A Solar Pathfinder

The Solar Pathfinder is a standard shade analysis tool. You can use it to find out exactly where the shadows will be at particular times of the day or year. The data is in graphical form, so you can make sense of it at one glance.

Another popular tool is the Solmetric Suneye. This instrument is rather user friendly, but is much more expensive than the Solar Pathfinder. This will set you back by at least $1,500…yet there is a cheaper option.

Why Do We Need To Use A Solar Pathfinder?

A proper instrument like a Solar Pathfinder can save you lots of time and guesswork. Moreover it is reasonably easy to use and is affordable.

If we do not have any instrument to predict shadow positions, we’ll have to sit up from dawn to dusk to observe how they move. This is a waste of time! Moreover, these positions shift (slightly) through different seasons because of how the earth rotates around the sun.

But why do we care so much about the extent of shading? You may not realize this, but the effect of shading is devastating to solar energy production. Even if your solar panel is slightly covered under a shadow, the power output can drop drastically.

Consider this…if you shade only one solar cell out of the entire solar panel, your energy production is likely to drop by a third. If you shade a row of photovoltaic cells, your electricity output reduces by about 90%. This means your solar panels have virtually stopped working!

Therefore when installing your solar panels, shading is your first and most important concern.

But is it worthwhile to use a solar pathfinder? Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we could determine shadow positions without the use of a scientific instrument… In fact, the additional electricity you’ll be able to generate quickly covers the cost of the Solar Pathfinder. This is especially true for larger systems.

After all, you’ve invested money and effort on your solar cells, batteries and inverters… Are you going to sacrifice a potentially significant part of its energy output just to save a few bucks? I hope not!

In case you are thinking of installing solar panels without a Solar Pathfinder, drop the idea as soon as possible. Because guesswork will eventually cost you dearly! You may be concerned about the cost…or you may be worried about the complexity of the instrument. The fact is this instrument only costs $249 and you’ll probably take only 15 minutes to learn how to use it.

Whatever it is, if you’re without a Solar Pathfinder, I’m confident of this — you cannot even begin your installation… Without this instrument, you’ll be lost!

To use a Solar Pathfinder, you simply have to bring it to the spot you feel is most suitable for installation. Then you’ll need to level the instrument and point it to the right direction with the help of an in-built compass. The plastic dome will show you a paranomic view of the entire area together with the regions affected by shading over different times of the day or year.

To record your readings, you can use a wax pencil (or grease pen) to outline the shadow or simply use your digital camera to take a snap shot. (I prefer the second approach – it’s instantaneous!)

The effects of shading are exceedingly damaging to solar energy production. Therefore you need to eliminate the guesswork — which can end up costing you a lot — and adopt a scientific approach to install your solar panels. Among all known techniques, the easiest and cheapest way is to use a Solar Pathfinder.

Continue Reading:

1. Solar Panel Installation
2. Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels – Electricity Conversion From Sunlight
3. Used Solar Panels – How To Use Them To Build Cheap DIY Solar Panels

Save the Earth

There are many advantages in creating a greener workplace. By reducing and reusing, we can help our environment and save money for our organization.

However not everybody knows what to do when it comes to greening their workplace. Here are 5 simple tips you can share with your friends to get them on the right path:

1. Be smart about light and heating

Turn off the lights when you are not using them for 15 minutes or more. As often as you can, utilize natural light. When you leave the lights on without using them, you are wasting resources.

As little as this may seem, they add up. And by the end of the year, you’ll have wasted a considerable amount of energy.

Heating costs eats up your office budget more than you imagine. By leaving the heater on longer than necessary, you are draining up to 40% more electricity.

What you can do is paste notices at the door so the last person to get out of the office can remember to switch off the lights and heater (or air-conditioner).

If this doesn’t work, try installing a timer instead. This nifty device pays for itself many times over and is easy to install.

2. Maximize your computer efficiency

Do not leave your computer on throughout the night. You can save a lot of power simply by shutting down your computer before you leave the office.

If you can, switch off the power supply at the mains instead of putting your computers on standby. This is because even if your computer is turned off, it still draws power from the mains.

3. Printing and Going paperless

In every office, we tend to print more than we need. What we do not realize is we can reduce our paper consumption and recycle pieces of paper we intend to throw.

