...The sun, a source of unlimited, sustainable, renewable energy, it is no wonder why solar energy systems is being used worldwide from country’s in poverty to homeowners in the United States. From large scale utility plants to urban communities, more solar energy systems are being used to generate electricity for many different reasons. Whether it’s saving our planet, saving money, or increasing the value of a home, these are just a few reasons why solar energy is growing. Over the past three decades SunPower Corporation has been able to improve the technology in renewable energy to generate the most energy from the sun. SunPower has been leading the quest to improve lives and our world for a better future one day at a time. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in September of 2014, utility-scale solar power plants generated over 12,303 gigawatts- hours of electricity compared to September 2013which generated 6,048 gigawatts-hours. This is enough energy to power 1,513,703 average U.S. homes, (Danko, 2014). With the trend of solar energy and clean carbon emissions, the numbers of solar companies has risen. From manufacturing to installing, having a solar energy system has been easier and cost effective especially for homeowners. To motivate homeowners to start using solar energy system, local and state wide government has offered many incentives such as, “the eight-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy that was part of the...
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...A P R I L 2 014 The disruptive potential of solar power David Frankel, Kenneth Ostrowski, and Dickon Pinner As costs fall, the importance of solar power to senior executives is rising. The economics of solar power are improving. It is a far more costcompetitive power source today than it was in the mid-2000s, when installations and manufacturing were taking off, subsidies were generous, and investors were piling in. Consumption continued rising even as the MAC Global Solar Energy Index fell by 50 percent between 2011 and the end of 2013, a period when dozens of solar companies went bankrupt, shut down, or changed hands at fire-sale prices. The bottom line: the financial crisis, cheap natural gas, subsidy cuts by cash-strapped governments, and a flood of imports from Chinese solar-panel manufacturers have profoundly challenged the industry’s short-term performance. But they haven’t undermined its potential; indeed, global installations have continued to rise—by over 50 percent a year, on average, since 2006. The industry is poised to assume a bigger role in global energy markets; as it evolves, its impact on businesses and consumers will be significant and widespread. Utilities will probably be the first, but far from the only, major sector to feel solar’s disruptive potential. Economic fundamentals Sharply declining costs are the key to this potential. The price US residential consumers pay to install rooftop solar PV (photovoltaic) systems has plummeted from nearly...
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...What is Solar Energy? Sunlight is a renewable energy source which can be converted into usable energy by solar panels. There are two main types of solar energy. Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels directly convert solar energy into a usable form of energy using a PV cell containing a semiconductor material. CSP (concentrating solar power) on the other hand, concentrate energy from sunlight to a heat receiver which transforms energy from heat into mechanical energy, and in turn, solar thermal electricity. Converting Sunlight into Electricity Light striking a silicon semiconductor causes electrons to flow, creating electricity. Solar power generating systems take advantage of this property to convert sunlight directly into electrical energy. Solar panels (also called “solar modulesE produce direct current (DC), which goes through a power inverter to become alternating current (AC) — electricity that we can use in the home or office, like that supplied by a utility power company. There are two types of solar power generating systems: grid-connected systems, which are connected to the commercial power infrastructure; and stand-alone systems, which feed electricity to a facility for immediate use, or to a battery for storage. Grid-connected systems are used for homes, public facilities such as schools and hospitals, and commercial facilities such as offices and shopping centers. Electricity generated during the daytime can be used right away, and in some cases surplus electricity...
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...INTRODUCTION Solar energy, energy that comes from the sun, dates back from the 7th Century B.C. This energy is radiant light and heat from the sun which also makes it a renewable energy that is reliable. It started off with people using magnifying glasses to burn ants with the strong sun rays and now we use it for electricity purposes. I have noticed many schools and buildings around my city have had solar power systems installed on the roof tops and in the parking lot. It shows that this is a popular technology that is going to keep growing in the next few years. SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS Solar energy can be used in two different ways in agriculture. There is a solar system that converts solar energy to D.C power and there is a solar system that converts solar energy to heat. Solar energy electricity, also called photovoltaics, can be used to power water pumps or it can be stored in a battery for night use. Systems that use the sun’s energy to create heat can be used in the process of drying crops and grains and water heating. As the usage in solar power is expanding, the more workers solar energy companies will be needing. I read an article on the internet that stated “ The solar power industry employs a wide range of occupations in a number of major industry segments: research and development, manufacturing of solar power materials, construction of solar power plants, operations of solar power plants, and solar power installation and maintenance”. If all goes well there...
