The main solar technologies

Despite the appalling reports of climate-related weather catastrophes, there have been encouraging developments in the energy world, particularly solar technology. Some of this is owing to man’s overproduction of fossil fuels. Would we have ever been motivated to adopt clean energy technologies if our air quality had not become so deadly? Likely not, and there are some who even dispute that the earth is warming. Solar energy is the cleanest, most abundant renewable energy source accessible to us at this time. None of the other renewable energy sources are ready to go yet. The U.S. has some of the world’s prolific solar resources. Technology now allows us to collect this resource in several approaches, giving individual families and financial enterprises flexible ways to utilize the light and heat of the sun.

Basic existing solar technologies

Currently, there are three principal technologies by which solar energy is usually harnessed: photovoltaics (PV), which directly convert light to electricity; concentrating solar power (CSP), which extracts heat from the sun (thermal energy) to drive utility-scale, electric turbines; and heating and cooling systems, which collect thermal energy to provide hot water and air conditioning. Solar power can be used through distributed generation, whereby the apparatus may be located on rooftops or ground-mounted arrays near to where the energy is used. Some technologies can be extended into utility-scale applications to generate energy as a central power plant.

Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight into "juice"

Photovoltaic (PV) technologies directly transform energy from sunlight into electricity. When sunlight hits the PV module, made of a semiconductor material, electrons are stripped from their atomic bonds. The flow of electrons makes an electric current. PV modules include no moving parts and are expected to last thirty years or more with insignificant maintenance. PV electricity output peaks mid-day when the sun is at its highest point in the sky and can offset the most expensive electricity generated when demand is greatest. Homeowners can install a few dozen PV panels to decrease or eliminate their monthly electricity bills, and utilities can build large “farms” of PV panels to generate pollution-free electricity for their patrons.

Concentrating solar power uses mirrors

Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants control mirrors to concentrate the sun’s thermal power to drive a conventional steam turbine to make electricity. The thermal energy concentrated in a CSP plant can be stored to produce electricity when it is needed, day or night. Today, over 1,400 MW of CSP plants work in the U.S., and another 340 MW of CSP projects will be placed in service within the next year. The two commercialized CSP technologies are Power Towers and Parabolic Troughs. Other CSP technologies include Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) and Dish Engine. CSP specific requirements to produce power, such as areas where direct sunlight is most intense (e.g., the U.S. Southwest) and contiguous parcels of parched, flat land.

Solar heating and cooling

Solar heating and cooling methodologies exist to manage thermal energy from the sun and use this heat to provide hot water and heating and cooling for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. There are several kinds of collectors: flat plate, evacuated tube, Integral Collector Storage (ICS), thermosiphon and concentrating. These systems provide a return on investment in about 3-6 years.

Water heating, space heating, and space cooling accounted for 69 percent of the power used in an average U.S. household  – representing the abundant market potential for solar heating and cooling technologies. For instance, solar water heating systems can be placed on every home in the U.S., and a properly designed and installed system can provide 40 to 80 percent of a building’s hot water requirements.

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.

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