We can do this by printing on both sides of the paper and by printing on the back of old documents, faxes, scrap paper or drafts.

Ink is another resource we can easily save. As far as possible, avoid color printing and print in draft mode. Draft quality, in most cases, is not too faint for comfortable reading.

You can also unsubscribe from needless catalogs, newsletters and magazines. This alone can save lots of paper every year.

When choosing paper, insist on chlorine-free paper with a high post-consumer recycled content. You can also recycle toners and cartridges and buy remanufactured ones. They cost less and it takes less energy and materials to manufacture them.

4. Recycle more

Almost everything can be recycled. You just have to take a look at what you discard everyday and think of what else it can be used for. In the worst-case situation, your trash can be brought to the recycling bin.

5. Rethink Traveling

Traveling incurs costs (and time) and increases the amount of fossil fuel we burn. Burning also contributes to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. By using technological advances like video-conferencing and the Internet, you can be talking as if you are meeting people face to face.

Ideas such as the above are simple to implement and goes a long way to help the environment…

…yet this can only be achieved when enough of us do it.

Therefore send this article to your colleagues and friends, and encourage them to do these little things that can help our environment in meaningful ways.

Continue Reading:

1. Recreational Vehicle (RV) Solar Panels
2. 7 Tips You Can Use When Buying Solar Panels
3. 3 Ways to Reclaim Value From Used Solar Panels

There are many solar water-heating systems in the market, yet only a few designs are worth considering. We’ll take a look at them here…

1. The integral collector system (ICS). The ICS is a simple construction with no internal pump. It is also the cheapest among the systems mentioned.

This system is connected between the cold water outlet and water heater. It forms a 2-step heating process. Cold water is first heated up by the ICS. If the water is not hot enough, your electrical water heater contributes more heat to get water to its required temperature.

The ICS allows water to retain in the collector and this can cause damage if water freezes. (Thus you must drain its water before freezing occurs on cold days.)

This system can only be used in mild climates when temperature doesn’t drop below freezing point. Even though large collectors have the ability to withstand these conditions, they are not encouraged to. This is because collector damage is expensive. There is no point to take such risks…

2. The drainback system. This is a system to ensure that your collectors and loop piping doesn’t get damaged due to freezing. It drains water from the collector when it is not absorbing heat.

Each time the pump shuts off, water in the collectors and piping drains into an insulated reservoir tank. There is often a sight glass at the drain-back reservoir to indicate if all the water has flowed out from the collectors. If it hasn’t, a slight tilt at the collector will help.

The drainback system uses a heat exchanger to heat up water in the solar tank. Distilled water is commonly used as its heat-transfer medium. This is because it is affordable, safe and prevents possible mineral buildup within the system.

3. Closed-loop antifreeze system. This system is the best at preventing damages due to freezing. However the anti-freeze solution occasionally breaks down and becomes corrosive if the weather gets extremely hot.

Because it works well in almost any climate, this is one of the most popular solar water heaters used today. They happen to be the most expensive too.

Closed-loop antifreeze systems require an expansion tank. It accommodates the expansion of the antifreeze as it heats up during normal use. This prevents high internal pressure from tearing the system apart. When pressure drops, antifreeze flows out from the expansion tank to equalize the pressure.

A small electric pump propels the antifreeze through a heat exchanger, heating water inside the hot water tank. The antifreeze needs to be replaced occasionally through a fill valve when it expires.

There are other types of solar water heating systems in the market. These are not as popular, but can still be found in some homes. Some of them include the Recirculation System, the Thermosiphon System and the Open-Loop Flooded System.

After understanding the type of common solar water heating systems, you in a  position to decide which one is most suitable for you.

To start off, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you need your solar water heater to work in freezing climate?

Climate is perhaps the most important factor in deciding which system to choose. If you are living in freezing conditions, try out a closed-loop antifreeze system. Although it requires a little maintenance, it beats having to clean up burst pipes and damaged collectors.

If freezing is not a common occurrence where you live, any other system works fine. You just have to remember to drain water from the collectors frequently. If you locate your drain valves in easily accessible places, this shouldn’t be a problem.

2. Are you exposed to high-temperature conditions?

Some systems (like the ICS) may burst if the water inside boils. You can add a pressure-release valve to prevent this from happening, or let the hot water faucet drip into your hot tub whenever the weather gets really hot.

