DAY 8 ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS:

    

  

   Day 8 of  #100daysofsolarnuggets

  

        Welcome everyone, to another interesting day. Today we would be discussing about Electricity again (Yes electricity). I would love all those new to the concept of electricity/electronics to read today’s article with an open mind and I promise to make this topic as simple as possible to understand

What is an Electric circuit?

     An electric circuit is simply a pathway for electrical charges to flow from a power source through a conductor (wire) to a load and back to the power source.

      Now you do not really need to bother yourself so much about what an electrical charge  is, the basic thing you need to know is that, once an electric charge gets to your device let’s say light bulb or refrigerator it supplies power to the device.

                                             Simple Electric circuit

          Now for an electric circuit to be complete there are some basic components that must be present.

.1) Power source. This supplies the energy that is used in an Electric circuit. In our case this would be the battery or the solar Panels. Anything that can generate electric energy can be a power source.

.2)  Load. This is a device or an appliance that uses or rather consumes the energy that is produced. This can be any appliance in the house. Light bulb, Fans, T.V they are all electrical loads.

.3) Conductor. This is any material that allows Electric current to flow through it. Electrical wires used in Installation are good conductors of electricity. 

.4) Switch. A switch is used to control the flow of electric charges. It is simply used to turn the electric circuit On and Off.

When the switch is On, we call the circuit a closed circuit. This means that electric charges can flow freely within the circuit.

When the switch is Off, we call the circuit an open circuit, which means electrical charges can no longer flow.

Picture this

An electric switch works just the same way the tap works. 

( Take note of this terms open circuit and close circuit, as we would be using the term in upcoming posts)

I know some people may be asking how does this relate to solar Energy, but in later post, you would understand why.

Now there are two common types of Electric circuit. They are

.1) Series Circuit

.2) Parallel Circuit

Day 8 of #100daysofsolarnuggets

To be continued.

DAY 7 : SOLAR ENERGY NEWS AROUND THE WORLD:

Day 7 of #100daysofsolarnuggets

        FRANCE UNVEILS THE WORLD’S FIRST SOLAR ROAD

      Alright today we are doing something a little bit different, we would be looking at interesting happenings in the world regarding renewable energy.

   Sometime last year in December, France accomplished a historic feat, by building the world’s supposedly first solar road, in the  village of Tourouvre au Perche , this is a small french village located north west of France.The road is just one kilometer (0.6mi) long and it is just one lane out of the two lanes that has the solar fittings, but that still works out at 2,800 square meters of photovoltaic cells, which they hope to be sufficient enough to power the village's street lights.

The Road is being called “Wattway” and is expected to produce 280 MWh of electricity a year. That being said, the project cost an estimated $5.2million. The panels are covered in a silicon-based resin that allows them to withstand the weight of passing cars, trucks and the likes, If the road performs as expected, more of it's kind are expected to be done..

   

  Colas, the company that installed the road, hopes to reduce the cost of the panels going forward, they believe that the costs will go down as the technology becomes more widespread. 

Right now the road is on a two-year trial period to see if it can withstand the pressure and effects of vehicles moving on it.

    

      Personally I view this as a unique engineering feat and an amazing application of solar Energy, Yes it is capital intensive and it is a lot cheaper to install Solar panels on rooftops,yet I believe it is a welcome development, with time and with more research I do believe that this technology would become a lot cheaper. Going forward I believe more ingenious applications of solar such as these should be encouraged, this way ,we create an enabling environment for solar to thrive and in the nearest future we could have passenger planes completely powered by Solar.

DAY 6: A LITTLE ABOUT ELECTRICITY (Part 2) : CURRENTS

 
    
 Day6 of #100daysofsolarnuggets

         Hello Everyone , I promised to make my daily posts about solar so very easy to understand(and i plan on keeping that promise), I am going to go a bit technical here (again) so please bear with me, I would advise that you look up at our day 3 Lesson (A little about electricity ) .

Lets Jump right in.
  When I explained about the basics of solar Energy(day 2) ,I talked about a particular component called an Inverter. I said an Inverter converts  D.C(Direct Current) to.A.C(Alternating Current)
So I want to explain a little About these two types of current as it relates to Solar Energy only.

       In Power generation there are two distinct types of current ,we have
.1)  Alternating Current (A.C.)
.2 Direct Current (D.C).

      Alternating current (A.C.) : This type of current is commonly used in homes and offices,your Fan, Refrigerator, T.V, Air conditioning Unit all use Alternating Current, Alternating Current is supplied by the energy/Utility companies to our homes.

