Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
The flavors of solar
A mirrored parabolic trough used in concentrated solar power technology.
Solar power refers to the sun’s energy — no matter how people harvest it. A house with “passive solar” simply means it has windows facing the south that can warm the home and lower heating bills.
The two principle ways to turn sunlight into electricity are photovoltaic panels and solar-thermal plants.
Photovoltaics: PV panels rely on the sun’s energy to excite electrons in the panel’s semi-conductor material. The excited electrons leave their normal positions around their atoms and become a part of an electrical flow. PV panels are a relatively expensive way to create electricity, but the prices are coming down. They work well on rooftops and for individual buildings.
Solar-thermal plants: Currently, it’s more cost-effective to build large solar-power plants using solar-thermal technologies to produce “concentrated solar power.” This technique uses large amounts of mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on a liquid. The liquid heats up and warms water to create steam that then powers a traditional turbine. These plants can also be easily hybridized with more traditional fuel sources to compensate when the sun isn’t shining.
