SOLAR ENERGY6E-.Stojčev, G.Pýchová, P. Šimečková,

Benefits Saves Thousands of Dollars

According to One Block Off the Grid, adding solar panels to your home can bring in monthly savings of well above $100 in many states. Extend this to two decades, less than the length of a typical solar panel warranty and this translates to over $30,000.

Low Payback Period

If you choose to pay in cash, the payback period is in many cases less than ten years. For example in Hawaii, it takes homeowners on average 5 years before the monthly savings (in terms of lower electricity costs) meets the total costs of the solar system.

Why To Go For Solar PanelsIncreases Your House Value

Buying a home with solar panels translates into lower electricity costs. Solar panels will increase the house attractiveness on the housing market, similarly to homes with low property taxes, homes in school districts and homes with good Home Energy Ratings (a measurement of an energy efficiency).

Solar is a Secure Investment

The utility companies are notorious for their fluctuating and unreliable electricity prices. There is clearly an upward trend.

Guaranteed Performance

Solar panel manufacturers include a 20- to 25-year warranty (also known as a performance guarantee) with their solar panels. The industry standard guarantees 80% performance after 25 years.

Future of Solar EnergyUse of Grätzel solar cell

The Grätzel solar cell has a number of attractive features; it is simple to make using conventional roll-printing techniques, is semi-flexible and semi-transparent which offers a variety of uses not applicable to glass-based systems, and most of the materials used are low-cost.

Better efficiency of solar cells

Today the solar cells has its efficiency around 8-9 percent, but scientists in San Francisco create a solar cell with 40 percent efficiency and I think that in few decades there will be only solar cells with efficiency like that.

Stirling engine

Another future possibility of solar energy is in use of Stirling engine. The Stirling engine can be used as replacement instead of any other combustion engine of today and it can be propelled only by solar energy.

Interesting facts  Space missions have been using solar energy to power spaceships

since 1958.

 A single Air Force base in Nevada has saved $83,000 A MONTH since it switched from using traditional energy sources to solar energy produced on site.

 The largest solar power plant in the world is located in the Mojave Desert in California, covering 1000 acres.

Solar energy has been used for over 2700 years; in 700 BC, glass lenses were used to make fire by magnifying the sun’s rays.

Czech Republic is 6th on the list of states exploiting solar energy most.

Statistics

Average solar panel size needed to power the average home 600 sq. ft.

Average cost of installing a 600 sq. ft. solar system $55,000

Solar energy share of global energy consumption 0.7 %

Average annual growth rate of global solar energy capacity 102 %

Amount of solar energy that hits the earth each year 8.2 Million Quads

Total quads currently used by the entire globe annually 400 Quads

Percent of earth that would need to be covered with solar panels to power it 0.0005 %

Barrels of oil saved annually by all solar energy users 75 Million Barrels

Tones of carbon dioxide saved annually by all solar energy users 35 Million Tones