       A few things to note about A.C
Alternating current has a frequency of 50HZ or 60Hz depends on the country, Here in Nigeria we have frequency of 50HZ and the voltage output is between 220 – 240V

      Direct Current (D.C.) : Solar panels produce Direct Current,The output current from our batteries are also Direct current
        Now this why we use Inverter?
    We use Inverter in our solar energy systems because the current output we get from our Solar panels and batteries is D.C,while majority of our appliances use A.C.
    Inverter enables us to use the energy created by our solar panels in our homes by converting the Direct current generated by the solar panels to Alternating current.(easy enough)

      Why do we have two types of current and why is A.C used in our homes? (This question would be on a lot of people's mind)
    They both have there different advantages and disadvantages, but in summary A.C current is much more cost effective compared to D.C current when it comes to transmitting it over long distances(generally the generating stations,where electricity is generated are usually located very far away from residential areas where they are consumed), that is why the Utility companies transmit A.C current(at extremely high voltages) and that is why more importantly it is being used in our homes.

I figured it is very important I explained this in the beginning, going forward in later posts when I discuss about Inverter we would understand why.

DAY 5: ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR ENERGY

Day 5 of #100daysofoslar nuggets

    
                Yesterday we discussed about the disadvantages of solar energy systems,today we are looking at the advantages. Why all this buzz about renewable energy, well let’s find out.

.1) Renewable
          This to me is Solar energy's greatest advantage. Solar energy can generate electricity as long as there is sun and the sun has no plans of going anywhere. Renewable means  it can not be exhausted or depleted by use , rather  can replenish it self over and over again,

.2) Minimal maintenance
           Solar systems require little or no maintenance after  it’s initial installation. Some solar panels have a life span of close to 25 years, with the only form of maintenance being to clean  the surface of the panels to remove dust particles and the likes.
 Regular check up and a maintenance culture is strongly advised.

.3)  No  sound  Pollution
        Solar Energy systems create no sound pollution at all, this compared to conventional energy generation (Generators ) is a big plus to solar.

.4) Durability
       Solar Energy systems are able to last for a long period of time if properly installed, because it possesses no moving parts, it sustains no damage due to wearing out of it’s parts.

.5) Independence.
        A major motivation for the installation of solar energy systems in residential homes ,is the possibility of total independence from the grid (utility) and not only that but the possibility of also making extra money by selling off excess energy produced from your solar energy system back to the utility company, which is possible in some countries not in all countries yet.

.6) Remote Usage.
        For remote sites, villages  and homes with no access to the grid/utilities Solar energy is a readily available solution. It can easily be set-up to produce electricity.

 7) Pollution free
       Due to the emission of green house gasses by fossil fuels and it’s negative effect on the earth(Global warming) .Solar Energy is a much healthy alternative to the earth. Solar energy does not pollute the atmosphere in  anyway.





         Well ,there you have it, I strongly believe the advantages out ways the disadvantages.
Day 5 of #100daysofosolar nuggets
        Feel free to post your comments,suggestions or ask questions on areas you might not understand.

 

DAY 4: DISADVANTAGES OF A SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM

      

    DAY  4 of  #100DAYSOFSOLARNUGGETS


    Okay we now have a little idea about solar energy systems, so let us discuss about the advantages and disadvantages.
Today we would be discussing about the Disadvantages, we would now discuss about the advantages tomorrow.
                     

1        INITIAL COST

     The Initial cost for setting up a solar (Photovoltaic) system is quite high. This is due to the high cost of it’s basics components. Research is ongoing to provide cost effective components and over the years we have seen a tremendous reduction in the price of the basic elements

2        ENERGY STORAGE

  Solar Panels only generate Energy during the day and energy has to be stored to be used in the Night, which is where batteries come in. Batteries store energy that can be used at Night.
  The issue is this, Batteries increase the size, cost and also the complexity of the systems, batteries also have a limit to the amount of energy it can store which simply means If you want more energy to be stored, you would have to get more batteries and more batteries sadly cost more money.

3        WEATHER

    The weather greatly affects the overall efficiency of any Solar system, due to it’s dependency on Sun, any weather conditions that partly or completely blocks the sun would reduce the power output of the solar system.

4        AWARENESS

     Another Disadvantage is that very few people are aware of the immense potential of solar, due to the fact that is still a relatively new technology and also there are fewer people who have the knowledge to efficiently design and set-up solar systems.





Tomorrow we talk about the Advantages,reel free to comment,suggest or ask questions.
DAY  4 of  #100DAYSOFSOLARNUGGETS