solar panel, definition of

The lowering of the Earth's temperature because of increased particles in the air blocking the sun's ray

• Home Battery Storage Buying Guide
  Buying a Solar Home Battery Storage system can be a confusing undertaking, in this guide we examine the issues, clear up the confusion and give you useful advice.
• Cost of Solar-Power Storage Batteries
  The costs of solar-power storage batteries are explored in this article and how to get the best economies and long term reliability.
• How does solar power work?
  We explain how solar power works and how it can be used to provide clean renewable power.
• Solar Power Facts
  Establish the facts around solar power. This article explains the pros and cons of having a solar power system for your home, and how to work out the costs.
• Underfloor heating, is it Green?
  We look at the various options available for underfloor heating and whether it can be considered or made more green.
• Climategate, what is going on?
  Global warming, climate change, greenhouse effect and climategate; how 'valid' is the climate science?
• Cheap Solar Panels - do they exist?
  What the cheapest solar panels are and if its clear you get what you are paying for...
• Solar Power - the facts about setting up Solar Power
  Solar Power systems installed at the home or office can reduce environmental impact. How solar panel systems work is described and how you and the environment benefit.
• The importance of building orientation
  Building orientation to the Sun is important to reduce energy consumption, keeping comfortable and saving money. This article explains how best to get building orientation correct. Through a combination of benefits and opportunities the correct building orientation could save you thousands.

• Solar Batteries Comparison Table is Live
  The new solar batteries Comparison Table is now live.
• Solar Power Installers, what to look for..
  When looking for a solar power installer, it pays to do your homework and double check that you are getting the best.
• Last solar panel manufacturer in Australia, Silex Solar, stops making cells
  The last, of only ever two, solar panel cell manufacturers stops making cells in Australia..
• Solar Panel Calculator
  Solar Panel Calculator, given the size, power and number of panels works out total power, rated voltage and amps.
• Climate Fools Meeting in the UK
  The UK just had a meeting at parliament of key climate skeptics and MPs to help educate other MPs and interested people in the real issues.
• Surry Hills Library wins Sustainable Architecture Award
  The Surry Hills Library and Community Centre in Sydney, Australia was recently awarded the 2010 National Award for Sustainable Architecture by the Australian Institute of Architects.
• Ocean acidification $15B NGO cash grab
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• Solar Panels for your home, with the reduced feed-in tariff, are they a sound investment?
  We take a more detailed look at solar panels and help you work out if investing your money in solar is the right thing to do for you and the environment.
• Chicago Climate Exchange drops 50%, new record low
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• IPCC must reform, recommends IAC
  An independent review said the scientists who produce the periodic United Nations reports on climate change (IPCC) should be more open to alternative views, more transparent about their own possible conflicts of interest and more realistic in the reporting of the likelihood of climatic events.
• Alternative Solar Energy
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• US Thermal Solar Plant approved in California
  California approves the first U.S. Thermal Solar Plant.
• solar power efficiency
  What are the factors that are important in efficiently harvesting solar power - we look at what they are..
• Special Interest Groups
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• New Rainwater harvesting calculator
  This new calculator allows you to work out the practical tank size given average per month rainfall, your roof area and expected monthly water usage.
• More Efficient Solar Cells with Selenium
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• Climate Change Policy in Australia
  With an election just around the corner the politically sensitive issue of how Labour is to deal with Climate Change has been presented as policy today.
• GE Ecomagination Challenge $200m for good ideas
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• Call for tighter review of IPCC data
  Prof Jean Palutikof, who spent 5 years at the British Met Office preparing the UN report, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, admitted the existing system was flawed because "quite a lot" of information had not been peer-reviewed by independent scientists before publication.
• IPCC conclusions fail under legal cross examination
  A cross examination of global warming science conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Law and Economics has concluded that virtually every claim advanced by global warming proponents fails to stand up to scrutiny.
• new low cost solar cell tech - dye films
  solar dye film cells will be available at a projected price of 3p per kw/h, a tenth of silicon cells.
• Give Curry to sheep and save the planet
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• Solar companies receive $2 billion
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• New Square LED's more light directional
  A new LED fabrication technique produces squares of LED's that are more directional.
• Best Solar Panels for home
  We look at what are the best solar panels for home use
• Solar Power - hidden costs
  Solar power is all the rage at the moment, we had a look at some quotes and found it is not as good a deal as it looks.
• Climate Change killed my cat..
  It seems that everything from Floods through to Fires through to droughts is being blamed on global warming and climate change. I think this is oversimplifying the story and ignoring local changes we have caused.
• Is keeping data private 'normal practise' in climate research?
  It seems Phil Jones thinks its perfectly normal to do research and publish said research whilst withholding data.
• Yet another Climate Change department?
  Seems the AU government are busy producing yet more Co2 via civil servants for climate change.
• Act on Co2 - the advert..
  Ofcom in the UK is investigating a climate change advert which really takes things too far.
• Met Office proposes to make Data Set Verifiable
  The UK Met Office want to put in place a collation of station data that is publicly accessible.
• Cover-More, you drink and its cover-less..
  If you have Cover-More insurance, don't travel and do any drinking if you want to remain insured - thats the finding of a recent Today Tonight special.
• Is ETS a lame duck?
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• A failure to insulate
  It appears the Rudd governments insulation rebate scheme is beyond repair...
• Climate Change bullies?
  Climate Change Scientists seem to believe they are being bulled...
• Sydney transport - oh what a fine mess!
  Yet more politically motivated tweaking of the Sydney transport system..
• National Climate Change Forum response
  This is in response to the National Climate Change Forum being held in Adelaide.
• What is the fuss with biochar??
  Given the sudden interest in the media on biochar one would think a way of really saving the world has been discovered...
• Bush Fires and being Green, can you do both?
  Given that bush fires cause a lot of destruction and environmental damage, can we manage them and be green at the same time?
• Is the Australian Stimulus package green enough?
  

