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Significance of Solar Energy and its Applications

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Solar PanelsThe earth continuously receives huge amounts of incoming solar radiation at the upper atmosphere. As per statistical records, incoming radiations amount to about174 PW approximately 30% of which is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by the atmosphere, oceans and the land masses. Then these radiations pass through the atmosphere, and their spectrum is divided into two parts, visible with a bigger chunk in infrared ranges and small part in the ultraviolet.

The phenomenon of absorption of solar energy by atmospheric convection, evaporation and condensation of water vapor powers the water cycle and drives the winds. On account of the sunlight absorbed, the oceans and land masses keep the surface at an average temperature of 14 °C.

The solar energy has great significances in our life. For instance conversion of solar energy into chemical energy via photosynthesis produces food, wood and the biomass via which the fossil fuels are derived, without which we would find ourselves in a world of darkness. Moreover ever since the beginning of architectural history, sunlight has influenced the building design greatly.

The solar energy greatly exceeds total global energy consumption as the solar radiation along with the secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for over 99.9% of the available flow of renewable energy on the planet. The flows and stores of solar energy in the environment are vast in comparison to the current human energy needs.

The performance of solar technologies varies widely between regions, so they should be deployed after carefully considering these variations. Technologies that use secondary solar resources such as biomass, wind, waves and ocean thermal gradients can also be included in a broader description of solar energy.

Solar technologies such as photovoltaic cells and water heaters are very popular and find wide variety of use in day to day life. They increase the supply of energy and may be characterized as supply side technologies. So the technologies such as passive designing and shading devices reduce the need for alternate resources, may be characterized as demand side. Optimizing the performance of solar technologies is often a matter of controlling the resources rather than simply maximizing its collection.

Greeks and Chinese were first to develop solar architecture and urban planning methods having their buildings oriented towards the south to provide light and warmth. The elemental features of passive solar architecture are Sun orientation, compact proportion, selective shading and thermal mass.Solar Homes

Solar water heaters face the equator and are angled according to latitude to maximize solar gain. Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat water. When sited in low latitudes, solar heating system can provide around 60 to 70% of domestic hot water use with temperatures up to 60 °C.

The most common types of solar water heaters include evacuated tube collectors that are about 44% and the glazed flat plate collectors 34%, generally used for domestic hot water; and the remaining portion being unglazed plastic collectors which is used mainly to heat swimming pools.

As per existing records, the total installed capacity of solar hot water systems is approximately 154 GW with China being the world leader in the deployment of solar hot water with 70 GW installed until 2006 and has a long term goal of 210 GW by 2020.

The Bio-Based Eco Friendly Products

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Bio Based Eco Friendly ProductsThe ever increasing popularity of go green revolution and consequently concept of greater usage of bio-based eco-friendly products is spreading widely throughout the world.

The revolution of usage of eco friendly products has dramatically affected commercial, industrial and government-funded businesses. Bio-based products are a class of eco friendly products that come from agricultural materials like corn, and they are providing environmentally minded individuals with effective alternatives to petroleum-derived products.

In fact, the term bio-based may soon be as common as “eco-friendly” when describing products that make a lighter imprint on the environment.
Scientifically as well as legally, eco friendly products are defined as those products that are composed mostly of biological products or renewable domestic materials and don’t contribute to environmental degradation in any manner.

Some of these bio-based eco friendly products even use the acidity of citrus juice to create cleaners while others utilize wheat stalks, to replace drywall as the material for interior partition walls. Another approach uses corn and soybean oil to make powerful degreasers, cleaning solvents and paint strippers.

When the issue of usage of these bio-based eco-friendly products comes to building houses, changing the type of materials we use to construct the buildings should be everyone’s responsibility, as it greatly contributes to environmental degradation. Environmental design concerns and skyrocketing energy costs have greatly contributed to this wave of change. As a result presently, scientists from all over the world are trying to bring these bio-based eco friendly, innovative products from the fields of the farm, to the lab and ultimately to your building.

In a nation like the United States of America, the building environment accounts for almost one-third of all energy, water and materials consumption and generates similar proportions of pollution. Consequently, in a big step forward, the federal government has started integrating these bio-based eco-friendly products into the purchasing cycle of government agencies. As incase of recycling, it is promoting agencies to purchase environmentally beneficial products whenever possible.

