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Michael answers:

Yes, of the 174 PW of energy that strikes the Earth 86,000 TW reaches the surface. Our global energy consumption is currently 15 TW. True, our current technology can only recover a small fraction of the energy that is available but this is the only source of energy that is greater than the amount of energy that we currently consume.

Current Photovoltaic technology only captures energy in a single wavelength determined by the valence electron shells of the semiconductors used, multiple layer cells can capture more wavelengths by using different semiconductor materials and both dye and quantum dot technology absorbs different frequencies and reemits the energy in the desired frequency. In the past few years, we’ve seen the efficiency of photovoltaics go from 10% to 42% and 65% is expected soon.

Energy can be stored in numerous ways including chemically in forms that can be used by our current infrastructure. Sandia Labs uses a solar furnace to produce methane, methanol, synthetic gasoline and synthetic diesel from CO2 and H2O.

Nano tubes promises to make artificial photosynthesis a reality and there are several other approaches that are promising.

Keep in mind that all sources of energy on Earth with the exception of nuclear and tidal are solar energy. Very inefficient solar energy and with the case of fossil fuels, accumulated over a long period of time. Also, most of the energy we use was collected by plants through photosynthesis which has a maximum efficiency of 6.6%. This means that current fossil fuels, biofuels, biomass, wave and wind energy are all forms of solar energy at efficiencies of much less than 1%. We only have to achieve minimal improvements of efficiencies in our chemical energy storage methods or other energy storage strategies to access a greater source of energy that what we currently use today.

Theoretically, we should be able to provide for our energy needs through solar power for the foreseeable future and we wouldn’t even have to change our cars and factories as the energy could be stored as synthetic liquid fuels. Solar is the only available source of energy that will allow us to grow our industrial and economic base but Solar does require a lot more research and development and the public needs to be educated as to what is possible with solar power and with chemical energy storage.

For economic reasons, other alternate energy forms such as biomass/fuels, hydro, and wind will play a part in our near future but ultimately solar is the only game in town. Note that the use of fourth generation bio-fuels from pyrolysis/gasification of biomass and with biochar carbon sequestration of the pyrolysis/gasification charcoal byproduct will actually be carbon negative and undo some of the damage we’ve already done to our environment so it’s actually necessary to have some gas guzzlers to help undo the damage.

Michael answers:

Well, solar energy is economically favorable bc the source (sun) = FREE… Just maintaining the solar cells, and enhancing the efficiency for converting solar energy into electrical energy.. I am pretty sure Solar energy has been used throughout the United States for YEARS… Just in the matter of Profitability, it is not as efficient and profitable compare to wind power..

Michael answers:

There isn’t any cause for that not to be the case. It is an event of nature. It is a coinciding of the moon’s shadow during a new moon passing overhead of your continent.

The moon’s shadow is tiny. It only spans about the size of the USA when projected on the Earth.

Statistically speaking, there is only a 2% chance of a solar eclipse over the USA. And there is about the same chance of one to occur over China.

Do also bear in mind, the eclipse is 75% likely to occur over the ocean, since Earth’s surface IS 75% ocean.

Michael answers:

Afraid Urwumpe got his maths wrong.
5 / 2.5 = 2
24 – 19 = 5
So its 2 followed by 5 zeros 200,000
Or two hundred thousand years
Or 0.2 million years

Michael answers:

Sharp Electronics Corp.

Michael answers:

Manards

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Projects.htm

Michael answers:

Sorry, but you will fail as a dealer of anything. Entrepreneurs do not expect other people to do their homework for them.

Michael answers:

If you are asking at the source i.e., at the sun, it would be helium and other larger molecules which are formed from the progressive nuclear fusion of smaller atoms staring with Hydrogen atoms as the raw material. But I really doubt if they can be called “waste” as traditionally “waste” is something “undesirable” created by a man-made process – the fusion happening in the Sun is not a man-made process, neither can we term the fusion products as “undesirable” from human perspective.
If you are talking of waste products generated by “using” solar energy on the earth, well there are literally none during the usage of solar energy. However, the wastes generated during manufacture of the solar cells/panels and their support apparatus like circuit boards/batteries/invertors and during their maintenance are indirectly wastes generated by using solar energy. Also, the gases/radiation expelled by the solar cells/panels and the support apparatus during their life-time can be termed as “wastes” as well.

