If you use solar LED lights, you can eliminate even the relatively small charges that an LED light would otherwise put on your electricity bill. If one can put together a technology that lasts for a long time while using only a small amount of electrical power with a technology that allows unlimited electrical power from the largest renewable energy source on the planet, then it is a very advanced and powerful technology indeed. If properly utilized, then solar LED lights can replace the conventional street lights as well as residential outdoor lights. The technology from the outset however, is as simple as attaching a photo voltaic cell to a LED light to make it independent of the grid electricity. What makes powering LED lights with solar cells easier is the fact that the LEDs do not require the current to be converted to AC from DC in order to run. As a result of being independent from the conventional sources of electricity, these solar LED lights are also wireless, which is an added advantage of course.

As is the case with most solar powered lighting systems, these are also made mainly for outdoor uses like street lighting, garden lighting, deck lighting and other similar purposes. The outdoor nature of the solar LED lights often makes it a necessity that they be made waterproof as well to withstand the climatic conditions. The only reason as to why people may not choose to install solar LED lights can be the relatively high costs, but that too is mostly one time because they hardly ever need maintenance. Apart from lasting a very long time, Solar LED lights will cost you nothing to use as you would be utilizing the free energy stored within sunlight to power them without even attending to the procedure. If you are a person who is conscious of the environment, then you should have more reasons for preferring the solar LED lights because they are harmless to the environment as they do not emit greenhouse gases or use up non-renewable sources of energy.

The water in the pool is filtered and then passed through solar collectors in order to heat it and these collectors are often placed on the roof to maximize the utility of the available sunlight. The heated water is now returned to the pool and the cycle continues for as long as necessary. In order to control the speed of the entire cycle, a control valve is also attached to the system to give more control over the heating process to the user. Although a solar pool heater is primarily used for heating, during the hottest months the same apparatus can also be used to cool the temperature of the pool down by a few degrees, simply by passing the water in the pool over the solar collectors during the night.

As it is obvious, the most important part of the solar pool heaters is the solar collector, and depending on the climatic conditions and your specific needs, the solar collectors will differ from one another. The heavy-duty rubber and plastic collectors are exposed to UV rays in order to make them even tougher, before they are shipped outside the factory for sale. These non-glaze solar collectors are reliable and are most popular due to their low price and easy installation benefits. However, these won’t be sufficient to heat the pool if the temperature in your area falls to zero degree or even lower than that. If you want to use the pool under such conditions, you will need the more expensive glazed collectors that have copper tubing along with an underlying aluminum sheet to heat the pool water in even sub-zero temperatures. Remember though, that choose what is best suited to you needs and of course the climatic conditions of the place where you live in.

Apart from the initial installation costs which are higher than installing conventional electrical deck lights, there are so many advantages of installing a solar deck lighting system that it more than makes up for it. The first point is the fact that they are absolutely safe to be used on your deck or in your garden because they do not need any electrical wires to be attached to them for power supply. All the power that the lights need is captured by the solar battery packs containing the PV cells during the day from the sun’s rays and that ensures both safety as well as savings. Solar deck lights eliminate even the chance of having an exposed live electrical wire outside your home after a fierce storm. However, you would need to place the solar lights in such a way that they receive at least some portion of the sunlight that reaches your deck to ensure that they are properly recharged during the day. Since solar lights do not have any switches, they are fitted with light sensors which turn them on automatically when it is dark enough, and turns the lights off when it is bright enough in the morning.

Solar deck lights would never be so bright that they will generate too much heat or glare, but these lights are almost always bright enough for the people around the area to see properly and of course, make the deck look beautiful. Deck lighting allows people to play cards, have barbeques and parties or may be just walk around on it during the night, but the advantage with solar deck lighting systems is the fact that you would get to do all of these things but at no additional charge on your electricity bill.

Desiccants like silica gel and zeolite are used in combination with the thermal energy from the sunlight to achieve air conditioning as well. As the air passes over the desiccants, it turns absolutely dry because the moisture is absorbed by the desiccant which creates an ideal evaporative cooling system. After the desiccants have absorbed the water vapor, the solar thermal energy is now used to dry the silica gel or the zeolite back to its original condition. However a source of energy is required to rotate the desiccant disc and the air circulation fan, but that too can be achieved by simply adding a small PV cell system to the air conditioner to power the motor. This is known as a Solar Open Loop Air Conditioning System and there are different types of air cooling systems that are based on this technology. Examples include energy recovery ventilation systems and Calcium Chloride based indoor waterfall cooling systems.