• Solar Panel Calculator
  This solar panel calculator will, given the Watt rating of a solar panel, its dimensions and number of units calculate the total power you can expect and roof space taken up. It will also tell you the rated voltage and ampage, useful for correctly sizing an inverter or regulator.
• Solar Wiring Size Calculator
  Interactive Solar Panel Wiring Size Calculator. Makes sure your wiring is the right size for a given distance, power and voltage drop. Works in metric or imperial.
• Solar Power Calculator
  Calculate the power solar panels will generate each season based on latitude or nearest town or city worldwide. Also works out off grid energy savings of going solar powered..

• Did you know these surprising solar panel facts?
  Solar panels are by far the best applicable technology for converting solar energy to usable electricity today. With the sun available to us around the year, it is only reasonable to consider taping its energy for domestic use. Even so, the currently...

Related Tags: solar, energy

Solar Panel Efficiency is a percentage measure of how Solar Energy from the Sun hitting a solar panel is ideally converted into useful electrical power. This is often given assuming perfect conditions; i.e. no shade, maximum sun and cool. In practice the actual rate of conversion can be somewhat different due to:

• Shading - even partial shading can have a dramatic effect on the energy produced.
• Heat - the hotter a solar panel becomes the less efficient it is at converting solar energy into electrical energy.
• Sun Strength - akin to shading, but if the Sun is behind clouds or low in the sky you will get dramatically less power.
  

• Solar Panels for your home, with the reduced feed-in tariff, are they a sound investment?
  We take a more detailed look at solar panels and help you work out if investing your money in solar is the right thing to do for you and the environment.

• SunPower nabs record for world's most efficient rooftop solar panel
  Solar panel efficiency is the holy grail of the solar power world, and SunPower just propelled the industry further with the "most efficient rooftop solar panel" in the world...
• With a special glass coating, these solar panels can capture sunlight from almost any angle
  When it comes to boosting efficiency in solar panels—that is, increasing the amount of the sun’s energy each photovoltaic cell can harness—researchers have tried a lot of tricks...
• New Software Allows Developers to Create Super Efficient Solar Parks
  In 2012, Siemens developed a software that allowed them to design ultra-efficient solar parks in just a few seconds, but at that time only Siemens had access to the tool...
• Study Discovers That Solar Panels Have a Cooling Effect on Buildings
  It turns out that solar panels can do more than provide you with renewable energy - they can significantly cut down the power needed to heat and cool your building as well...
• Off-the-Shelf Dyes Increase Solar Panel Absorption
  The hippies were the first to push solar energy en masse in the 70’s, so it’s a wonder we haven’t thought of this before — it turns out the same stuff used to tie-dye t-shirts can increase the efficiency of solar panels...

Related Tags: solar power, solar energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar cells, green energy, solar panels