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...Introduction Earth has a problem, overpopulation. Many scientist believe that mankind will soon grow to a population that our planet cannot sustain. The land to house, feed, and support the population is dwindling. Increases in drought and natural disasters are occurring more frequently and with increased severity. Pollution is increasing and man’s ability to consume resources is far outweighed by his ability to replace them. These are all problems shared by leaders of some and many countries. Hunger has stricken most of Africa and other places around the world. India and China make up approximately 37 percent of the world’s population. These are not problems that one has to research to find. There are public service announcements on television programming in the United States, one of the world’s superpowers and argued the most powerful nation, that state one in five American children will go to bed hungry. China has a law known commonly around the world that restricts families to one child unless pre-approved. Where do we go from here? Statement of Need Space has long been an area of curiosity for man. Upward man has found a home in the stars, Heaven, one that has yet to be fully explored. How do we do this? How does man find a place to settle when the planet he has called home since the beginning of time is slowly, but surely, dying? The solution is in the history of man himself. The human population took millennia to grow out of Africa. Slowly, man crawled...
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...Solar energy is produced by the sun. It’s the energy transmitted from the sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation. It is taken from the sun and converted into electrical/ thermal energy. Solar is actually the Latin word for sun. There are many reasons why solar energy is better for the environment but there are some down sides. The earth receives about 1,366 watts of direct solar radiation per square meter. In one second the sun produces energy to meet the current needs of the entire Earth for 500,000 years. Solar energy used to photosynthesis. 99.99% of solar radiation goes to waste. Solar energy will never run out and it is very abundant and clean. Solar energy has been used by humans for thousands of years. For example, ancient cultures used energy from the sun to keep warm by starting fires with it. They also kept their homes warm through passive solar energy designs. Buildings were designed so that walls and floors collected solar heat during the day that was released at night to keep them warm. If you have ever stood in the sun to get warm then you too have utilized solar thermal energy. The discovery of photovoltaic happened in 1839 when the French physicist Edmond Becquerel first showed photovoltaic activity. Edmond had found that electrical current in certain materials could be increased when exposed to light. 66 years later, in 1905, we gained an understanding of Edmonds' work when the famous physicist Albert Einstein clearly described the photoelectric...
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...Solar Activity Most people just look up at the sun and enjoy the warmth and brightness of the light. Without the sun there would be no life on earth. If a person took the time to analyze it, he or she would find more than bright light and warm weather. The sun is very active with solar cycles, sunspots, and most of all solar flares. It is amazing how much the suns activity can affect us on Earth. A solar cycle is when the sun's magnetic field rotates a full 360 degrees, causing its poles to switch. This solar magnetic activity cycle or solar cycle has been active for hundreds of millions of years. A solar cycle can be as short as nine years or as long as fourteen years, with an average of about eleven years (Zell). A solar cycle is observed by counting frequency and placement of sunspots visible on the sun. Solar cycles are periodic changes in the sun’s activity, changes in levels of solar radiation, and changes in levels of ejection of solar matter. The sun is currently in solar cycle twenty-four (Millis). There are phases of solar minimum and solar maximum. During solar minimum, the sun is the least active. Solar maximum is the period of highest activity. The sun is currently in the middle of a very active phase with a high number of sunspot and solar flares. The last time the sun was this active was August 28 through September 2, 1859 (Millis). These solar cycles create sunspots. Sunspots evolve rapidly, are temporary, and are caused by a magnetic disruption on the surface...
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...‘‘PERSUASIVE SPEECH OUTLINE’’ Solar power is a viable source of energy. ‘INTRODUCTION’ ATTENTION GETTER: It’s the human condition to underappreciate what we are given when we become accustomed to its presence .The everyday convenience of electricity isn’t fully appreciated until a power line goes down and you’re thrust back into the colonial times with candles and fire stoves. Unfortunately as Pakistani’s we visit the dark ages several times a day. So now I ask you to imagine a Pakistan where unlike the false promises of politicians there is actually electricity in every house, where you don’t have to hear the gyrating noise of a generator everywhere you go. A Pakistan which isn’t plunged back into the dark ages every 3 hours. BACK GROUND: With the depletion of the energy resources in the world, governments, industries and scientists are in search of cost effective and readily available energy resources that can be exploited to satisfy the increasing energy demands in the world. Solar energy has been regarded as one of the most paramount and cardinal sources of renewable energy. As per scientists, the energy received from the sun in one hour is more than the whole world’s total produced energy in a year. It would take only around 0.3% of the world's land area to supply all of our electricity needs via solar power. Pakistan is going through a very severe energy crisis right now. Though Pakistan has got a lot on its plate right now, solving this issue would eradicate dozens...
