Solar energy

The solar energy offers 2 sorts of renewable energies, the first one is the use of the heat of the sunlight to warm the water or pre-warm the water used in the house or in the swimming pool, the second is the direct sunlight conversion in electricity thanks to the photovoltaic cells of a solar panel.

To warm the water tank with sunlight, you will need a solar panel fixed upon the roof of the house. It requires a small pump which forces the flows of a liquid through the sun panel. The panel contains a circuit in which the liquid passes to warm itself. The warmed liquid then passes by a serpentine included in the water tank of the house. This type of water tank are often called bi-energies because a resistance also allows to warm the water by electric power when the sky is too much covered or when the sunlight is not hot enough to warm the liquid.

The installations of this type also require probes which verify that the liquid is warmer than the water in the tank before activating the flow.

To produce electricity with sun panels, this time composed of several photovoltaic cells is very simple. Panels are generally installed on the roof, and then are connected with a charger-regulator which allows to control the load of one or several batteries. The regulator is very important because it disconnects the panel from the battery when it is reach its in full capacity. See the cycle of production, preservation and consumption of the electrical energy

Generally the sun panels allow to produce some electricity in 12 volts. It is thus necessary to choose to equip itself in working devices in 12 volts, or to install a converter to transform 12 volts in 110 or 220 at the time of the use of conventional devices.

The progress in sun panels are tremendous, the coefficients of efficiency improve very quickly at the same time as their cost decrease.

Advantages of the solar energy

The production costs are very low once the installation is finished.

There are practically no environmental impacts related to the solar energy.

The source of energy is unlimited and its consumption does not affects in anyway the source of production, the sun of course.

Inconveniences of the solar energy

The cost of new installation is still expensive.

The site where you settle must be enough sun lighted, otherwise your installation won’t be profitable.

The irregularity of the period of sunshine, even if it is less problematic than for the windmill can raise problems if the sky remains covered several days. It is then necessary to foresee a stronger storage capacity (by increasing the number of batteries).