Comparing hybrid cars, which one should you choose?
Hybrid cars are getting more popular by the day. In fact, more and more people are now purchasing hybrid cars for a number of reasons. One is that they will enjoy tax incentives as a buyer of a hybrid car, two is that they will be able to save a lot of money from the rising cost of precious, expensive and limited supply of fuel and three, it will enable them to generate less pollution to the environment because of the extremely low toxic emissions generated by hybrid cars.
With the growing popularity of hybrid cars, more and more car manufacturers are now competing to produce the best kind of hybrid cars. They are now producing hybrid cars integrated with state-of-the-art technology that will enable consumers to save more on fuel, and also a car that will be able to produce low toxic emissions.
Going Green With Solar Panels
Solar panels are gaining interest among people of in this energy crunched world.
What are solar panels?
They are an array of photovoltaic cells which capture the energy of the solar rays. In simple terms, the solar panels capture the energy from the sun during the day for later use. Solar energy is renewable source of energy and does not get depleted like coal or natural gas. It can be tapped as much as required and used to power all our energy needs. With the invention of solar panels, which has helped mankind tap the solar energy, solar power has become an increasingly powerful source of energy in the last decade or so.
What are solar panels made of?
Solar panels are made of crystalline silicon and gallium arsenide. The same silicon is used in the microprocessor chips. The gallium arsenide is very expensive which also makes the initial investment cost of solar panels high. These panels harvest the solar energy and convert it to electricity. The electricity produced depends on how much of energy is harvested. Roughly, a solar sell of 0.2 m in diameter can create electricity of 2 amps of 2 volts when exposed to direct sunlight at the surface of the equator. However, the electricity production is decided not only by the size of the panel but also by the quality of materials used in making the solar cells. With time as well as with wear and tear, the electricity production capacity of the solar cells comes down.
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Can you save money by installing solar panels?
As the prices of oil and gas continues to go up and up, the installation of solar panels is giving many families solace and stability. The sun offers an almost infinite source of energy. No wonder so many people are rushing to install solar panels. Indeed, their popularity is increasing so rapidly that manufacturers of solar panels are having difficulty keeping up with demand.
The Two Types Of Solar Panels
Predominantly, solar panels come in two types. There are solar energy panels in the form of ’solar thermal collectors’. These focus solar energy into a liquid medium, usually water, heating the liquid that is then utilized as and where it is required. The other type of solar panels is known as the photovoltaic module. These solar panels convert the sun’s energy into electricity, which can then be distributed immediately or stored within a battery to be used later.
Maryland turning to offshore wind energy
The state began its pursuit of offshore wind generation Tuesday, a move that could lead to building 400-foot-tall turbines off Ocean City.
The Maryland Energy Administration asked wind developers to express their interest in building industrial-size windmills a dozen or more miles off the state’s 31-mile Atlantic coastline. At the same time, the energy agency said it is launching a study to gauge the economic viability and environmental impact of such a project.
“We know Maryland has great wind resources off our shore,” said Malcolm Woolf, state energy administrator. “We’ve got to figure out how best to tap into them.”
Maryland officials, eager to meet goals for more renewable energy sources, have approved two wind farms in the western part of the state. But Maryland is following other Mid-Atlantic states in pursuing offshore wind power.
Delaware recently settled on Bluewater Wind, a subsidiary of a national energy firm, to build a 230-megawatt string of turbines 13 miles off Rehoboth Beach. New Jersey has tapped Bluewater and two other companies to develop wind projects off its coast.
Woolf said the new study will give developers technical information on wind speeds and ocean depths, so they can decide where or whether to bid for building offshore turbines. The study, which is expected to be completed early next year, also will outline areas where turbines might not be appropriate, such as shipping lanes or sensitive marine habitats.
State officials, meanwhile, plan to huddle with local leaders to test community sentiment in Maryland’s beach resort to having turbines visible on the eastern horizon – though wind developers say their generators would appear no larger than a toothpick at those distances.
“We don’t want this to be tied up in community battles for years,” Woolf said, alluding to the long-running dispute in Massachusetts over building wind turbines off Cape Cod.
Read rest of article at the Baltimore Sun
Solar cells can be printed like newspapers
Sunlight is a non exhaustible source of energy without contributing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Still it is miles away from replacing the fossil fuels. Many reasons can be sited. One of its biggest disadvantages is it is still out of reach for the common man and it has a long break-even period. Unless a product or service is embraced by masses it can’t be treated as alternative source to fossil fuels. But scientists are tirelessly working on solar cells. It is believed that solar cells could soon be produced more cheaply using nanoparticle “inks”. These nanoparticles can help in printing solar cells like newspaper or painted onto the sides of buildings or rooftops to absorb electricity-producing sunlight.
BMW reveals a 155mph Vision plug-in concept car
It’s a BMW in every sense, especially its 4.8-second 0-to-60 miles per hour acceleration, yet it gets 62.6 miles a gallon.
BMW is starting to show off the Vision concept with a plug-in hybrid with electric motors and three-cylinder turbo-diesel engine. The midengine sports car concept, to be shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show, is part BMW’s latest attempt to show just how environmentally sensitive it can be.
10 tips to save energy
10 tips to cutting your electricity bill
If you are trying to cut down on that electricity bill here are 10 easy to follow tips that can do that. Once you start to see how many items you are doing wrong you can change those habits really easily. Everyone can save money with these tips and most of them don’t cost anything to do.
If you have some other tips you would like to add, please let us know and we will be glad to add them.
Wind Power Applications
Wind Power
To meet the electricity needs of a power company, a number of large wind turbines (50 kilowatts up to 2 megawatts) can be built close together to form a wind plant. Several power providers today use wind plants to supply power to their customers.
Wind turbines operate on a simple principle. The energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator. The blades act much like airplane wings. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade. The low-pressure air pocket then pulls the blade toward it, causing the rotor to turn. This is called lift. The force of the lift is actually much stronger than the wind’s force against the front side of the blade, which is called drag. The combination of lift and drag is what causes the rotor to spin.
Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more above ground, they can take advantage of faster and less turbulent wind.
Where It’s Available
Wind energy can be produced anywhere in the world where the wind blows with a strong and consistent force. Windier locations produce more energy, which lowers the cost of producing electricity. Moderate to excellent wind resources are found in most regions of the United States. However, the majority of the useable wind resources in the United States are found in the western Plains states. The wind resource maps from Wind Powering America can help you determine whether the wind resource in your area is adequate for wind power.
Solar Energy Storage
For a stand-alone system, some means must be employed to store the collected energy for use during hours of darkness or cloud cover – either as electrochemically in batteries, or in some other form such as hydrogen (produced by electrolysis of water), flywheels in vacuum, or superconductors. Storage always has an extra stage of energy conversion, with consequent energy losses, greatly increasing capital costs. One way around this is to export excess power to the power grid, drawing it back when needed. This effectively uses the power grid as a battery.
Scaling and Corrosion in Solar Water Heating Systems
The two major factors affecting the performance of properly sited and installed solar water heating systems include scaling (in liquid or hydronic-based systems) and corrosion (in hydronic and air systems).
Scaling
Domestic water that is high in mineral content (or “hard water”) may cause the buildup or scaling of mineral (calcium) deposits in hydronic solar heating systems. Scale buildup reduces system performance in a number of ways. If your system uses water as the heat-transfer fluid, scaling can occur in the collector, distribution piping, and heat exchanger. In systems that use other types of heat-transfer fluids (such as glycol, an anti-freeze), scaling can occur on the surface of the heat exchanger that transfers heat from the solar collector to the domestic water. Scaling may also cause valve and pump failures on the potable water loop.
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