The “Buy-Bio” campaign helping in popularization of these bio based eco friendly products encompasses a diverse collection of products, including adhesives, construction materials and composites, fibers, paper and packaging, fuel additives, vegetable oil inks, landscaping materials and compost, lubricants and functional fluids, paints and coatings, plastics, solvents, cleaners and much more.

As this concept is gaining greater popularity, there are now many places for home and office builders to find an informative guide on green building products. The most trusted body for architectural design in the U.S. is the American Institute of Architects, who are currently providing counseling these on green bio based eco friendly design products as well.

If you still doubt about the effectiveness of going green, simply consider a place such as California. This state has saved taxpayers more than $56 billion in electricity and natural gas costs since the year 1978 by making use of energy efficient appliances and smarter design features.

There are lots of ways in contributing to the wellness of the environment. Usage of these bio based eco friendly products has been an effective way of preserving the nature. Please remember it would always take the combined efforts of every one to force an issue and create worldwide awareness.

Making Biodiesel at Home

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Making biodiesel is a very simple process, if you can make barbeque sauce, you can surely make biodiesel at home

While the method of making biodiesel at home is perfectly safe, it is strongly recommended to read the biodiesel safety information before undertaking any activity involving chemicals at home. Improper use of the chemicals can be dangerous.

It is easily possible to make enough biodiesel at home in a safe, easy, professional manner for all your own needs. You can do this at a very competitive price as well. This will enable you to have enough biodiesel to run your cars, or even heat your home in the winter. There is no reason you can’t be saving money on your energy needs in a very short time.

The materials that you’ll need for making biodiesel at home include about a liter of clean vegetable oil, about 4 grams lye which is commonly called caustic soda and some methanol.

The important equipments that you’ll need for making biodiesel at home, would be a dry 2 liter plastic bottle, a funnel that fits the bottle above, a dry and a sealed container to mix the methanol and lye. It is important that it must be able to seal securely and tightly, to ensure that while turning this container upside-down, nothing should leak out.

You would also require measuring cup with metric to measure out the methanol, Plastic safety gloves, Plastic lab apron, Face shield or any other equipment eye protection.

To start making biodiesel at home, open the window, turn on the fan and maintain good ventilation. Measure 250 ml of room temperature methanol into a one pint mason jar.
Measure out 4gm of lye and add to the methanol in the jar screwing the lid down tightly to prevent any leaks. Now swirl the mixture by hand until all the lye is dissolved.

As you start mixing the temperature will increase, so don’t panic. This is what is supposed to happen and would take around 10 minutes or more.

Next, heat 1 Liter of unused clean vegetable oil to 60 degree Celsius. Now using a funnel, pour the oil into the dry plastic container. Be careful not to overheat the oil as it may melt the plastic.

Pour the mixture of methanol and lye on top of the oil using the same funnel. Make sure not to breathe the vapors as they are toxic.

Shake vigorously for about ten seconds or twenty seconds say about 30 times. Now put the bottle on a table and let it settle. In about 10 minutes or so, the oil will change color from a chocolate-coffee color to a rich, darker brown and the by-product will start to settle out and separate at the bottom. You should now be left with a bottle containing lighter amber-colored biodiesel on top and a layer of darker glycerin on the bottom.

At this stage, the biodiesel will be very cloudy and it will take a couple of days to clear completely. Put it in a cool, dark place to let that happen. Once it is completely settled, open the container draining the biodiesel out, leaving the darker layer behind.

The end result depends upon your expertise to do this; the mixture is technically ready to be used and is termed as biodiesel. As mentioned, making biodiesel at home is easy and highly cost effective.

Biodiesel Production Methods

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There are many methods for biodiesel production. Some of them include the batch method, supercritical method, ultrasonic and the latest microwave method.

In the batch process of biodiesel production, catalyst is initially dissolved in the alcohol using a standard agitator. The alcohol catalyst mixture is then charged into a closed reaction vessel and the bio-lipid is added. Here after try to maintain a closed atmosphere to avoid any leakage. The reaction mix is kept just above the boiling point of the alcohol to speed up the reaction. The reactions take a long time then both the resultant biodiesel and by product glycerin are allowed to settle down. Once separated from the glycerin, the biodiesel is sometimes purified by washing gently with warm water to remove residual catalyst or soaps, dried, and sent to storage.