The use of solar thermal collectors allows both the absorption or adsorption chillers to be used in solar thermal closed loop air conditioning systems. The thermal collector accumulates the heat from the sunlight and heats the particular heat transfer fluid in the system to power the chillers (absorption/adsorption based). This is a cycle that repeats all the time while the system is running and that makes it a renewable source of energy which is capable of providing air conditioning for even large commercial plants. These cooling systems require the solar thermal collectors in them to be able to heat the water to 88° C or higher in order for the entire air conditioning system to work optimally.

Passive solar cooling is not exactly a direct form of air conditioning and it does not involve an apparatus that requires post construction installation. It has more to do with building architecture as the design of the building itself is prepared in such a way that it prevents the outside heat from getting inside the building through the walls and especially the roof. “Radiant barriers” and “green roof” are popular ways to achieve indirect solar air conditioning.

The photovoltaic cell based PV panels – These cells are usually made from silicon crystals as they are the best semiconductors that give the highest rate of solar energy to electrical energy conversion. However, the cost associated with using pure silicon blocks have given way to some other types of solar cells that do not consist of silicon only or in some cases, do not contain any silicon at all. CIGS or copper-indium-gallium-selenide crystals are a very widely used cheaper alternative. A PV solar panel is usually made out of multiple of these cells interconnected through metal conductors. After the photons hit the semiconductor, the electrons are set into motion and are allowed to move from the crystals into the inverters in the form of direct current, where the DC is converted to alternating current or AC. This alternating current is the usable form of electricity which is then stored inside the solar generators to power electrical appliances. The efficiency of these types of solar converters depends largely upon the quality of the semiconductor crystal and the climatic condition. In fact, even a very hot day would not be as beneficial to a PV cell converter as a cold yet clear day.

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Systems – Two main advantages that the CSP systems have over the PV cell panels are price and sensitivity. What this means is that CSP systems are cheaper to install and are not affected adversely by intense heat unlike the PV panels. There are three kinds of CSP systems in use today, solar trough, power tower and the most common and also the most effective, the parabolic saucer. The sunlight is reflected with the help of parabolic lenses to a certain unique point which is known as the focal point. On this focal point, the thermal receptors are located to absorb the heat through fluids like oil that are capable of both absorbing and transferring the thermal energy; it serves to power the attached steam machine. The steam then works the steam turbine that starts generating electricity and then makes its way into the condenser to be converted back to water again in order to repeat the process.

Both the CSP and the PV systems have their advantages as well as disadvantages but the best thing is that whichever one you choose, it would not only help you save the environment, but also will help you save a good deal of money in the long run.

Amorphous Silicon PV Cells — These cells are not constructed with crystalline silicon, but they have a thin silicon film on the top of the metallic semiconductor (copper mainly). The one advantage that the amorphous silicon panels have over some of the others is that their cheaper production costs make them more affordable. However, since their solar conversion efficiency is as low as 5% or 6%, they may not be ideal if you are looking for benefit in the long run.

Polycrystalline Silicon PV Cells — Also known as multi-crystalline silicon PV cells, these PV cells have metal conductors attached to their sides to stay in contact with the other cells in a panel and also to facilitate electron movement. The Polycrystalline panels have a solar efficiency rate that can be anything in between 12% to 14% and also, they can be the cheapest solar panels that one can buy. Apart from being cheap, it is also easier to replace an individual cell in a panel that consists of many PV cells, thus making the polycrystalline solar panels one of the best panels to install.

Strong Ribbon Silicon PV Cells — These solar cells are quite similar when compared to the polycrystalline panels as far as the energy efficiency rates are concerned; in fact, they are even similar in the way that they are manufactured. They are however, even cheaper than the polycrystalline panels because these cells are constructed out of strips of silicon and metal connectors instead of being constructed purely out of silicon.