3. How much hot water do you need?

Water heaters are rated in terms of BTUs. This is the same for collectors. If you need more hot water, you’ll have to get bigger systems.

Generally, any solar water heater system can replace most of the heat supplied by electrical heaters.

Of course there will be days when it’s cloudy and you cannot get enough heat from the sun. Yet on most days, a solar water heater can help you cut your power usage significantly.

Continue Reading:

1. What Are Solar Heaters, How They Work And What They Are Used For
2. What You Need to Know about Solar Water Heaters
3. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office

Let’s take a look at Synchronous Solar Panel Inverters…

2. Synchronous Solar Panel Inverters

Synchronous solar panel inverters are also called Grid-Tie Inverters. If you want to have a grid-tied solar power generator, a synchronous solar power inverter will suit you well.

This type of inverter takes the electricity generated by your solar generator and feeds it to the distribution panel in your home. The power is either used by the appliances at home or flows out to the utility grid. If you generate excess power, you are able to sell the energy to your utility company at the rate you’re charged.

When there is no solar energy available during cloudy days (and at night), the system seamlessly taps into the grid supply to make up the difference in power.

As such, you are able to use energy from the grid or from the photovoltaic panels. With this design, you will not need to worry about an increase in energy consumption. In case the solar panel system you design is a little too small, you can use the grid power to supplement your consumption.

Next, let’s go see what a Multifunction Solar Panel Inverter can do for us…

Click Here To Read More About Multifunction Solar Panel Inverters

Continue Reading:

1. About
2. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
3. Solor Panel Inverters – Stand-Alone Solar Panel Inverters

Solar Panels -- Our Best Investment At Home

Electricity produced by solar panels used to be the most expensive option.

But things have changed.

Government and large institutions investing into this technology encouraged economies of scale. This caused the price of solar panels to come down over time.

Nowadays, solar panels have become affordable to the point where average households often consider owning them.

Even though solar panels may seem a little costly at first, they can actually help you financially. This happens in a few ways:

1. You can enjoy significant savings on your monthly energy bills.

2. Your property value increases

3. You may be qualified for grants and rebates when you use renewable energy

Since buying PV panels is really an investment, we must be able to quantify monetary returns over a specific period of time. This involves some basic calculations.

Here are some numbers that you need to figure out in order to know if installing solar panels make sense (financially) for you:

(a) Calculate your payback period. This is the number of years it takes to recoup your upfront cost. The savings you enjoy every month adds up. The time (years) it takes to reach the total cost of installing solar panels is your payback period.

An example: If you spend $3,000 on a solar heating system and that saves you $50 every month, your payback period is 60 months. This is also equivalent to 5 years.

If the cost of oil rises (every so often), you’ll save more money. As a result, your payback period becomes shorter.

Other purchases around the house will not give you such advantage. They usually result in zero (if not negligible) returns on your investment, no matter how long you wait.

And if you were to put that same $3,000 into the stock market, you could be making a windfall…or end up losing your shirt. The returns are just not as certain as investing into solar panels.

Note: Your payback period is directly influenced by the solar panel’s efficiency and the amount of solar radiation your property experiences. It is advisable to get a qualified personnel to help you with these figures if you are not familiar with the calculations.

(b) Find Out About Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs). This is important if you are using a grid-tied solar power system. Essentially, you are using the power grid as storage. Whenever your PV panels generate more electricity than you can use, they are channeled to the grid for others to enjoy. The utility company will then offset your energy bills according to their feed-in tariff rates.

There isn’t much to calculate here. As long as the FiTs are almost equivalent to the rate they’re charging you, it makes sense to use grid-tied systems. Otherwise you’ll need rechargeable batteries, which are not cheap. This, unfortunately, increases your payback period directly.

(c) Ask About Rebates. This is different for every state. The rebate you receive can either encourage or discourage you from installing PV panels. Some states offer reasonable rates while others seem to be nonchalant about using solar generated electricity. If the rates are good, your payback period shortens.

After some calculation, you will almost always agree that solar panels are the best investment for you home. Therefore we should all consider installing them (even on a small scale) sooner rather than later.