Michael answers:

No disrespect, but the capless solar tax credit extension already passed as part of the bailout bill.

To me, the most compelling case for solar (both water heating and electricity) is on individual homes, as when that is done, it displaces retail energy. If one makes a giant solar power plant, the energy must be sold wholesale, and transmitted to another place.

So to have a solar boom, individual homeowners must be swayed. There is a large initial investment, so solar might not do very well in a down economy. People will be more worried about their next meal than energy efficiency. Also, the initial cost of a solar array is like a car. And if you look at the impact that tight credit has had on car sales, there is another potential problem.

But after all this, if you’re looking for long term investments, I think solar will do well. There are few barriers to entry on the installation business – I think it will be hundreds of small businesses that benefit, not one large one, any more than one company dominates roofing or electrical work nationally. AKNS is the one large installation company, but I personally would not invest in them, because of the lack of barriers to entry.

As far as photovoltaic panel makers, the largest ones are in Asia – Sharp, Kyocera, Suntech, Sanyo, Mitsubishi. There are also literally dozens of small fry, who will probably get killed or absorbed in the next year or two. In the USA, there’s First Solar (FSLR) of course, which I think is overvalued, Sunpower (SPWRA), same opinion, and other places like Energy Conversion Devices and Evergreen, that I don’t know much about.

Michael answers:

I would guess it would include old solar panels and various pipes, etc. That no longer function. There would also be industrial waste from the manufacturing of this material (air pollution, water pollution, etc.)

Michael answers:

I have a feeling that the parts alone will cost you way more than $20. Just buy a new one

Michael answers:

Of coarse, yahoo and google are your resources on the web, but I would say good luck finding much info because these are relatively new technologies and are used in cell phone transmissions, so I bet a lot of that knowledge is still on lock-down. Your best bet would be to get a hold of an engineer that works for a communications company(i.e. Motorola, nokia, t-mobile, cingular, etc.)

Michael answers:

I own a repair shop,and you need to go buy a Haynes repair manual,this will give you all the detailed information you could ever possibly want to know on this vehicle,and then some,,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Michael answers:

You can actually build one, using a 9v. Battery, a piezoelectric buzzer, a spring-type clothes pin, and an aspirin tablet. Wire the battery to the buzzer, using the aspirin tablet as a separator to break the contact of the positive wires wrapped around both jaws of the clothes pin. If the aspirin gets wet, it will dissolve and the wires will touch, completing the circuit.

If you wanted to, you could recycle a smoke alarm, scavenging it for most of these materials.
Cheap, yet very effective!

Michael answers:

Try this site and pull up the duramax turbo diesel, hope it helps………

Http://www.chevrolet.com/vehicles/2009/silverado2500hd/overview.do

Michael answers:

60 KWH / DAY? That is 2.5 KW (2500 WATTS) avg. Constantly, and most solar panels only produce 40-100 WATTS during peak hours. It would take a lot of panels and panels alone are about $300-$500 each.

Must be something wrong with your usage number, or you have a huge house.

In order to properly calculate your system needs, you need to look at not only averages, but your peaks if you plan to go completely solar. If you just want to supplement and lower your grid usage, then just buy all you can afford. You will probably never save enough to pay back unless you have great subsidies, but you will feel good because you did cut CO2 emissions.

Michael answers:

There’s no simple answer. There are panels of many sizes.

If you want to do this you’d be better off with a laptop. They’re engineered for low power consumption and designed to run off DC. The DC/AC converter after a solar panel is costly and reduces efficiency. And they make very low power computers for use with solar panels in undeveloped countries.

Michael answers:

Hey JT, J3 is correct on the math, except that 12 volts is the, “nominal,” voltage of the system. The problem here is that to charge a 12 volt battery usually requires at least a 15 volt power source. To accommodate this, panels are generally wired for 18 volts, allowing the charger controller or other wiring to use up a small amount, and still leave enough for the battery to charge on. A 7 watt panel that is wired for a 12 volt nominal system will likely have an open circuit voltage of 18 volts. To get to the amperage, take the watts and divide by the panel voltage (7 / 18 = .4 amps) When a manufacturer states rated watts, they are taking the panels open circuit voltage and multiplying it by its short circuit current. A panel that has an open circuit voltage of 18 and a short circuit current of 1 amp will be advertised as an 18 watt panel. Hence, a 9 watt panel will put out 1/2 amp.