The next method of biodiesel production is the super critical method, which is a continuous catalyst-free process for trans-esterification using supercritical methanol at very high temperatures and pressures. In the supercritical state, the oil and methanol are in a single phase, and reaction occurs almost instantaneously. The process can tolerate water in the feedstock, as the free fatty acids are converted to methyl esters instead of soap, so a wide variety of feed stocks can be used, but energy costs of production are more or less similar to catalytic method.

The other methods include the Ultra Shear and High Shear biodiesel production method, which uses up to three sets of rotor and stator which converts mechanical energy to high tip speed, high shear stress and high shearing frequencies. The droplet size range is expected in the low micrometer until sub-micrometer range after one pass.
These Ultra and High Shear mixers are used for the pre-treatment of crude vegetable oil or animal fats, for the trans-esterification and water wash process such as improved de-gumming, improved refining. They also facilitate faster bleaching, batch Biodiesel conversion, continuous Biodiesel conversion, semi continuous Biodiesel conversion and continuous water wash process.

The ultra shear mixers are used to rapidly and intimately blend the acid or water, allowing a continuous trans-esterification process. The in-line or batch reactors allow production of biodiesel continuously, semi- continuously, and in batch-mode. This drastically reduces production time and increases production volume.

Incase of the ultrasonic reactor biodiesel production method, the ultrasonic waves cause the reaction mixture to produce and collapse bubbles constantly. The cavity simultaneously provides the mixing and heating required to carry out the trans-esterification process. Thus using an ultrasonic reactor for biodiesel production drastically reduces the reaction time, reaction temperatures, and energy input.

Hence the trans-esterification process can be run inline in this method, rather than using the time consuming batch processing. Industrial scale ultrasonic devices permit the industrial scale processing of several thousand barrels per day.

Presently research is being directed into using commercial microwave ovens for biodiesel production to provide the heat needed for the trans-esterification process. The microwaves are capable of providing very high temperatures. A non stop flow process producing 6 liters/minute at a 99% conversion rate has been innovated and proved to consume only 25% of the energy required as incase of batch process.

Although it is still in its development stage, the microwave method has undoubtedly great potential to be a highly efficient, cost effective method for the biodiesel production commercially!

Making Efficient Photovoltaic Systems Using Solar Panels

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How Solar WorksThere is never a better time than now to start making the changes that you would probably like to see in your world. A good idea would be to start off by using the abundant sunlight to offset energy consumption with photovoltaic systems!

Photovoltaic systems basically use the photo electric effect to generate electricity by utilizing the solar energy. Almost all the efficient and popular categories amongst these photovoltaic systems incorporate solar panels.

Solar panels transform the sunlight into usable forms of energy for on-grid or off-grid applications. Wired together in highly efficient modular array systems, solar panels allow custom, expandable design to meet a variety of energy demands, from powering a remote pump to lighting an urban home.

In photovoltaic systems such as the crystalline silicon solar cells, the orderly arrangement of atoms results in the efficient conversion of sunlight to electricity. A typical crystalline silicon solar panel consists of a transparent glass surface, ethyl vinyl acetate, encapsulated with a rear layer and an aluminum outer frame.

There are primarily two efficient methods of solar panel production namely thin-film deposition and the crystalline silicon-ingot growth method. Thin-film deposition is easier and less expensive than crystalline silicon-ingot growth techniques because it uses lesser amount of semiconductor material.

The three principal thin-film technologies are amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium di-selenide which is popularly known as CIGS. These processes produce highly efficient photovoltaic systems especially the solar panels that can be built directly into roofing shingles for aesthetic architectural considerations.

Effective string-ribbon manufacturing combines conventional crystalline silicon and emerging thin film technology. The high-temperature, molten process contributes to a double yield over conventional solar cell construction per pound of silicon making the material highly efficient.

In addition to solar panels, an efficient photovoltaic system requires a mounting structure to tilt panels toward the sun, an inverter to convert panel-generated direct current into appliance-friendly alternating current, battery storage to compensate for unfavorable weather conditions, and a charge controller to regulate battery operation.

