Solar Sacramento News – Solar power systems are in the news almost daily now which is a good thing especially considering whats going on in the gulf the last couple of months. The author of this article discusses that if it were easy to go solar we would already be doing it. We tend to disagree with that simple analogy. Solar has been in popular use since the 1960’s in most parts of the world… of course expect the USA. Why? Big oil dominates this country propaganda mill, owns most of Washington and is why we spend up to 40% of our military budget protecting it world wide. Want to hear something ironic? Solar was developed by the big oil companies to power the electrical needs of remote oil pumps. BP is one of the largest producers of solar. Non military solar used everyday is about 16% efficient but gasoline cars are only 20% efficient and everyone has one or two cars. You put solar on 10% of the homes in America and this country will be safer, will have created hundreds of thousands of jobs that can not be exported and will be safer because we will not have to send our brightest and best young people to far away places to fight. Solar… no war required! An added bonus is commercial solar will become cheap and as efficient as the industrial solar panels NASA uses which can be as much as 48% efficient. Ok, enough of my rantings about the benefits of solar, here is the re-blog. Read More
Solar power systems are in the news these days because of the going green mentality. Also, there is ongoing debate about dependence on foreign oil. But solar power is a complicated issue and if it was easy to use solar energy to power our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, our country, and then we would already be doing so.
Solar energy is a simple idea, but is still not as practical or profitable as the electrical turbine based power grid system we now use as our energy supply source.
But why not use the sun to create the electricity from solar to power our homes and neighborhoods? After all the sun provides all the energy everyone and everything on earth needs to survive. We should at least be able to use the sun to watch TV.
Some have built solar power grids for their house to power their TV, and their coffee maker, their microwave oven, and even the lights in their home.
Their system begins with solar panels on their roof that take in sun rays that heat copper tubes that creates electrical energy that is changed into electric current and put through a twelve volt battery attached to a condenser that provides the power for the home.
This kind of set up still needs a traditional power grid because it has to be recharged every three months because solar power cannot always be stored effectively.
This system will save the residential homeowner money on his electric bill, but the system costs about a thousand dollars if you plan to install it yourself. You will pay more of course if you have someone install it for you. But this is the ingenuity that is creating new and practical ideas and inventions.
Up until recently a solar panel has been a novel idea, a creative means for university students to research a class project. But now energy is in the news as the effects it has on our environment.
Solar energy at this time can power your TV, microwave oven, and coffee maker. But solar panels cannot be used to run your clothes washer, dryer, or refrigerator. Technology is not available yet to run these larger appliances.
Whatever your opinion about environmental issues like global warming you have to agree that burning oil and coal and sending smoke up into the air is just not good for the air we all breathe. Now is the time we all give solar panel a serious look. We need to develop the technology that will, at least in part, make this a cleaner world to live.
But if we are to go forward with solar power systems that can power all of our home and our communities then solar power has to be profitable and practical. Right now, solar power can run your small appliances but it cannot run your clothes washer or dryer, or your refrigerator. And there is not enough profit for business to develop new technology to make solar power common place in every home. But times are changing and perhaps is a few years solar power will be the standard. Original news blog.