In actual practice, you will never be able to reach the rated watts, because the panel voltage always degrades to match the battery’s charge curve voltage at the time. So even if you get an 18 watt panel, with an amp rating of 1 amp, it will put 1 amp into the battery, but if the battery voltage happens to be 14.5 while it’s charging, then the wattage from that 18 watt panel is 14.5 X 1 = 14.5 watts.

Charging a 5AH battery is no problem for a panel that only puts out 10 or 15 watts, it will take a few days. If it’s just one 5 AH battery, I would go with one of the battery maintainers at the auto parts store for $30 or so, they don’t usually put out more than 1/2 amp or so anyway. At 1/2 amp, it would take 10 solid hours of sunlight to put 5 AH into your battery. If you’re looking at panels online and don’t know what to get, just look for the specific ratings, not the wattage. Make sure the VOC, or open circuit voltage is at least a few volts higher than your battery voltage, and the short circuit current is about how many amps you want to charge your battery at. The watt rating doesn’t matter much for battery charging, only the amps. Good luck, Rudydoo

Michael answers:

Fly there…or just don’t buy from china

Michael answers:

This is a very standard method of running a solar power electrical system. As you say, the panels provide electrical energy to charge a set of batteries. When required, the power is drawn from the battery, converted to the correct voltage and also changed fron DC current to AC current. During the night the curent is used to give light and also to power TV and computer etc – it all depends on the size of the installation. The batteries become partially discharged during this time. However, the next day the solar panels are again active and recharge the batteries ready for the next night. It is in reality not a good proposition to have the solar panels directly powering lights, etc, because when the panels are charging ( daylight) there is no need for electric lighting.Unless the installation is extemely large, it is not possible to run high energy consumers, wahing machines, dishwashers, clothes dryers, cookers, hot water heating etc from the solar panels.

Michael answers:

It sounds like there’s grid electricity already going to the building, so it would be better to think only in terms of displacing some of the building’s electricity usage, not a specific thing like lighting. I judge that load to be about 6 kW, and that means 150 kWh per day. In my area, that would mean a 30 kW solar array, if you want to keep up with 100% of that usage on average. But you would use a grid-tied system, no batteries, and could supply only 10% of the energy by solar, if that was your choice.

Most likely, the size of the array would be governed by availability of roof space.

Michael answers:

1. To charge a 12V. Battery you will need 14-16V.
(Be careful in sizing your panels.
Your solar panel only produces peak charge at peak sun.)
Solar panel voltage varies. You will need a charge controller to make this work.
2. Size your inverter and battery to your loads.:
TV – 1.2A @ 220V. = 264 W., For 3 Hr.s = 792. W./Hr.s
Laptop – 1A. @ 220V. = 220 W., for 4 Hr.s = 880 W./Hr.s
Your peak load, if you use them together requires more than 400W.
So you’d need a 600 W. Inverter.
(If you use them separately, 400W. Will do fine.)
Those ampere ratings are peak draw.
I doubt that either appliance draws that constantly,
certainly not the lap-top.
You max battery capacity, (1692 W./Hr.s), @ 12 V. Works out to
about 140 A /Hr.s in 12 V. Battery capacity.
Go to 200 if you want the battery to last.
Deep discharge is not good for them.

Michael answers:

You may want to check the following offers (direct link to product page):

Michael answers:

Depends on your speakers.
Check the existing power supply: How many Volts? How many amps?
Most low-end speakers provide about 10-20 W total; that’s about 6-9 V at 2 A.

Michael answers:

You need to specify a voltage. If it is 240 volts, that is 2400 watts. If you want this to provide power when the sun is out, you need at least 3 times that capacity, and a large battery system.

What do you mean by “working time”? Any solar panel should last 20 years.

Edit: “working time 10Hours for 10A load after the sun out”

You still didn’t mention voltage. Assuming 240 volts, that is 2400 watts x 10 hours or 24000 watt-hours.

A large sealed lead acid battery, about $300, can store 1000 watt-hours, so you need about 30 batteries, allowing some extra for losses.

You would need a panel rated for 5 kW, a charge controller, the batteries, and an inverter. Probably US$ 30000

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