Atlanta Green Home Lights the Way

By: Rob Muller

Energy efficient homes that go easy on the environment are turning heads in Georgia with their low-maintenance appeal, cost efficiency and natural good looks. With Georgia Tech's recent success in the 2007 Solar Decathlon and world-class community projects like Atlantic Station, Metro Atlanta is well on its way to being a model of eco-building in the Southeast.

Georgia's green power was most recently demonstrated by Georgia Tech at the 2007 Solar Decathlon. The innovative contest, sponsored by the US department of energy, is a green building competition with an emphasis on solar energy. Twenty teams from universities all over the world were handed the task of building the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home they could imagine.

Over the five day judging period, the Decathlon Homes had to demonstrate the ability to use nothing but solar energy to power a washer dryer, oven, TV, computer and generate hot water. The homes also had to be architecturally sound, marketable and they had to look good.

Though it was their first year to participate in the contest, the Georgia Tech team won 6th place for their innovative light-house, a completely off-the-grid solar powered home. First place went to a team from Darmstadt Tech in Germany. Though the Georgia Tech team didn't take home first place this year, the house is part of the significant contribution that that Atlanta's architects and engineers are making to what we know about building smart.

"Many of the advances that are demonstrated in this house will come to the mainstream," said associate professor Russell Gentry of the Georgia Tech house, "they will have to come to the mainstream if we're going to save the energy that we promised to."

The innovations in the Georgia Tech house set a new standard for energy efficiency and eco- friendliness for Atlanta homes. Atlanta already has a number of model solar projects like the EcoManor, the Southern Living Idea House, and the Brookhaven Zero Energy Home.

"35% of the energy consumed in the US is consumed in buildings. It's important for us to develop technologies that save that energy," says Gentry. "Everything we do here is about making buildings more energy efficient and smarter."

The Georgia Tech Light House is steel and wood construction with a modern open floor plan, hardwood flooring, and a semi-transparent solar roof that subtly lets lights into every room in the house while it insulates and generates power. Designed to be easy to build, expandable and accessible, the plans accommodate from one to three bedrooms and up to two baths. The cost of the prototype is $280K.

Agreeable Solar Power Technology

Everything we do requires electricity most of this comes from burning coal which has very damaging effects to the environment. In order to slow down the effects of global warming people are frantically searching for alternative ways to satisfy our thirst for power. Solar power is the best way we have to do this at the moment, everyone even homeowners are calling for improvements in this technology.

New technology that affects solar panels is being created all the time. All of these little advancements add up to become something much more important.

Electricity in the Past

Humans are designed to love new things, this causes priorities to change. When the priorities of the public change businesses will start to produce different things. The money, resources and ideas all go into satisfying what people want.

During the Industrial revolution for example the priorities focused on mass producing products. During the last 20 years however the main priority has been computers. Computers are actually very helpful, and we could even say that without computers we might still know nothing about global warming.

PC + Solar Power?

The solar power industry is actually following the PC industry quite accurately. The very first computers were the size of a whole room, and didn’t really do anything other than work out sums. However now you can get a really small cell phone that has more processing power than those early computers. Silicon chips have made it possible to get more and more power inside a smaller space.

The state of the art solar panels are using silicon to produce the panels. The cells that are contained in these solar panels are normally crystalline silicon. These individual cells are shrinking all the time and becoming cheaper to produce. There are also alternative uses for these solar panels, in calculators for example. Solar panels can also be rolled up because they are becoming flexible. Technology truly is amazing!

Solar panels certainly aren’t the work of science fiction. They are used pretty much everywhere these days. With the continuous advancements of the industry it won’t be long until we all see them attached to our homes. Using a solar panel could be enough to save this planet. Many people are demanding renewable forms of electricity, so why not do something about it yourself?

Just Some More Information on Solar Power

Solar power is everywhere because it comes from the sun. Solar power can be used to power electricity, pump water, to heat your home or office and power vehicles. With all that we can do with solar power you have to wonder why we don't do enough to conserve the solar power. We could use it for almost anything and it would cost a fraction of what we are paying now. You can make a difference by doing your part is making solar power something you can use.

When a storm blows through we are sometimes left without power for at least a day but sometimes more. When this happens we are so use to our conveniences that we have a hard time adjusting to going back to the basics when we are use to flipping on a light switch, using the microwave, taking a shower or bath assuming that the water can be pumped and heated the same as it always is. Loading the dishwasher or washing the dishes, washing and drying clothes. All of these services require the power to be on and when it is off is when you miss the services. When you use solar power you are less likely to experience these down times because your power is generated by natural energy.

Cost of solar energy

In order to heat your home using solar energy, you need to know the information on a passive and an active home. These two types of solar homes offer the homeowner options to choose from and your cost of heating may be down. Solar energy does not only heat your home but it also heats your water and if you use solar energy lights it can light your home at night.