As mentioned previously, solar panels are utilized in grid-tie systems that are interconnected to the utility network. Wired with an efficient synchronizing inverter, grid-tie systems feed surplus electricity back into the local utility. The utility acts as an infinite storage system, eliminating the need for batteries.

Off-grid systems are stand-alone systems designed for remote, backup and portable power applications.

These solar panels find extensive use in hybrid off-grid systems, although a gasoline, propane or diesel generator compensates for solar power production that is insufficient for energy demands. Adding these efficient solar panels as per your budget, reduces the generator run time.
Photovoltaic
Despite the significant initial cost of solar systems, the efficient renewable nature of photovoltaic technology, low system maintenance, numerous tax incentives and plenty of other such benefits make these solar panel systems an attractive option for investment to empower homes and businesses.

You may surely consider the usage of the highly efficient panels in your business requirements because apart from utilizing its attractive features and cutting down your expenses, you are also helping the world in minimizing the consumption of conventional electricity and contributing in living green!

Wind Electricity

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Wind ElectricityOne of the useful sources of renewable energy is the wind power. The energy of the wind can be harnessed to obtain useful electricity which can serve as alternative to the conventional forms.

The tiny wind-electric systems can provide electricity on remote, off-grid sites, or right in town connected to the utility grid. The wind generator’s rotating blades convert the wind’s kinetic energy into rotational momentum in a shaft. The rotating shaft turns an alternator, which makes electricity. This electricity is transmitted through wiring down the tower to its end use.

So investing up front in good equipment, design, and installation, wind-electric systems, makes economic and environmental sense, despite the fact that these wind systems would require more maintenance and need more attention than solar-electric or micro hydro-electric systems,.

In a wind generator, the blades use engineered airfoils, matched to the alternator, that capture the wind’s energy. Most of the modern wind generators use three blades, the best compromise between the highest efficiency possible (one blade) and the balance that comes with multiple blades. These blades and the hub they are attached together and termed as the rotor collectively, which is the collector of the system, intercepting winds that pass by.

Most turbines on the market today are upwind machines meaning that their blades are on the windward side of the tower. A few downwind machines are also available, but neither of the configurations has a clear performance advantage over the other.

Predominantly in most of the small-scale designs, the rotor is connected directly to the shaft of a permanent magnet alternator, which creates wild, three-phase AC. Wild, three-phase electricity means that the voltage and frequency vary continuously with the wind speed.

The blades must turn to face the wind, so a yaw bearing is needed, allowing the wind turbine to track the winds as they shift direction. The tail directs the rotor into the wind. Some sort of governing system limits the rotor rpm as well as generator output to protect the turbine from high winds. A shutdown mechanism is also useful to stop the machine when necessary, such as during an extreme storm, when you do not need the energy, or when you want to service the system.

These fascinating wind machines bring a great deal of satisfaction as there’s nothing better than watching your wind generator convert a summer breeze or a winter storm into electrical energy.

Although trying to keep an inexpensive wind generator running can be a never ending battle that you are ultimately most likely to loose. But don’t loose heart and expect to pay more for a better machine as it’s a tough job to design and manufacture a long-lasting, small-scale wind generator. Moreover you should always consider buying a turbine that has a very good track record and a good warranty in the small wind industry.

The incredibly powerful wind energy has great potential for future and is surely capable of replacing the conventional form of electricity providing a cost effective solution to the global crisis of shortage of the non-renewable resources worldwide

Improving the fuel efficiency - Petrol saving products

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Excluding the common things like maintaining constant speed, avoiding congested roads there is lot more you can do to improve the fuel efficiency.

Save PetrolFor instance, while travelling on the highways try to use your overdrive gears. By using your overdrive gears you can improve the fuel consumption in your car during highway type driving. The concept behind overdrive gears is that they decrease your engine speed, saving you on engine wear and petrol consumption. So if you are uncertain about how to use your overdrive gears ask a friend or give a call to your mechanic for some advice.

Apart from what you can do your, there are several other methods available to improve the efficiency of your vehicle. Although the studies are still inconclusive you might want to consider using some of the fuels saving products to save you money at the petrol pump.

