Posts Tagged ‘solar powered house’
August 29th, 2010 | 
Author: 
Jennifer Grayson of environmental blog theredwhiteandgreen.com visits Santa Clara University, where students from Team California are building Refract House, an 800-square-foot solar-powered home for the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. Directed by Jennifer Grayson and Jane Steinberg.
Duration : 0:2:55
http://buildsolar.net/ There has been much made of renewable fuels versus non-renewable fuels in recent years because it has been documented time and time again that we are running out of certain fuels. Coal and gas resources are being depleted and can no longer be used to indefinitely produce the electricity that our homes are using on a daily basis.
As such, we need to look to alternative sources and the use of solar energy in the home is one of the best options we have.
Solar energy is of course sustainable because it uses the energy of the sun to create enough electricity to power our homes but in order to create it yourself you have to have a solar panel installed in your home.
Duration : 0:3:51
http://www.35energy.com
Solar power is a very good source of power because it is renewable, environmental friendly and free. It would be a very nice idea to have a solar power system at home. However, due to the high setup cost ($2000 or more), not many people would use this system.
I am about to let you in on a little secret that can have you building your own solar panels for home use! By making your own solar power system that will save you thousands!
If you think buying a solar power system is too expensive for you, you can make it yourself with a much lower budget. You will need a solar panel first. You will use solar cells, wood plate, soldering iron, solder, flux, and tabbing to make a panel. These items are easy to get from local stores and you would not need any special tool. Even a novice can make it without problem.Solar panels are the wave of the future! So where do we start? How do you get your hands on the material to start building your own solar panels? Well lets first find out what solar panels are. That way you at least sound educated when you pitch this to your family!
Solar cells are almost always made from silicon, that is the same material we use to make computer chips. Silicon is one of the worlds most common elements, and is a leading component of sand and many kinds of rocks. A solar cell is built in layers, with two layers of silicon separated by a thin layer of insulating material. All three layers work together and convert sunlight into electricity.
When sunlight hits the solar cell, it produces an electric charge. Like a battery, the charge is positive on one side of the cell, and negative on the other side. Connecting a wire to the positive and to the negative side will allow electricity to flow. This flow, or current, can be used to power a small light bulb, turn an electric motor, or recharge a battery.
Broken solar cells can be bought for cheap money, and THEY STILL WORK! That is what I recommend. Of course you will need framing material to mount to the top of your house and two pieces of glass. The rest is pretty simple, hook your panels together, positive to positive and negative to negative, that way you get only 2 wires when you are done.Take these two wires and connect them to your power inverter and connect the power inverter to the electrical grid to your house. These steps seem hard but can be broken up into much simpler and easier steps.
I recommend this site if you want to get more in depth information and a step-by-step process of buying, installing and profiting from solar panels
Duration : 0:0:35
Posted in solar powered house | 
Tags: free electricity, homemade solar panel, solar, solar panel system, solar panels, solar powered house, Solar-panel | 
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