Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Active solar, how it works in the Clayton i-house, or any house
For those of you unfamiliar with solar energy. There are two primary types associated with houses; passive and active. This post is on solar panels, an active system, since they come as an option on the i-house.
Solar energy is in a special category of "renewable energy," since using it, doesn't take away from the source. Think of solar panels as an investment in energy, as well as a way to assume environmental responsibility.
The first two videos are very short, the second two long. The longer ones might be interesting, even if you have no plans to buy the i-house, and just want to learn all about how different home solar systems are set up.
Watch the second two in full screen, or you won’t be able to see what they are posting on an overhead projector. So, after starting the video, click on the box-in-a-box icon, one of the icons in the lower right hand corner. (Press the Esc key on your computer to exit full screen mode when you are done.)
I chose these among several I watched. Too many videos are aimed at hawking a specific product.
I like the first video especially, because you can watch it once or twice, and really understand the simple principle of how a solar panel converts the sun’s photons into electricity.
How Solar Energy Panels Work (Very Short, simple, understandable explanation of very basic way a solar panel works.)
Solar 101 (Short, more basics, includes more about systems)
My own Solar System (One hour, beginning is terrible, but gets better . A Google executive lectures about his own home system.)
Learn about Solar Energy (One hour, similar to above but makes some things clear)
Just a reminder that my old blog posts, including the one before this one which has a nice video, can be accessed at the right, under BLOG ARCHIVE.