Residential Solar Power, Thin Film Solar Cells, and a History of Silicon Sourcing (part 7)

Thursday, November 11th, 2010 at 3:15 pm

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Home Page > Education > Residential Solar Power, Thin Film Solar Cells, and a History of Silicon Sourcing (part 7)

Residential Solar Power, Thin Film Solar Cells, and a History of Silicon Sourcing (part 7)

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Residential Solar Power, Thin Film Solar Cells, and a History of Silicon Sourcing (part 7)

By: Daniel Stouffer

About the Author

At Solargies, we plan to make the right Eco-friendly, green solutions available to the American homeowners. My role involves the leadership, communication, and the education related to the adoption solar energy system rentals. We provide homeowners the option to rent a solar electric system and avoid the huge, upfront investment in solar technology. Learn more at: => http://www.solargies.com/solar_panel_rentals.htm

(ArticlesBase SC #466128)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Residential Solar Power, Thin Film Solar Cells, and a History of Silicon Sourcing (part 7)

In this article, we will document the three most common types of solar cells and how this technology has proven itself for decades. We’ll also give a brief history of silicon sourcing and explain why we were set for rapid growth back int the 90s and now we are again. Finally, we’ll make note of new solar technologies that will change the solar industry as we know it (i.e. thin film and nano-solar). All of these factors are great news for homeowners wishing to upgrade to solar generated electricity.

The following topics will be explained in varying levels of detail; how a solar cell converts sunlight energy via the use of different types of silicon, the use of silicon and where it comes from, and a little about the history of silicon sourcing over the past 18 years.

The Future Solar Panel and Home Solar Manufacturing

As the residential solar power industry has matured and showed a steady growth of about 40 percent a year, the silicon industry is now responding with new production and caches of raw materials. Many silicon refineries and new silicon sourcing companies are getting the funding and moving towards rapid production in the next dozen or so months. There are plans and announcements by several companies such as GE, BP, and others about launching new facilities that produce silicon at a fraction of the cost we may be experiencing today. This is all exciting news for home solar power enthusiasts and for those wishing to upgrade to residential solar generated electricity.

The silicon industry is or has been slow to increase overall manufacturing capabilities because of the large growth during the early 1990s that eventually when stale. The extreme growth expectations were hyped and many industry experts expected much expansion in the early 1990s. This just did not happen 18 years ago. Fortunately, we are now experience much more accepting market, social expectations of our movement to renewable technologies, and governmental support to make the switch to home solar power.

In the past, the solar silicon refining industry made solar panel manufacturers sign long-term contracts at extremely high prices to secure any silicon at all. For example, a solar manufacturing plant had to slow production to a trickle because of a lack of silicon. The economics have now changed since 2006 making massive silicon contracts viable at better prices.

Nano-Solar and Thin Film Solar Cells: It’s the Future

We are now at the dawn of a home solar energy revolution. The solar power manufacturers invented and are beginning to manufacture new solar modules that do not use silicon at all. There are alternative materials using nano-technology that are and will continue to radically change the consumption and production of solar generated electricity.

Often the newest technologies, like thin film or nano-solar cells, are somewhat experimental with limited or no actual field testing. This is not true for many of the silicon based solar panels on the market today. Homeowners, right now, have the opportunity to rent residential solar energy systems and side step the expensive system purchase by renting. Because there are now large sources of silicon, homeowners now have the choice to upgrade to solar on a large scale across many markets in the United States that were once thought too expensive to install residential solar systems.

Sourcing of Silicon for Home Solar Energy Systems

The material used to make most solar cells today is the abundant element called silicon. One might think of this in a common sense as sand which when melted down and added to various other elements makes up anything from computer chips to beer bottles. Availability of solar grade silicon has been one of the limiting factors in the solar module manufacturing industry for the past several years.

