Solar energy is among the answers for future power needs. Solar energy of the sun can be converted in the useful energy directly or indirectly. It can be directly converted in electricity or by using concentrated power in the different ways. The concentrated solar power plants can produce electricity by converting the solar power of the sun into high intensity heat using various types of mirrors for concentrating the sun rays. The concentrated power plants consists of two sections namely one which converts sun's energy into high intensity heat and the other one converts heat energy into electricity. The size solar plants can vary as it is required.
A 10 kilowatts solar plant can light up a village or it can be grid based plant generating several megawatts. Other mini solar systems can be combined with natural gas or oil based plants providing higher values and efficiency. Mini solar systems now a day are becoming quite popular in the Sun Belt regions around the world. 1 mw solar power plant Solar power is a carbon free energy and pollution free power. During night times many companies install systems like molten salt storage that can store enough energy during daytime which may be used during night time. Due to efficiency and low cost operation, nearly everywhere solar power plants are being planned. Solar power is very efficient can also replace the fossils fuels that are used in the traditional power plants. Solar energy could be very cheap in the foreseeable future as the crude oil prices are soaring.
Solar power has also got new found friends in the name of environmentalists as it does not emit polluting gases like carbon dioxides, carbon monoxide and other green house gases as in the event of conventional power plants. In many rural places whatsoever developed and developing world there is shortage of electricity to light up the homes, hospital and schools, in the places like above solar power can light up lives of people. Solar power can be utilized to run other equipments such as computers and refrigeration systems.
Another way to harvest solar power is by using photo voltaic cells. Photo voltaic cells are those which can be seen on the roof tops of commercial buildings and private houses. These cells are covered with solar cells and it produces electricity when sun light is illuminated on it. This panels use the technology of photo electric effect. These photo panels absorb most sunlight when it falls on them directly so it has a mechanism that makes the sun light to fall on them normally. These mini solar systems are fuelled by sun rays and do not emit green house gases. They have a unique quality to store solar energy efficiently and dispatch it to grid when need arises even during cloudy days and also night. A power tower converts solar energy into electricity for the electricity grids. Solar power towers offer large-scale, distributed solutions to our nation's energy needs, particularly for peaking power. This mini solar system mechanism utilizes many large, sun-tracking mirrors to focus the sun rays on a receiver which is present at the very top of a tower. A fluid is made to be heated in the receiver to generate steam, which, helps to conventional turbine to rotate and produce electricity.
The biggest solar power plant linked to the grid will likely be constructed in West Australia's Midwest. The WA Government is eager to fund one-third of the cost. It is again an additional testament to the state's commitment to really have a green economy by tapping on renewable energy supply. The Energy Minister made the announcement with regards to the venture during the Energy in WA Conference, which really is a yearly event. The solar photovoltaic energy venture amounting to $58 million will likely be constructed in Geraldton. It will likely be in a position to create up to 10 megawatt hours of electricity yearly.
The venture will produce the largest PV facility within the nation and is vital to long term endeavours to make solar energy inexpensive to all. This will likely be a vital test and demonstration of the technology on a bigger scale for WA. Eventually it will pave the path for the production of even bigger long term projects. It shows a high possibility of reducing renewable energy costs in the coming future like in the medium to the long term. The development of the venture will start in early 2011.
The aim of the venture is to produce clean energy on a long term basis to the communities in and around the periphery of Geraldton. It is created to add considerably to the 20 percent renewable energy target of the WA Government by 2020. It has vital contributions as it will likely be the largest solar array that will likely be linked to the grid of Australia. It will likely be a vital supply of clean and secure energy. More importantly, it will likely be in a position to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions by 25,000 tonnes each year. This is a vital milestone in the country's efforts to be more environmentally conscious. Furthermore, the venture will likely be in a position to generate 50 jobs during the development stage and then 3 full-time jobs during completion.
Many towns and municipalities are looking into various ways to cut utility costs, and among the hot new trends is a move toward solar power. Solar power is a superb alternative to other traditional forms of energy because it is free to use, and does not degrade our environment. Although solar photovoltaic cells have been in existence for decades, they have been successful primarily with powering smaller electrical items, such as small appliances and water heaters.
Residences can be outfitted with solar panel arrays, which, in warm climates where the sun shines for all the year, can be utilized to provide electricity to a single household. Green energy companies are along the way of developing, and some have had initial successes with, large solar power station facilities such that an entire town can run on efficient solar power.
But How Does Solar Electricity Work?
Getting the sun to give us electricity is somewhat of a complicated process, but it can be described simply in the following way: you first need a material that can soak up the sun's rays, and that energy capture material is recognized as a semiconductor. After the energy from sunlight has been captured, the energy is released in the solar cell as electrons, which freely float around in no organized way.
To create electrical current that can be utilized by your washing machine or other electrical appliances, the solar cell needs an electrical field. This field makes the freewheeling electrons in the solar cell to move in a particular direction, which is what creates the electrical current. To get the electrical current out from the solar cell and to your electric appliances, you use metal contacts, which are situated at both the bottom and the top of cell.
Solar power efficiency comes into play if you think about the kind of semiconductor material that is used. There are numerous types, but some of the most common are silicon, and a newer type of solar cell, called a thin film solar cell, can use not only silicon but also cadmium telluride or copper indium gallium deselenide.
The thin film technology has made it so that thin film cells are as energy efficient as silicon solar cells. Silicon solar cells are around fifteen to twenty-five percent efficient. Quite simply, eighty-five to seventy-five percent of all energy produced by the solar cell goes into the production of the energy, and only fifteen to twenty-five percent of the energy produced is available to be used.
As solar power efficiency increases, more and more utility companies will be converting into 1 mw solar power plant facilities, because once the initial investment in the system is paid off, the energy is produced for free, and free is an excellent price.
