Bill Tauber the "Green Energy Coach™"

 

Dear Bill:   I’m always using my solar powered calculator that works even in my office at night.   What’s the difference between the solar powered calculator and those big solar installations I see on the tops of buildings?  Can those big solar panels on the buildings work at night also?                                                                                                                    Neil G. – San Diego, CA

Dear Neil:  Well, let’s start with the basics of how solar calculators work and then we’ll tackle the big solar Photovoltaic (PV) arrays you see on the top of buildings.

 First, Solar powered calculators are pretty simple in the way they work.  They work much the same way the big panels work, except of course they are much smaller.  Both types of panels collect the sun’s light. The solar powered calculators work fairly the same as plants, grass, flowers, trees,  soaking up sun light and converting it to food or energy.  It’s called Photo-synthesis, you may remember that from your school days in biology. Solar powered calculators do the same where they soak up the sun’s light and convert it to energy. 

Luckily, solar powered calculators don’t require much energy to run.  A solar panel about the size of a U.S. Quarter will generate enough energy to power the calculator.  But if you wanted to run a 60 watt light bulb you’d need more than a 1,000 U.S. Quarters sized solar panels to light it up.

They work fairly well at night since the small solar powered calculators can actually store quite a bit of energy.   They have a small type of rechargeable type battery inside for use when sun light is not available.  However, they must be recharged frequently in the sun in order to maintain a constant supply of power for the calculator.

Now for those big solar panels known as Photovoltaic modules (PV) you see on roof tops.  They work the same way that the small solar powered calculator but on a much larger scale.  Most of the solar panels you see on roofs are made of glass with silicon inside to absorb and transfer the sun’s light to one central point where it is converted from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) by an inverter.  AC power is what homes and businesses use for electricity.

The reason there are so many panels, which are known as a Photovoltaic array, is that solar panels can only convert from 5% to18% of the suns energy into electricity.  They are currently trying to raise the efficiency of these panels closer to 50%.   This is why you see so many panels on the buildings, these buildings require a great deal of energy for use in their business.

These large Photovoltaic arrays do not have large enough batteries to store the energy for use at night when the sun is not shining, so there is no electrical storage availability.  So the downside is that the PV array is operating only during limited hours of sun light.  And not all of the sun light hours due to the angle of the sun and angle of the solar array panels.   The average day in the U.S. for sun light producing hours during the summer is only about 6 hours a day and shorter in the winter.  The good news is that these hours are when the businesses usually needs the highest demand for energy and the Photovoltaic array can deliver electricity during those high demand hours.

Solar is becoming one of the most popular and useful sources of energy.  You can find solar panels in toy cars, flash lights, RV solar panels, cell phones, laptops and many, many more uses.

To learn more about Photovoltaic arrays, solar panels, I suggest you visit Wikipedia for a  full explanation of Photovoltaic systems. 

Dear Bill:   Winter is coming and my heating bill is always very high every winter. What is the one best thing that I can do to save energy and save money this winter for my home?

                                                                                                                        Adrian R. – Swansea, IL

Dear Adrian:  The one best thing that you can do this winter to save energy-save money-save the planet is to install in a programmable thermostat for your furnace.   It will save you money for the summer as well.

 An ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostat helps make it easy for you to save by offering four pre-programmed settings to regulate your home’s temperature in both summer and winter — when you are asleep or away.

According to the EPA, the average household spends more than $2,200 a year on energy bills — nearly half of which goes to heating and cooling. Homeowners can save about $180 to $350 a year by properly setting their programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings.

The EPA states in their website “The key is to establish a program that automatically reduces heating and cooling in your home when you don’t need as much. Use the ENERGY STAR Programmable Thermostat Calculator to see what you can save with set-back temperatures that works for your family.”

Send your energy-related questions to:

The Green Energy Coach at: GreenEnergyCoach@aol.com

 Tauber is a Radio Talk Show host and a nationally recognized expert on energy reduction and solar power. He has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, Fox Business, Kiplinger, Investors, ABC and Forbes websites and several environmental newsletters and Web sites.