What happens with my solar energy system when the sun isn't shining?
During the evening hours and on cloudy days, your current energy source (natural gas or electricity) will automatically supply your energy needs. Some projects may opt to store heated water in a tank for back-up use as well.
What do you mean by onsite energy generation?
Onsite energy generation means that you can provide some or all of your energy needs with your current resources. For example, solar thermal devices can provide 50-90% of the heat required for hot water needs, which will displace the cost of heating the water with natural gas or electricity.
What is more efficient – an electric water heater or a gas water heater?
A typical electric water heater is 95% efficient for the end user. A natural gas water heater is, on average, 75% efficient for the end user. However, since electricity is mostly generated by burning coal or natural gas and is just 35% efficient, the efficiency rating of your water heater goes down to 33%. Since natural gas can be delivered to the end user with minimal refining, its efficiency is 80%, making the natural gas water heater more efficient, at a rating of 56%.
I have read that solar devices are only 10-20% efficient. Even with the rising cost of electricity and natural gas, isn't it still more efficient to use traditional fossil fuels vs. switching to solar electric power?
Solar electric panels are by far more efficient and cleaner than electricity generated by coal or natural gas. Coal and natural gas are fossil fuels that take 65-265 million years to develop before they can be mined for use. Coal-burning power plants supply the majority of our electricity in the United States today and generate electricity at an efficiency rate of 35% by the time it gets to the end consumer. The efficiency rating drops to 1/10th of 1 percent when one factors in the 65 million years it took to make the coal. Twenty percent of the electricity generated in the Unites States uses natural gas for fuel. Natural gas burned to generate electricity has an efficiency of 38% when delivered to the end consumer, and again falls to under 1% efficient when the age of the raw materials is factored into the equation.
Today's solar electric technology is up to 30% efficient, there is a 66-day carbon payback on the raw materials, and there is no price tag attached to the sun that has been warming the earth for the last 4.5 billion years. In the long run, solar devices offer the most sustainable, clean, and cost effective source of power available today.
All definitions provided by www.britannica.com
Anaerobic - living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen
Coal - solid, usually brown or black, carbon-rich material that most often occurs in stratified sedimentary deposits
Fossil Fuel - any of a class of materials of biological origin occurring within the Earth's crust that can be used as a source of energy.
Natural Gas - colorless, highly flammable gaseous hydrocarbon consisting primarily of methane and ethane. It is a type of petroleum that commonly occurs in association with crude oil. Natural gas is often found dissolved in oil at the high pressures existing in a reservoir, and it also can be present as a gas cap above the oil.
Photovoltaic - process in which two dissimilar materials in close contact produce an electrical voltage when struck by light or other radiant energy
Renewable Energy Source - Renewable energy sources can be replenished in a short period of time. The five renewable sources used most often are: biomass, water (hydropower), geothermal, wind, solar.
Uranium - radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table. It is an important nuclear fuel.
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