Monocrystalline Silicon PV Cells — The monocrystalline panel consists of one single sheet of silicon with metals attached to the sides of the sheet only in order to further facilitate electron movement. With solar conversion efficiency rates as high as 18%, monocrystalline silicon solar cells or panels are the most effective in doing the job, but are also the most expensive among the four. However, if one manages to look past the initial setup costs, it can save a lot of money in the long run.

The customers of PSE&G will not experience direct savings with their energy bills because of the units and the electricity collected from the units will be sold to the wholesale electric grid. PSE&G is able to produce Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, federal investment tax credits as well as monetizes their value which offsets entire cost of the program. The solar project has been scheduled to be completed by the late 2012.

The solar units will be set only on the utility poles which is easily exposed to the southern sky and it must also easily access the proper voltage wires, as well as where they are not able to interfere in the already existing equipment. Fran Sullivan, the a spokesman with PSE&G said the solar panels are connected directly into power grid and the energy collected from them will be replacing some of the energy which will be produced by the traditional fossil fuels.

The solar energy units will be generating about 40 mw of solar electricity which will be able to power 6,500 average sized New Jersey home per year. At present, about 88,000 units have been operating. PSE&G is also expecting that after the completion of the project complete may reduce about 31 metric tons of carbon dioxid annually which is similar to removing around 3,800 cars from the road each year.

Doug Rutan also added the reduced risk of the solar electric power project will be able to pay itself during the first 3-5 years and the monthly savings will stay within maintenance as well as the operations budget which will allow educational support, supplies, program and salaries. The PV system with a capacity of 30kW has been planned to set up in between the library and baseball field which will also help the people enjoying the game to sit under the shade said Doug Rutan.

Doug Rutan said they have entered the enrollment during the recent years along with reduced education funding with which they are able to bare bones in what they offer. He also said all such electric cost savings plans will help them a lot as they plan to maintain their reduced educational services. The approximate savings after completing the first year is expected to be about $6,400 to $8,200 and 25-year estimated energy savings for the district is expected to be about $160,000 to $200,000 in the 15 cents a kilowatt-hour said Doug Rutan.

The construction of the solar electric power project has been scheduled to start after the vendor of the project gets approval at the governing board meeting to be held in May. Approximately, the project may be completed before 2011-2012 school year.

Franco Traverso said they are very much pleased to be included in this project for Alderville First Nation community and they expect more opportunities to occur in similar communities and they also hope that photovoltaic industry will develop more in Canada. James Marsden said they are very much excited to join with Silfab on this most important project and they are also impressed with solar photovoltaic modules which are produced by Silfab.

The solar farm contains a fixed mounted racks and single axis trackers which will be set up on the Alderville owned properties. It wpuld start its operation by November 2011 which has an estimated production of 5.7 million kWh per year similar to preventing 80,000 tons of CO2 emissions during its lifetime. Both the companies had an aim to create a partnership which provides training to local resources and development of a Centre of Excellence in developing the solar energy research, education along with training.

James Marsden said their proficiency in PV industry shows the way they have approached this project and the events such as Ontario Feed in Tariff program is providing the communities like Alderville, an opportunity to achieve more economic opportunities in the community to advantage the current membership and the future generations said James Marsden. Franco Traverso along with his staff members expect to transfer wealth of knowledge to First Nation which can be able to develop future solar projects.

Bernhard Beck, the CEO of Belectric said they are very much excited to get this project and it is an advantage of thin-film PV modules included with their plant technologies and the main contribution is from project engineering who make the solar power plant more reliable and also very effective during the hot climate conditions said Bernhard Beck. The electricity produced from the large-scale power plant is expected to be fed into the public grid after its completion by 2011-end.

About 120,000 Copper Indium Selenide PV modules will be supplied by Showa Shell Sekiyu K K, the Japanese Thin Film Leader Solar Frontier which will be placed at the site. Al Yamama had awarded the project to Belectric and it is the project principal which is developing Northpark complex for Saudi Aramco which includes offices and carpark. Both Belectric and Sun & Life are planning to increase their support to full scale merger in Engineering, Procurement and Construction contracting of solar power plants as well as Balance of System components manufacturing in Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah Taibah, the CEO of Sun & Life said they have been expecting to join Belectric to produce such Iconic project and also include the strength of both the group as well as develop solar energy industry and localize Technologies in the place. The Solar and renewable resources has become best option for energy with the latest developments said Abdullah Taibah.