The first category of the petrol saving products features the Air Bleed Devices. These types of devices are designed to bleed air into the carburetor and are generally installed in your vehicle in the Positive Crankcase Ventilation line. Some of the common ones include Fuel Max, Aquablast Wyman Valve Air Bleed, Fuel Saving Device, and the Grancor Air Computer.

The next category of petrol saving products comprises of Vapor Bleed Devices. These devices are related to the air bleed device but in this case induced air is forced through a container that contains a mixture of water and antifreeze and the devices are usually installed in the engine compartment. Some of the popular ones include Econo-Mist, Vacuum Vapor Injection System, Mark II Vapor Injection System, and the Turbo Vapor Injection System.

Another category of the petrol saving products include the Atomized Vapor Injector
Liquid Injection systems.These types of fuel saving products add liquid to the air and fuel intake system of your car instead of into the combustion chamber of your engine. The common ones are Goodman Engine System-Model 1800, Waag-Injection System,

Ignition Device are yet another category of the petrol saving products. These devices are usually attached to the ignition system of your car and can even be used as a parts replacement. The common ones include BIAP Electronic Ignition Unit, Special Formula Ignition Advance Springs, Magna Flash Ignition Control System, Baur Condenser

The last category of the petrol saving products is that of the Fuel Line Devices. These devices are used as a cooler or a heater. The fuel is heated just before it is injected into the carburetor. When this type of a device isn’t used the fuel is generally heated by the cars electrical system, the exhaust, or the engine coolant.

Although it must be noted that the above fuel saving products may or may not help you save in your petrol consumption and cost but if you are seriously looking for a way to save money you may want to consider trying one or two products as that is the best that you can ultimately do to save petrol.

Saving Fuel – Saving Money!

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As per statistical records, about 30 years ago car mechanics ran a major feature on how to get the most miles from a gallon of petrol, horrified by the prospect that it was costing the same as a pint of beer!

It has been observed that usually it costs about £50 to fill up a car like the Mondeo, yet the disappointing fact is that the majority of us are wasting as much as a £1 on every gallon every time we drive our cars whether it be an out of tune engine, bad driving or sheer laziness. Fuel expenses are now reported to be the biggest single expenditure in a household, costing up to £70 a week, most of it as indirect taxation, so let’s start clawing some of it back, right away!

More often than not, you may think your car is in sound order, but the odds are mostly against you. The advent of longer servicing intervals is causing an increasing number to slip out of tune and simply pour good petrol away.

In fact as a matter of fact, it’s not possible to emphasize on the savings, that the regular tune-ups provide you with. Faulty plugs, with leads on their last legs and clogged cleaners are the main culprits for lost gallons with a modern fuel injected engine, in most of the cases.

As oil changes become less frequent, then less attention is paid to the breather systems and as they sludge up, it causes engines to run richer as a consequence. For saving more fuel, remove the pipes to thoroughly clean them and replace the breather filter, if fitted.

As most of the modern fuel injection systems are usually extremely robust, they stay in tune for long periods. There’s little that you can do, other than ensuring that the cold start system works properly, plus see that all the connections are free from corrosion and there are no leaks throughout the fuel line.

You must take good care of the smaller stuffs, especially in the injectors. Periodical use of pour in solvents can really enhance their performance and help in saving fuel greatly

It’s a myth that air filters can last for years. The stated long service intervals often found in handbooks only relate to “normal driving conditions” of which there’s no such thing!

The fuel saving devices have largely been viewed as gimmicks ever since they came into existence. Most of the times, primarily their job is to clean up emissions by helping the combustion process, but there is a notable economy spin-off. Moreover they are not particularly cheap so you need to cover a lot of miles to break even, but it could also be a real boon to improve flagging emissions.

Finally your driving, remember the basic rule that the faster you drive, the more fuel you’ll burn up. Possibly just a little thought to reading the road ahead using the maxim ‘haste makes waste’ will get you there just as quickly, but with less stress and in a better condition of your fuel tank.

Solar Energy

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The heat and radiations from the sun act as an abundant source of energy that can be harnessed in many ways. There are a variety of technologies that have been developed to take advantage of solar energy. Some of these include concentrating solar power systems, passive solar heating and day lighting, photovoltaic systems, solar hot water, and solar process heat and space heating and cooling.

