SOLAR ENERGY
What is Solar Energy?
Solar energy is energy that is produced from our sun. The sun is generating about 3.9x 1026 watts, or 390,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts of energy. Some of this energy can now be captured and converted into heat or electrical energy.
There are 4 main ways that solar energy from the sun is captured, these are:
o Flat plate liquid filled solar panels for water heating
o Flat Plate Gas filled solar panels for space heating
o Photovoltaic cells for electricity generation
o Passive Solar Heating
Flat Plate Liquid filled solar energy panels
A flat-plate liquid solar energy collector is basically a metal box, usually insulated, that has a glass cover over a dark coloured metal plate (copper or cheaper aluminium). This plate absorbs the sun’s heat and warms up. This heat is in turn passed on to water that passes through tubes underneath the plate. The heated water then passes through to heat the residential hot water system..
A more efficient variation of this is the vacuum tube system. With this system the heat collectors are enclosed in a vacuumed glass tube, which significantly reduces heat loss, making the system more energy efficient.
Flat Plate Gas filled solar energy panels
A flat plate gas solar energy collector is much the same construction as the liquid version, but instead of water absorbing the solar energy that has been collected, it is air. The heated air is then pumped through into a room or space, to heat that area. Whilst not as efficient as liquid filled systems, the gas based systems have the advantage of needing less solar energy to warm up, meaning that they start outputting heat earlier in the day and later in the evening.
Photovoltaic (Electrical Solar Energy)
Photovoltaic Energy is a technology that uses crystalline silicon solar cells to convert sunlight, aka solar energy, into electricity. The uses for this can range from very large plants generating mains electricity down to small cells that power your calculator.
Passive solar energy
Passive solar energy is where the sun warms up an object and that object then gives out heat once the sun has gone. Passive solar energy is something that we all appreciate and benefit from in our houses. Working in the same way as a storage heater modern design is now able to optimise the use of solar energy in this way.
Petroleum has been a wide source of energy since years for many countries. This extensive use of petroleum has put its level in danger. The level of petroleum has been drastically lowered and thus a number of alternative energy resources have been deployed. These energy sources include wind energy, solar energy etc.
The need for the alternative energy has led to the development of different suitable technologies. This is to reduce our dependence on petroleum. Massive consumer demand has been generated as more and more people are moving towards this alternative source. For this, production is made on a large-scale. Owing to this increasing need, there is a great opportunity in investing in renewable energy companies and making some real money out of it.
Most of countries like U.S. have state controlled power and utility companies which are working and investing in research and development of renewable and sustainable energy resources. These companies are in huge profits as they generate billions through convertible bonds for investment in green resources. They also have domestic, stock exchanges.
Some countries are showing a sharp increase in the deployment of renewable energy sector and thus their investments in renewable resources are showing rapid increment. There are many research and developments plans going for different renewable energy resources like wind energy, solar energy-efficient and biofuels.
Incentives and investment on renewable energy resources: Due to the increasing demand and need for energy, some countries are also making it mandatory for their power sector to produce energy. This has further increased investment opportunity in this sector. Some of the governments are also offering heavy incentives on foreign investments in energy sector. This is to promote more and more investment in this field. This will also help them to reap heavy benefits from the advance renewable energy technologies.
The plans and projects of governments and renewable energy companies are clearly promoting people for investment. You will observe more and more people are investing their money in stocks and bonds of these companies. If you are also looking for an investment in the near future, this is a great opportunity for you. If you think it as a risk, start with a lower amount and gradually increase it. This is a great time to go for this profitable investment, and with time profits are going to increase definitely as demand and need for energy resources will definitely go up.
We may think of future technology as being flying cars or robot butlers, but in actuality the device you are using to read this was considered future technology just a few years ago. As the days in our fast paced world go by, technology changes and updates at a rapid pace. The following is a list of what is considered to be a few things that will change everything in future technology.
Wireless Power Transmission
This is a method of being able to throw or transmit electricity a few feet without the use of wires or the danger of injuring anyone nearby. This technology will not be around for another four to six years (if everything goes well and according to plan), but imagine not having to deal with so many wires!
Windows 7
Though this software has already been released it is once of the programs that has been mentioned as one of the top fifteen things that would change everything. It replaces the faulty Windows Vista and provides improved taskbar, touch screen support, access to Netflix in Media Center, faster start ups & shut down and many more features.
Google’s Desktop OS
This application has almost everything you can imagine. It offers an alternative to pay pal with Google check out, street views on the maps shows every house. The Google chrome browser has been release to wet the pallet of those that wish test drive this app.
Cell Phone as the New Paper
If you are an owner of android phone such as the G1, you have most like seen the app that gives its users local discount coupons. There are also websites where you can purchase tickets and are able to show the ticket agent you ticket on your cell phone (can’t lose your ticket that way). Next step that continental Airlines is experimenting with a cell based check-in.
Our technology is continuously changing and there is no better way to utilize this technology than by taking an e-learning course on Windows 7. One of the perks of growing technology is being able to do thing when you want and how you want, and if you like this notion when regarding education, e-learning is the thing for you.