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...UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Yemen – Sana’a ASSIGNMENT Marketing Management BMMK5103 Marketing Plan For: The Solar Energy Company Inc, Solar Energy Systems Table of contents 1.0 Situation / Market Analysis……………………………………………………………...........5 2.1 Company Background………………………………………………………….……..5 2.2 Mission, Vision, and Strategy……………………………………………………….. 5 2.3 Market Share………………………………………………………………………..6-7 2.4 Environment Analysis………………………………………………………………7-8 2.5 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………………9 2.6 Competition Analysis………………………………………………………………..10 2.7 Product Offered………………………………………………………………….10-13 2.0 Marketing Strategy………………………………………………………………………….14 2.1 STP (Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning) Analysis…………………………….14-15 2.2 Marketing Mix 4ps……………………………………………………………….15-17 3.0 Financial Projection …………………………………………………………………………17 3.1 Sales Forecast………………………………………………………………………...17 3.2 Break-even Analysis…………………………………………………………...…17-18 4.0 Implementation and Controls…………………………………………………………...……18 4.1 Controls………………………………………………………………………………18 4.2 Implementation…………………………………………………………………...18-19 4.3 Action Plan…………………………………………………………………….…….19 5.0 References……………………………………………………………………………………20 ...
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...Solar Energy Is Better Than Any Other Energy Sources. Minhajul Abedin ID no: 12301036 Section 06 ENG 102 English Composition 1 Spring 2013 BRAC University Date-11/04/2013 Evita Umama Amin Solar Energy is better than any other Energy Sources At night; we use to go to bed for having a sound sleep and air cooler use to give us cooling and refreshing air. Then we use to get up from the bed with a happy heart. Then we thank almighty for giving us a peaceful sleep. Then we enjoy warm bath and geezer provides us the warm water. Then we rush to the dining table for having breakfast and Refrigerator keeps the food fresh. Then we turn on Laptop and read the newspaper online. What a wonderful start of the day! But do we ever think how much electricity and it costs too many. Not only that; but also this causes the reduction of our natural assets like coal, gas and so on. But we have a tremendous energy source which will never run out. Can we guess what is it? It is the Sun; the most important and charming creation of almighty. At the same time, we have the technology which can convert sunlight to electricity and store them for long time. That is why I believe that solar energy is better than any other energy sources because of unlimited energy, lower cost and no interruption in supplying energy. Firstly; it contains unlimited energy for lifetime. According to Dionne (2011) who is a professor of Material Science Department of Stanford University; the sun provides over 100 peta-watts of...
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...2004 SOLAR FLARE CYCLES G. MARIª1, M. D. POPESCU1, 2 1Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy Str. Cutitul de Argint nr. 5, RO-752121, Bucharest, Romania gmaris@aira.astro.ro 2 Armagh Observatory College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG, N. Ireland mdp@star.arm.ac.uk (Received May 30, 2003) Abstract. We present a review of different solar flare periodicity intervals. Our analysis includes a statistical investigation of flare occurrence and N hemispheric distribution over the last three 11-yr -S solar cycles (SCs 21-23, correspondin g to the period 1976-2001). Moreover, we try to estimate if there is any connection between the flare activity and the strength of solar cycles. For that purpose, we studied not only the number of flares occurring monthly and annually, but we also used two indices that estimate the energy emitted by flares registered in the optical Hα line, as well as in the soft X -ray 1-8 Å band. The strange behaviour of SC 22 descending phase, with short but intense increments in flare activity, having a high degree of N-S asymmetry, could be the cause of the "abnormal" appearance of SC 23. The new magnetic dipole begins to lose part of its energy even during the descending phase of SC 22, so that the activity of SC 23 proves to be below the predicted values. Key words: Sun − solar flares – solar activity cycles − N-S asymmetry. INTRODUCTION Solar flares are wonderfully complex phenomena, seen as sudden and intense increases in brightness on the solar disk...