The solar energy can be utilized in both large-scale applications and in smaller systems for the home. The businesses and industry can diversify their energy sources, improve efficiency, and save money by choosing solar technologies for a variety of applications such as heating and cooling, industrial processes, electricity, and water heating.

Residential Solar Energy Solar technologies may also prove useful to the homeowners who can use the solar energy for heating and cooling and water heating, and may even be able to produce enough electricity to operate “off-grid” or to sell the extra electricity to the utilities, depending on local programs.

The use of practices like efficient passive solar heating and day lighting design strategies can help both homes and commercial buildings operate more efficiently and make them more pleasant and comfortable places in which to live and work.

There are many other applications beyond these localized uses of solar power, as utilities and power plants are also taking advantage of the sun’s abundant energy resource and offering the benefits to their customers. Power plants incorporate the use of concentrating solar power systems to produce electricity from the sun on a larger scale, which in turn allows consumers to take advantage of solar power without making the investment in personal solar technology systems.

As most the conventional power plants today use fossil fuels as a heat source to boil water. The steam from the boiling water rotates a large turbine, which activates a generator that produces electricity, but this method results in heavy wastage of these precious non renewable fossil fuels. However, a new generation of power plants, with concentrating solar power systems, uses the sun as a heat source. There are three main types of concentrating solar power systems which include the parabolic-trough, dish engine, and the power tower.

Another popular application is the solar water heating system which can be either active or passive, but the most of the common ones are active systems. Active systems rely on pumps to move the liquid between the collector and the storage tank, while passive systems rely on gravity and the tendency for water to naturally circulate as it is heated.

The simpler applications include the swimming pool systems. The pool’s filter pump is used to pump the water through a solar collector, which is usually made of black plastic or rubber and quite obviously of course, the pool stores the hot water.

Make Solar PowerAll the solar power technologies right from the individual home systems to large-scale concentrating solar power systems have the potential to help meet growing energy needs and provide diversity and reliability in energy supplies.

So the solar energy must be harnessed to greater extents to avoid crisis of shortage of the non renewable sources of energy across the world.

Living Green

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Green LivingThere are a number of simple things that we can do today to help in reducing the environmental degradation, saving money, living a happier and healthier life, which is termed as “living green”.

The “living green” concept not only helps in saving the natural resources for future, but also in saving considerable amount of money in the process.

So you must be wondering now how does living green, saving energy and saving resources, relate to saving money.

Well here are a few minute yet important points suggested by the “living green” revolution that could achieve all the things discussed above altogether.

You can try to set the thermostat of your air conditioner a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer, hence saving on heating and cooling costs.

You can buy compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s), try using them when your older incandescent bulbs burn out. Make sure you have a faucet aerator on each faucet. These inexpensive appliances conserve heat and water, while keeping water pressure high.
Even small actions like unplugging the appliances that are not under usage, helps in saving electricity, living green, and even saving money.

Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying. If you must use a dryer, consider adding dryer balls to cut drying time. You may even consider using a “smart” power strip that senses when appliances are off, preventing energy loss thereby saving money and living green.

You can even contribute in living green by saving water, saving money too!
Try to take shorter showers to reduce water use, which would lower your water and electricity bills too. Install a low-flow showerhead. They don’t cost much, but the water and energy savings can quickly pay back your investment, more importantly in living green too.

Try to walk to the work place if possible, otherwise use a bike. This saves gas and parking costs while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity. So living green, also results in saving you from other health hazards.
You may even consider telecommuting or move closer, if you live far away from your work. Even if this means paying more rent, it could help in saving money in the long term.Green Living

You may even take innovative steps like making your own cleaning supplies, to help in living green. You can make very effective, non-toxic cleaning products whenever you need them. All you need are a few simple ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap. Making your own cleaning products saves money, time and packaging, not to mention the benefit of your indoor air quality.

Many plants need minimal watering, so plant such drought-tolerant native ones in your garden to save water.

Living green does not necessarily mean changing your lifestyle drastically; rather it is all about taking those tiny extra efforts that may make a big difference to the future. It can help in saving the environment, saving your money and most importantly securing a good future for our forth coming generations.