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Solar Power Innovations

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Submitted By lindap315
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ENG.101 T-TH
10/24/2013
solar power

Attention Homeowner’s: Solar Power is the wave of the future!
What if I told you that the latest innovations in solar power can save you money? Innovations are the applications of better solutions and solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. I have compiled a list of the latest innovations for you the consumer to decide whether solar power is the right for you. The three innovations are thinner film cells, micro-inverters, and racking options. These new technologies will make solar power cheaper and more affordable for you to obtain. These new innovations will save you money because they are much cheaper for you to purchase. They beat out the old power panels which cost the consumer well over 10,000 dollars to install a basic generating system, which really didn’t save the consumer any money unless you planned to stay 30 years or more in your home. Not to mention that solar power is much more efficient and is better for the environment than normal electricity. It is said that in the next decade at least 20% of our power will be supplied by solar power.
One of the most promising technologies is ultrathin film that can reduce the amount of material in solar cells by up to a hundred fold. When you picture solar panels what picture comes to mind? Large black cells with an aluminum framing that have been used for decades. (Dan Oko). The ultra thin film solar uses a completely different take on solar cells. They come out in a roll instead of a panel and is an easy process to manufacture, much like a printing press process. (Kriss Bergethen) This has drastically become more and more familiar and nearly all major solar companies will eventually start to produce this new technology. This will then make it easier for you the consumer to afford. First Solar is the leading the way in manufacturing these thin film solar cells. This means that the panels were costing about $3.00 per watt, will now become $2.00 a watt but may eventually become more and more easier to obtain when other manufactures start to follow suit.
Another new innovation is micro inverters which are more affordable and efficient. One of the pieces of the residential solar power puzzle is the device which takes the PC power and transforms it AC power. (This is what our homes are wired for)(Derek Markham) The price of an inverter to handle the power you could produce from your rooftops used to be quite high and inefficient. But now with micro-inverters it’s going to actually be much cheaper. You can have one solar panel and one micro-inverter to start your own solar power system. The inverters in the past were huge, bulky, and very expensive, costing somewhere in the $3000.00 range. Now with micro-inverters it should only cost you the consumer around $200.00. That means that your own generating system won’t cost you $10,000.00 anymore it will only cost you a mere $1000.00. These inverters are much more efficient and truly decrease the installation time. By using these solar power systems we cut our reliance on fossil fuels that drive climate change. (Megan Phelps)
Finally, the last innovation we are going to discuss is the racking options. The technology in this part of the solar generating system has come a long way. The process was long and costly to have your solar panels installed on your rooftop. Now with innovative materials and improved designs these mounting systems can be installed in less time at a lower cost. They can be put on the roof or even the ground. No tools will be needed in the flat roof racking systems. One clamp will securely hold your panel in place. There are also new fiber glass racking system which are lightweight and are still cheaper than the flat-roof system and can be installed in record time. This new equipment can and will eliminate the old rail system previously used. These new systems are made of PV (which is polyvinyl) and a lot lighter in weight. One more racking device is the pre-assembled integrated modules. These will limit the home owners to only one specific brand of module. The last and final model of the racking systems for flat surfaces is the CS60. These are also ground mounted systems. These systems are filled with heavy things to hold them down such as gravel, or sand in a bag. (www.Dynoraxx.com) There are also the old anchor systems (which you would anchor into your roofs foundation) that you can install which can cause problems and are much more of a risk to the homes roof than the new unattached racks. These new options will also save you money down the road to getting your own home setup for solar power.
Bennett Davis of New Scientist magazine said “It’s been a long time coming, but finally we are on the brink of a new era in solar power”. (Bennett Davis) Wouldn’t you like to save money, protect the environment, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels? (Fossil Fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals).Then get solar power it’s the wave of the future and it is surely more easily attainable for the average homeowner that wasn’t able to afford it in the past. So look into your own solar power generating system it will save you money on your electricity and will pay for itself in less time previously thought. I hope that by showing you these new innovations in solar power, you the home owner would see that there are cheaper more efficient ways to power up your home. By creating thinner film cells, micro-inverters, and new racking options you too can afford solar power panels.

WORKS CITED:
(Bennett Davis, New Scientist Dec. 2008 Vol.196 Issue 2633)
(www.Dynoraxx.com)
(Derek Markham, Oct. 2011 Gears and Gadgets)
(Dan Oko, Short history of brightness, Sierras October 2009 vol. 94 issue 5) (Megan Phelps, Solar power continues to fall, Mother Earth News Nov. 2013 issue 260)

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