The story goes something like this. Solar grade silicon is produced in large scale, expensive to build processing facilities. “Well, isn’t it just sand?” One might ask. Of course, sand is basically silicon, but with a lot of impurities. Solar grade silicon is highly refined silicon that is purified through gasification and then “doped” with precise impurities to create free electrons, which is explained in following articles.

There are basically 3 types of silicon going into current solar energy systems being installed today;

1. Silicon Crystals: A silicon atom has a positively charged nucleus that is surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The critical thing about silicon is its structure. It has 4 electrons around its nucleus that allow for easy bonding to other elements and for its organization into crystal. Crystals conduct electricity much better than randomly organized elements. The 4 orbiting electrons can bond to the other electrons rotating around different elements. Each silicon atom connects with 4 more silicon atoms to construct a perfect pattern, a repeating crystalline structure.

2. Monocrystalline Silicon: The silicon is grown as large cylinders, which are sliced into wafers that become individual solar cells.

3. Polycrystalline Silicon: Liquid silicon is poured into thin containers and cooled.

Emerging Availability of Home Solar Energy System

Want to know how to rent a home solar electric system for your house? Well, it’s pretty simple. You basically pay a flat monthly rental fee just like you do today for a satellite dish or some other equipment you rent. The solar system rental rate is calculated based upon a number of factors; the average monthly energy consumption, the available utility sources and net-metering options, and the kWh rates in your market. A solar engineer will come to your home, look at your roof size, angle and shading to size the system for your location.

Going solar and using renewable, solar energy is getting simpler every day. The following article explained in some detail why the sourcing of silicon has slowed in the overall residential solar power market in the past. This is just not the case any longer and more options are emerging daily for the average homeowner to rethink solar power and renewable solar energies.

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/residential-solar-power-thin-film-solar-cells-and-a-history-of-silicon-sourcing-part-7-466128.html”

(ArticlesBase SC #466128)

Daniel Stouffer -
About the Author:

At Solargies, we plan to make the right Eco-friendly, green solutions available to the American homeowners. My role involves the leadership, communication, and the education related to the adoption solar energy system rentals. We provide homeowners the option to rent a solar electric system and avoid the huge, upfront investment in solar technology. Learn more at: => http://www.solargies.com/solar_panel_rentals.htm

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Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/residential-solar-power-thin-film-solar-cells-and-a-history-of-silicon-sourcing-part-7-466128.html

Article Tags:
solar silicon, silicon crystals, monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, rent solar panels, solar panel rentals, rent solar, solar pv rentals, residential solar panels, citizenre, renu, residential energy unit, renu solar, rethink solar, so

solar panel history – Importance of solar power

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 at 5:13 pm

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There are many reasons of solar power being an important addition in solar panel history to any household. It helps in fighting environment and climate change as well as helping in saving the traditional sources of energy. Installing solar panels will give a significant boost to your electricity supply. The electricity bill will be reduced significantly and the cost of initial installation of a solar energy system will pay itself off over time.

Home solar power systems can be added be households and it can be used to use solar energy to heat your water supply. It is very viable natural energy technology to use if you are seeking a significant reduction to your electricity bill proven in solar panel history. It will dramatically reduce the price of heating based on the capacity and technologies used in the systems. You can install a lower capacity system. You can make use of solar power panels that can be found in a variety of shapes, sizes, formats and integrated technologies.

The solar power cells are dependent on the output of energy you require. It can also provide lighting in remote locations to your power supply, like your garden or a shed. It will remove the hassle of digging up the ground and laying the appropriate cable. You can also install lights in the garden with the help of solar panels. The panels can be installed on the top of the light fixture and will work for all the light connections as can be seen after visiting website energy 4 energy. The solar panels can also be used to heat the pool very effectively. There are hundreds of uses of solar panels provided you want to use it. You can also have a look at the solar panel history for more information about the benefits of each panel.

