Solar Power

Archive for September, 2009

it needs to heat a liter of water as fast as possible
im a failure at phsyics
can someone please help me!

This site will give you all kinds of ways to make a Solar Water Heater, and should give you some ideas for making one.
personally I like the beer bottle one.

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

http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Thermal-Water-Heater-For-Less-Than-Five-Doll/

Based on an average home in Perth, Australia during winter. I need a rough estimate of how much power it will produce during a month~ thanks.

Electrical power is measured in watts or W.
1.5 KW is 1500 W.
Energy is what we pay for and it is POWER x TIME and is usually measured in KW-Hrs
The solar panel puts out 1.5 KW of power which is probably a peak value under maximum sunlight conditions. Its the sunlight that matters not the outside temperature.
The sunlight intensity depends on both the season and how close to the equator you are. I would think that its fairly strong even in the Perth Australian winter.
If you totaled all the sunlight intensity in a day it would on average be the same as the sun shining for 4 hours only at peak sunlight intensity. I’m not positive about that number.
So then multiplying the values we get:

(1.5 KW)(4 Hrs)(30 days) = 180 KW-Hrs in one month.

If the utility company charged you 10 cents per KW-Hr then its worth

(0.1)(180) = 18 dollars per month. (Using U.S. money)

We’ve heard CFL or other ways a light bulb can maximize its effeciency with least energy.

We’ve also heard solar panels improving on harnessing sun light.

BUT, are there products that directly harness Solar Power for the sole purpose of using the power for lighting?
(collect light during day, make light during night)

spam links will be reported.
flourescent materials? sounds fun, but how long do they last?

Hybrid Solar Lighting is one technology that is used for direct solar lighting, it does not store the light but uses fiber optics to distribute the natural sunlight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ5MiLqb5VE

Also check out: http://www.sunlight-direct.com/