Continue Reading:

1. About
2. How You Can Benefit from Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) with Electricity Generated by Your Solar Panels
3. Challenges and Difficulties In Using Solar Panels And How To Overcome Them

Solar panels sewn on backpacks can convert solar energy into electrical energy. Electricity is then stored in a battery pack through a charge controller. A charge controller is essentially a power regulator that conditions the electricity that goes into the batteries for charging. This helps to prolong the life of the battery pack and prevents damage from over-charging.

When you plug your gadgets (like iPhones, MP3, iPads, et cetera) into the charger, energy from the battery packs are released to your gadget. This offers you a whole new level of convenience, especially if you are a heavy gadget user. In case you run out of power, you have the assurance that your gadget will continue working when you reach your destination.

However solar backpacks are not cheap. Thus even though many people want to own them, they are eventually put off by the price. By incorporating a set of thin-film solar panels on a backpack, the product will cost at least $80 to $120 more.

If you are good with craft work, you can easily make your own solar backpack for everyday use. All you need is a durable backpack, a flexible solar panel, a charge controller, plugs, wires and an LED bulb.

First, you have to cut a small hole for the PV panel wires to go through. Then you can attach the flexible solar panel to the fabric of your backpack and make sure its sides are total sealed so water cannot seep in. You can use epoxy or any other suitable waterproof adhesive to do this.

Once you are done with the PV panels, solder your battery pack and charge controller together. Then put them into a waterproof pouch. This helps to protect them from spills. The waterproof pouch should be attached to the inside of your solar backpack at a location near to the PV panel’s wire.

After this, you can proceed to solder all the connections together. The small LED lamp can be attached to the plug so you can find it easily even if it’s dark inside the backpack. After that, you must wrap all exposed joints with a heat shrink or duct tape to prevent short-circuits.

Put everything inside the waterproof pouch, leaving only the connector and the LED sticking out. Then carefully put some silicone glue to seal its opening. Once the silicone glue is totally dry, you can start using your DIY solar backpack.

Continue Reading:

1. DIY Solar Panels — Charge Controller Basics
2. How To Build A Solar Panel Charge Controller
3. How To Power An Electric Fence Charger Using Solar Energy

Reduce Carbon Footprint

Using residential solar panels help your household reduce carbon footprint. As you already know, solar has no carbon footprint. Solar energy is also renewable and sustainable.

The only possible carbon footprint that solar panels have is when they are being produced at the production line. However this is very small compared to the electricity they generate over their lifespan.

Most energy sources are burnt to generate electricity. Each resource produces different amounts of carbon under combustion. The worst of these is coal. They are known to harm the environment in many ways. Unfortunately the United States depends on coal to produce more than half of its electricity.

It is estimated that the average annual carbon dioxide emissions per person in the United States is 20 metric tons. Compared to the world average of four tons, we are really consuming lots of energy even though we do not know it.

At home, we are also using more energy than we realize. This is due to transmission line inefficiencies. Long lengths of transmission cable encourage electrical resistance. Thus the power station has to generate more energy than what we need.

By the time electricity reach our houses, a part of it has already been lost through Joule heating (this is also known as Ohmic heating or resistive heating). Therefore if we consume only 3kWh of energy, the power station may have to generate 9kWh in order to compensate for the loss.

We can all do our part to reduce our carbon footprint by using solar power. It is a misconception that we need to raise at least fifteen thousand dollars before we are able to use solar energy. It is true that it takes quite a bit of money to install photovoltaic panels on our roofs. But we can all start with solar heaters, which are relatively inexpensive.

Solar heaters use solar energy instead of electricity to heat up water or air. Thus it leaves no carbon footprint.

If you want to use PV panels, you can install a few pieces first. This lowers your initial outlay. Then when you have the cash (or have your loan approved), you can buy the rest of the PV panels to generate more electricity.

In fact, on a clear sunny day, 1 kWh per square meter of solar energy falls on the Earth. Most commercial silicon solar cells only have an average of 15 percent efficiency. Thus most of these energy is yet to be harvested using today’s technology. But there is a lot of potential in solar technology.

With better engineering, residential solar panels may double its efficiency, making them more affordable. This will help many homeowners use solar energy on a daily basis. As a result, there is a chance we can permanently reduce our carbon footprint.

