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As we become more environmentally aware we look for new ways to reduce the world's dependency on fossil fuel. Hopefully, new technology advancements will soon make solar power systems commonplace world-wide. Several methods have been developed to harness the sun's power and convert it to solar power energy that can be used for our daily needs.
The two most popular methods for generating solar power energy are the concentrating solar power system and the photovoltaic system (PV). The PV system cam convert light from the sun directly into electricity, and is most often used for industrial and residential applications. The Concentrating Solar Power (CSP system) uses the sun's heat in lieu of fossil fuels to generate heat that fuels a traditional power plant. The CSP system could potentially provide sufficient electricity for a whole city. There are three methods by which a Concentrating Solar Power System generates a large amount of energy: the power tower system, the dish engine system, and the parabolic-trough system.
Panels for generating solar power energy can vary greatly in cost depending on the type of installation you are aiming for. If your building is in a more remote area and is industrial you can use the typical boxy style roof mounted panels. If you want a more discrete, dual purpose installation you can even have your structure constructed with solar cells built right into the roofing, awning and window materials.
Solar panels are not limited to roof-mounting. Using ground and pole mounting systems for solar panels is another option. The ground and pole mounts offer more design flexibility and can be an advantage if your structure is shaded for part of the day. It is also possible to equip solar panels with mechanisms that will follow the path of the sun during the course of the day, which will provide the most exposure to the sun for producing solar power energy.
Parabolic-trough systems focus the heat of the sun using long mirrors. This heat travels to piping built into the center of the mirror through which oil is pumped to carry the heat away from the mirrors. The heat from the oil is then used to heat water to create steam that powers a generator to create the solar power energy.
Dish-engine systems that are made up of a solar parabolic dish, use heated fluids in a similar way to the parabolic-trough systems, but the expansion of the heated fluid allows it to move large pistons for powering an electric generator to generate solar power energy.
Power tower solar systems for solar power energy production require an array of mirrors to focus the sun's heat onto a tower mounted receiver. Molten salt flowing through the receiver is heated by the collected solar energy and used to heat water which then creates the steam to power a generator.
Tags: Computers & Technology
Tags: Computers & Technology