Active homes do use equipment to help circulate the heat in the home. Some of the equipment that may be used includes pumps, blowers and an alternative heating source in case the sunlight was not enough during the daytime. In order to heat the home with sunlight these homes use special boxes on the outside that attract the sunrays to it. They are made from a dark colored metal to help attract the sun more. The water or air that is carried in the pipes and ductwork is heated by this glass box that has captured the sunlight. Then the heated water or air is then carried to the rest of the home.

Renewable Energy

What we have to rely on in the future is renewable resources. These resources are all resources that offer us an abundant supply and will never run out. They recharge and allow us to enjoy them again and again. The renewable resources consist of Solar, Wind, Biomass, Hydrogen, Geothermal, Ocean, and Hydropower We need all of these and right now we have access to each one of them. What do they do and how do they help us with solar power? Let's find out.

Hydropower takes energy from flowing water and captures it turning it into electricity. Hydropower is very complicated and requires a great deal of technology in order to successfully accumulate energy from water.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element found on earth, usually with other elements. If hydrogen is found alone it can be burned or converted into electricity.

Converting Your Home To Run On Solar Power

By: Ray Walberg

Our need for electricity is increasing every day, solar power is becoming a suitable alternative to burning fossil fuels. The sun is extremely powerful, if we could collect all of this energy for a single day and store it in batteries it would be able to supply everyone in the world with enough electricity to last a whole year! This gives you a good idea just how powerful the sun is and why you should consider converting your home to run on solar power.

The sun will be there for a very long time to come, and so why shouldn't people take advantage of it and start using it for energy? Solar power is completely renewable as it will never run out. Solar power is becoming more and more popular because it is continually being made more efficient. There are some important advantages that you should know about solar power before you decide whether it is right for you or not.

Benefits

Solar power is so popular because it doesn't cost any money. You do have to make an initial investment to buy the panels and get them fitted. Solar panels should last for a very long time which will mean you should pay off the cost of the investment fairly quickly. They are also environmentally friendly, burning fossil fuels releases pollution and greenhouse gasses into the environment. It's no surprise that people are adopting solar power as a result of these benefits.

Considering The Cost

You should carefully consider all of the costs involved when installing solar panels. Forget about the benefits for a second and just focus on the costs. Although the costs associated with installing solar panels are extremely high, you should consider that it's actually like you are paying up front for a number of year's electricity. Once you have paid for the installation cost you won't have to spend any more money for quite some time to come.

However you must remember that you will still need to use an electricity company to supply you with electricity at night. Another thing that you can consider is selling your power back to the grid if you make more power than you use, this causes your meter to spin backwards which can offset the electricity which you use.

Our demand for electricity increases every year, the problem with this is that to keep up with demand more fossil fuels are being burnt. When fossil fuels are burnt they release pollution into the air. This damages our planet, and puts it under more pressure. Solar power is becoming cheaper and more affordable every day, not only this but it is also becoming much more efficient. As it becomes even cheaper more and more people will start to convert their homes to run on solar power.

solar panel articles - "Solar Power for Your Home"

By: Milos J Leonard

In today's world of improving technology, we need to understand the source of energy that the sun is and learn how to use that energy more efficiently. Did you know that you can lower your monthly utility bills by reducing the amount of regular electricity that you use at home? When you install a solar power kit at home you will be reducing the amount of fossil fuels that are being used which in turn helps to protect the environment.

If you want to convert your home to solar power, there are a few things that you should consider. How much energy do you use in your home? What types of appliances would you need to power? Do you have a good location to place the solar power panels?

Purchasing a good, reliable solar power kit is the first important step to converting your home to solar power. If you purchase a kit that comes together the installation will be much easier, then you won't have to worry about trying to figure everything out and buy the individual pieces that are needed.

If you haven't decided where to place the panels, you should consider putting them on the roof because it is a great place that is still discreet. The roof is closer to the sun so it makes it an ideal spot for them-- the panels will need to be directly in the suns rays so that they can gather energy from the sun, then transfer that energy to a converter to store the energy until it is needed. It is very important to make sure that the solar power panels are placed in a location where they will be in direct contact with the sun as much as possible. Look at the surroundings around your house to avoid placing the panels in a spot that is covered by other buildings or over-hanging branches.

The advantage of converting your home to solar power is to help protect the environment. Fossil fuels that are used such as coal and oil pollute the air and harm the environment, but the solar power kits have no negative effects on the environment.

If you decide that you want to help protect the environment by converting your home, make sure that you purchase a good solar power kit that includes all of the necessary parts. It is a very easy process and you will be thrilled with the results!

Article Source: http://www.solarpanelarticles.com