Continue Reading:

1. Cost Of Using Residential Solar Panels
2. Home Solar Power — Different Ways of Harnessing Energy From The Sun To Reduce Energy Bills
3. Will Solar Power Be The Solution To Mankind’s Energy Problems?

Building Solar Panels

If you’re interested in building solar panels, you must have retained a library of information in your head or even started your own DIY solar power project.

However I can almost guarantee you haven’t learned every trick in the book. In fact, if you read the rest of this page, you’ll discover three secrets that almost nobody knows about making solar panels…yet…

These tips are essential to help you convert more power from the sun and lower the cost of your project:

Secret #1: Use Anti-Reflective Glass

A good portion of sunlight that hits the surface of your solar panel’s glass covering gets reflected away. They never reach the solar (photovoltaic) cells. In order to generate more electricity, we need to have more sunlight penetrate the glass.

A simple method to do this is to use anti-reflective glass or use a layer of anti-reflective coating on the surface of the glass. This is proven to increase the power output of your solar panel by as much as 50%!

Secret #2: Angle Your Solar Panel

The greatest enemies of your solar power generator are leaves and debris that stays on the glass surface. This is obvious since they will prevent sunlight from reaching the solar cells. Therefore the simplest way to minimize such blockages is to angle your solar panel a little during installation. This will help them slide off the panel easily. Rainwater or snow can also move easily to the side of the panel when it hits the glass surface.

Secret #3: Join Broken Cells Together

If you are on a tight budget, you can drive down the cost of your project by joining broken solar cells together. With a little practice, you’ll get good at it. And you’ll soon wonder why aren’t more people doing this. (Perhaps it takes time…or because you need simple plans and a little effort… and… we’re lazy by nature) In fact, many suppliers will be very happy to sell you broken solar cells at unbelievable prices.

If you were to take these three tips and implement them, I assure you that your DIY solar panel will be working harder while the cost of building it becomes cheaper.

There are of course more tips than these to be learned about building DIY solar panels. So I encourage you to keep reading and learning from experienced folks who design and build for themselves solar panels that they use everyday. Some of these valuable resources can be found in magazines and on the Internet.

Continue Reading:

1. How To Build Solar Panel (Part 3 of 3)
2. Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels – Electricity Conversion From Sunlight
3. How To Find Used Solar Panels

Used solar panels can be found in many places and from different sources. You can approach homeowners who have solar panels that look old. You can also try your luck at recycling centers where broken solar panels can occasionally be found.

Yet the most effective way is to contact contractors or agents who specialize in solar panel installation. Many of them discard used solar panels before fitting new ones for their customers. Another source to get used solar panels are building contractors. They often renovate houses installed with photovoltaic panels and are glad to have someone dispose such items for them.

Most of these people may give you their used solar panels provided you offer to transport them away from the site. If they are unwilling to hand those pre-owned solar panels to you, try offering them a small fee that includes transporting the solar panels to your residence.

As you hunt for used solar panels, remember to look out for fatal flaws that may render your photovoltaic cells unusable. Here are some tips on what to look out for:

1. Cracked glass, condensation under glass and broken connections are common problems that cause owners to discard their solar panels. Fortunately there is a remedy for these failures.

2. Loose connections between solar cells may go unnoticed as you inspect them visually. Such faults can be picked up using a resistance meter, and joints with high resistance can be re-soldered together.

Although pre-owned solar panels are cheap, there are downsides to using them. One of the most obvious is the decrease in power output. After they are exposed to the sun for one or two decades, photovoltaic cells become less effective. Although marginal, you have to take this degradation into consideration, as you’ll need more solar panels as a result. Used solar panels also have a shorter lifespan, thus they can only serve you for their remaining years.

Needless to say, the low price of used solar panels allure many people to buy them. If the cost per watt can justify the purchase and they still have many more years to go, they can be excellent investments.

Therefore if you intend to install a used solar panel for your home, the payback period can be shorter than when you buy new ones. A trusted contractor is able to help you look out for used solar panels that are relatively and without damage. Therefore keep in contact with them, learn from them and build a relationship, and you’ll have a good-as-new solar panel at your home soon.

Continue Reading:

1. 3 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Building Solar Panels
2. Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities
3. Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels – Electricity Conversion From Sunlight