New Solar Energy Technology
Solar energy is the most abundant source of power that we currently have the ability to harness. It is a clean, never ending energy source that has virtually no adverse effects on the environment and can be easily harnessed. With natural resources such as oil and coal being used up at an astonishing rate, solar energy is a key element of our future energy industry.
The problem is that solar panel systems have always been criticized as bulky and unattractive. New solar technology is beginning to make such criticisms a thing of the past.
Solar Advancement
Everyone agrees solar energy is a clean, cost-effective energy source. The problem has been solar panel systems tended to be large and rather bulky. Frankly, they don’t add to the beauty of your home even though solar panel designs have improved over the years.
A new development involving shingles is getting a lot of attention. Photovoltaic shingles are a major design breakthrough for those of you who have a distaste for large solar panel systems. These shingles act like shingles and replace the regular shingles on your roof, and they also give you the physical appearance of a regular roof. Although they are black, they do not standout from the roof in the same way as panels. Instead, they simply look like a regular roof and many people cannot tell the difference. Obviously, this will give you a much more appealing design than the bulky designs of add on panel systems.
The technological breakthrough that makes this new technology possible is the invention of thin film photovoltaic cells, known as “amorphous silicon thin alloy technology”. The designers essentially stepped back from traditional solar panel designs and did some thinking. They realized that the materials used in panels were not the only ones that could be used. The design team came up with a solution where more efficient cells could be built on a steel substrate. Each of these super thin cells was tailored to capture different spectrums of the sunlight. When layered on top of each other, they became extremely efficient at producing power.
The result ended up being a system that can sit directly on the roof of a home or building. They are more efficient than regular solar panels and far more appealing from a visual perspective. If you’re excuse for not using solar in the past was the bulky system, you need to rethink solar.
You may be wondering if this new technology will become the breakthrough we have been waiting for in solar power. Well it already is proving to be significant if you consider the following.
1. The United States Army is building a solar powered community using it.
2. Museums in Beijing, China are converting to it.
3. Habitat for Humanity is using the system on many of the homes it builds.
4. Lockheed Martin is experimenting with the technology as a power source for high altitude flights.
In the opinion of many experts, this new technology represents a major breakthrough in solar energy. With energy prices exploding, solar represents one of the best solutions to decreasing our dependence on non renewable resources such as oil and natural gas. Fortunately we don’t have to worry about the sun which will be providing free power for the foreseeable future.
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Alternative Energy for Your Home | Green Your Living posted on February 2, 2010:
[...] century and beyond. These alternative energy sources for our homes range from wind turbines and solar collection cells to hydrogen fuel cells and biomass gases. There is a great need for us to become energy independent [...]