Juan Trevino asked:

Two solar power technologies exist, one which is passive and another which is active. The passive system can be the photocell panel or the photovoltaic film that receives the sunlight and generates electricity. The active system is a solar dish that captures sunlight, heats water to produce steam, which in turn powers a turbine produces electricity. The Active system can also heat a gas to move a Stirling Engine which moves a power generator.

The passive system is ready to go and there are a few homes that have already installed the system. This system is totally clean backed by the DOE Solar American Initiative, requires space to position the panels or film, and uses an inverter unit to turn direct current into alternate current homes can use. The Power generating companies have also developed the Net Metering system to buy the electricity from the homes that have generate a surplus on their terms. The new federal tax law (“Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008”) effective January 2009 will provide a 30% of the cost of a solar system back to the home owner that installed it. Some States are also providing large incentives to install solar systems The rest of the payback has to come from the real savings generated over time by the system from the Utility company. This great system is expensive as of today and could require up to 6 years for payback. Photovoltaic film or photocell panels are low efficiency and voltage, and compare badly with the option of buying electricity from the utility company. They are costly either because there are not enough producers, they may be using the correct manufacturing procedures, and or because they are collecting their return on investment from the research in creating the photocells. They could also be purposely costly to protect the current centralized power generators. Currently you require from 15 to 30 photocell panels to generate the 2.5 to 3.0 Kilowatt hours generating capacity.

Walmart has established a pilot plan to install photovoltaic panels in several of their stores. If the system produces a return, they will massively implement it in all their stores, since they have sufficient roof space currently not utilized.

The solar system that uses heat to produce steam and power is mainly for large power generating companies and not for homes. However, the active system based on a Stirling engine to power a generator, applicable for homes is not ready to go. Although all of its components have been developed, no one has yet integrated the solar power generating kit, or a home appliance. This system should be very low cost because it requires: a solar collector or dish, a closed circuit tube filled with gas for the stiriling engine, the 3 KW per hour power generator, and a battery bank, to store electricity if the system is a stand alone system. If the home is currently supplied by a utility company, then the battery bank is not needed and the Net Metering system with the public utility company can be used.

Apparently there is a race to develop the stiriling engine from companies in America, New Zealand, India, Sweden, and other countries. A few companies are receiving funding from investment funds to develop the stiriling engine for this home appliance. However, the race is not required because there will be enough room for all suppliers. Markets are huge. Just in United States alone there are 124 million homes that could use the solar power appliance, plus commercial and industrial sites. These companies will have to lobby, compete and go up against big business interest and big government. Homes, commercial and industrial establishments in every country in the world would be a potential customer for these systems, because they would use a small space to position the solar collector, two tubes going to the solar dish, the power generating box, and the battery bank box. With this solar unit, you could power any site in the desert or the wilderness, and provide them with modern comforts they lack today.

Having the home powering appliance, can be the initial steps for returning to sustainable systems. Today, the sun is there fore light and warmth, free for all of us to use and enjoy. A home solar powered generator would provide clean energy, and allow equal footing to all nations rich and poor, to devote their funding into other worthwhile social services such as health and education. Rich nations which have electrical grids and power generation capacity would suddenly feel there would be no need to continue increasing Power generation capacities and hopefully they would discontinue all those plants that contaminate.

Homemade Energy