Build you own solar panel right now and save money today! Follow the link below for more information – solar panel history

solar power history – Solar Power: A complete renewable source

Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 5:13 pm

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When we talk about the solar power history there are various advantages that are worth considering and have everything to offer and also benefits the environment.

One is capable of producing the solar power from home via cheaper and easier methods associated to this natural power source. From the solar power history we know Solar energy is a renewable resource completely. When we are not able to make use of the power of the sun due to the stormy, cloudy or nighttime days, we can depend on the sun always showing up the following day as a consistent and constant power source. The other benefit of solar power system for home is when solar panels generate electricity there is a lack of pollution, which is good for us as well as for the environment. With solar power cell the only pollution that can be associated would be the cell production and cell transportation until it will reach the home, then might be the electricity use to power the tools required when your panel is maintained and installed. You can read more about the advantages of solar power at earth 4 energy.

It is a quick process to get the first level of investment and you will find it cheaper when you compare with the savings that can be done over the coming years and months on the electricity bill. Another method in which solar power can be profitable is the capability of harnessing power in remote locations. This method has proved to be very advantageous in solar power history for bringing electricity to few of the most remote locations on earth.

Start building your solar panel with this step by step guide! Follow the blueprints below for more information – solar power history

Amazing History Of Laptop Batteries

Sunday, September 5th, 2010 at 6:31 pm

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Whenever you power up your laptop you may not think about the history that has gone on to help us get to where we are today. Our laptops have come a long way to become as powerful as they are, but what we do not think about is how far the laptop batteries have come. The history of laptop batteries is an amazing one. They have come along way, and in the end they still have a long way to go before they are perfect. However, we can be happy that we have learned from our mistakes and come up with a battery that is lighter and longer lasting than older ones.

Solar Battery Charger

The laptop is a great thing. It allows you to use your computer without having to be plugged up to a wall. However, back in the day you could not run your laptop off the batteries alone for too long. Thanks to people always looking to improve what we already have, we have made great jumps in the history of the batteries. When we think of laptop batteries many of us think about the rechargeable ones that we use today. However, did you know that they used to make laptops that ran off AA batteries? Not only did it take a lot of AA batteries to run a laptop, but they could not run it for long. Many people today remember the laptops running off the very heavy lead acid based batteries. Not only did these batteries not last long, but it made your laptop very heavy. You might as well been carrying around a desktop. Since then the history of laptop batteries have kept improving. In fact, after we turned in the old lead acid batteries we moved on to the nickel cadmium batteries.

If you do not remember ever hearing of nickel cadmium batteries, that is because some people called them NiCD. However, these batteries were not around too long because we soon left those for nickel metal hydribe batteries (also called NiMH). As you can guess both of these batteries lasted a lot longer than the old acid ones, however, we were not done making great batteries just yet. After that we moved on to the lithium ion batteries as well as the lithium polymer. These are the batteries that most laptops use today. However, we are not done making great batteries, and you can bet that the history of laptop batteries is going to move on from here. As more and more people get laptops every year the demand for a longer lasting batter is ever growing. Until we can make a battery that never dies, we are always going to see more improvements in the life of batteries.

People use there laptops for many different things. Some use it for school, and others use it for work. However, no matter what you use your laptop for, you know that you need a long last battery. You have to know that you are going to be able to count on the battery when you need your laptop the most. Because of that, we should be happy that batteries keep improving. The history of laptop batteries is a long one, and it’s going to just keep getting longer. All that means is that we are going to end up with some great batteries over the course of a few years. As companies jump at the chance to improve their laptops you are going to see some of the worlds best batteries come to be. What that means for us is the fact that we can have great running computers that do not die after a few hours.

ebattery.com.au specializes in
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Solar Energy Talk

Residential Solar Power, Thin Film Solar Cells, and a History of Silicon Sourcing (part 7)

solar panel history – Importance of solar power

solar power history – Solar Power: A complete renewable source

Amazing History Of Laptop Batteries

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