Bring the Heat!

Our last presentation on January 5th, 2013 focused more on the topic of solar panels and the energy efficiency they provide which represent the environmental and economic components of the sustainability sphere. Our lucky speaker was Mark Thompson who is the Director of Sales at Green Ox Energy Solutions which is a full service commercial, residential and utility renewable energy provider. This presentation convinced me even more of the positive effects solar photovoltaic panels have on your electric bill and the amount of savings my family can accumulate. In Texas, most electricity is generated by the burning of coal, nuclear energy or through gas. However, there are many environmental concerns especially with the generation of electricity through coal or nuclear. Greenhouse gases and Global Warming have been the topic of discussion for decades and one that will continue to grow until the use of Coal for energy ceases. Cities and governments are now placing more restrictions on existing and new and upcoming coal plants and are becoming unpopular to build. Natural disasters such as the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and 45-foot tsunami caused the catastrophic explosion of the nuclear power plant in Japan. Explosions of nuclear power plants can cause massive radiation effects, toxic chemicals to be spilled on the water and land as well as the immediate killing of workers due to the blast. Nuclear plants are highly disliked and are also becoming too expensive to build. All of this creates rising demand in electricity while having a reduction in supply.

One way to answer to the rising demand is to consider the top three renewable energy sources: Wind, geothermal and solar photovoltaic panels. In fact, Texas is the leading state in wind renewable energy, with wind turbine farms all over North Texas and West Texas.Geothermal energy as I have mentioned in prior posts, is a way of extracting heat from the earth. In Texas, geothermal energy consumption is done with pipes full of liquid (usually water) that run down the earth and bring back up with the warm water for some of your energy consumption. Solar PVs are now being considered to be almost essential for any commercial building and even residential areas.

There are two types of Solar PVs, Ground Mount and Roof Mount systems that are available for residential, commercial and utility scale solar farms. The Solar PV design, whether ground or roof mount, are set up according to the orientation of the sun, availability of area for panels (standard panels are 3 ft by 5 ft), the client's budget and goals for energy efficiency among others. Another interesting fact that Mr. Thompson mentioned is the use of a micro inverter as opposed to a central inverter. A micro inverted is attached to each solar panel and takes the direct current and converts it to alternating current. What this does, it allows to see how much energy production you get per panel as opposed to a whole row of panels or a whole system that uses a central inverter. For this reason, a micro inverted is definitely more beneficial.

Overall, Mr. Thompson gave a very well prepared presentation with very useful information for me to take home and consider. I now know that the life span of a standard panel is about 25 years and produces 240 to 250 watts of electricity per hour of direct sunlight. After 25 years, the panels will still produce electricity but at a much lower rate than the first 25 years. It is safe to say that maybe about 80% of the 240/250 watts of electricity would be produced in the 25th year. When you are ready to get rid of your solar panels, the glass and metal frames of the entire mount can definitely be recycled for reuse or for other industry uses.  Judging from the picture above, I am not the biggest fan of the look and design of this particular solar panel for residents. I researched for different designs and color of panels and came across the following video from a company called SUNPOWER. Enjoy!