered communication systems.

 

Solar Methods - Photovoltaic Solar Panels

 

Photovoltaic solar panels are by far the most widely used method of harnessing solar energy. They convert sun-energy into electric current. Solar panels are made from photvoltaic materials such as silicon. The photons of light from the sun excite neutrons into a higher energy state, which causes them to act as charge carriers for a current.

These panels are increasingly being used on commercial and residential structures. Usually they are situated on the roofs of buildings, positioned for optimum sun exposure.

 

Today many governments offer energy grants to have solar panels fitted at a reduced cost to improve the energy infrastructure of the nation. Residential solar panels typically cost around ten thousand dollars to install, but can save a lot of money in electricity bills.

 

Solar Hot Water

 

As with photvoltaic panels, the global solar thermal market has boomed over the past decade. This is where the energy from the sun is used to heat water. Often, the hotter the country, the simpler the design.

A solar collector absorbs the energy from the sun and the water is either pumped through it (active) or allowed to travel through it by natural convection (passive). The residential systems often contain auxiliary heating sources, usually an element.

 

Solar water systems can cut down energy needed for water heating by as much as 85% depending on the country. In a hot country it's relatively easy to install a solar water heating system. In colder countries the system has to be well insulated. In a hot climate, the cost can be little more than a few pieces of copper piping, some sheet metal and a glass container.