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...energy today. They are not only being depleted, but also polluting the environment, and affecting our economical stability. Solar hydrogen and fuel cell systems when integrated together represent a new approach that promises clean and friendly energy production. Our project’s objective is to investigate powering residential homes with solar energy and hydrogen fuel cells systems combined using a scaled down model house. This model provided cost effective studies and analysis to estimate systems efficiency, size and capacity necessary to energize an average residential home. It is also very important to establish a reference point by building a small mockup that could eventually help constructing full scale homes, saving money and time. The current system consists of solar panels that are connected to the household, and to an electrolyser. When the sun is shining, the solar panels produce electricity that is used to produce hydrogen and to provide energy to a residential home. The energy demanded by the household during the period of sunlight will be just a portion of the total energy needed to run the house twenty four hours per day, therefore, the remaining solar energy produced in this process will have to be stored for later demand. First, solar radiation hits the solar panels, and produces an electrical reaction in the solar cell itself. The solar cell is a p-n junction made out of silicon, which means that the material is divided into two different regions, the p material...
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...1002/pip.1255 PAPER PRESENTED AT 26TH EU PVSEC, HAMBURG, GERMANY 2011 Solar cell generations over 40% efficiency R. R. King*, D. Bhusari, D. Larrabee, X.-Q. Liu, E. Rehder, K. Edmondson, H. Cotal, R. K. Jones, J. H. Ermer, C. M. Fetzer, D. C. Law and N. H. Karam Spectrolab, Inc., 12500 Gladstone Ave, Sylmar, CA 91342, USA ABSTRACT Multijunction III-V concentrator cells of several different types have demonstrated solar conversion efficiency over 40% since 2006, and represent the only third-generation photovoltaic technology to enter commercial power generation markets so far. The next stage of solar cell efficiency improvement, from 40% to 50%-efficient production cells, is perhaps the most important yet, since it is in this range that concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems can become the lowest cost option for solar electricity, competing with conventional power generation without government subsidies. The impact of 40% and 50% cell efficiency on cost-effective geographic regions for CPV systems is calculated in the continental US, Europe, and North Africa. We take a systematic look at a progression of multijunction cell architectures that will take us up to 50% efficiency, using modeling grounded in well-characterized solar cell materials systems of today’s 40% cells, discussing the theoretical, materials science, and manufacturing considerations for the most promising approaches. The effects of varying solar spectrum and current balance on energy production in 4-junction, 5-junction...
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...The Milky Way Galaxy * A spiral type of Galaxy * composed of 200 billion stars. * One revolution every ~200 million years. * 100,000 lights years long * 3000 light years wide Our Solar System is mainly composed of: * STARS * PLANETS * SPACE DEBRIS STARS - are luminous heavenly bodies which have their own light. We can see near about 2500 stars on a clear night with our naked eye. But in actual, total no of stars are countless. The star which is nearest to earth is sun. It is the brightest star of all. The second nearest star except sun is Alpha-Centauri. THE SUN * Diameter: 1.4 million km * Age: 4.5 billion years (lifetime 11 billion years) * Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (330,000 x Earths) (99.8% of mass of solar system) * Density: 1.41 (water = 1) * Composition (by mass): Hydrogen: 73%, Helium: 25%, Others: 2% * Distance from Earth: 149.6 million km. * Distance to nearest Star: 9.46 million million km. * Luminosity: 4 x 1026 J s-1 (390 billion billion Megawatts). Solar Cycle: 8 - 11 years. * Temperature at Surface: 5,800°C (10,500 °F). * Temperature of Core: 14 million°C (22.5 million °F) POLARIS - known by many names, is one of the most famous stars in the sky. Polaris is also known as Alpha Ursae Minoris and is part of the constellation Ursa Minor, which is the Little Bear. Polaris is always in the sky; it does not disappear depending on the season, which is one reason why it has been...
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...Solar Water Heating Solar water heating is being used all across the world. It was first used in Tasmania, Australia on farms to flush milk out and to clean farming equipment. Solar water heating is when solar panels are on the roof and captures sunlight using solar collectors and transfers it to heat energy. This is a very efficient system because it is inexpensive and cheaper than regular electricity. The popularity for solar water heating has grown tremendously. Other countries are now using it in businesses and in neighborhoods. The energy is very renewable. Its average cost for the solar panels are about three hundred dollars a roof top. Home owners get reimbursed thirty percent after using the solar panel energy. Beer and food companies are now trying to use solar water heating in their factories. When considering beer companies use large amounts of hot water to make beer. In Cyprus nine out of ten homes are now using solar water energy which is amazing. I think solar water heating system is brilliant just because it conserves energy. In the United States we use solar water energy to heat up pools. So I think the United States should be more active in the solar energy. In Australian homes they were accustomed to use wood to heat their homes. Now with the new energy Australians get the benefits of having a heating system. So basically I don’t see a downside with solar water heating. It seems to benefit everyone financially. Who knew one farm could open the minds of the...
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