As a parent, I want to do whatever I can to help ensure that our planet remains viable for future generations. I decided to invest in Solar. Using A1 Sun was a terrific experience. The A1 Sun team was friendly and non-intrusive; they left no footprint other than the functioning solar panels on my roof. A very satisfied customer.
Ann Rowland
Berkeley
Berkeley
Pre Solar: A house without solar is like a day without sunshine: Most modern homes were not built to be energy efficient. The more energy your home uses, the higher the rate you pay for each kilowatt.
Here are simple, inexpensive steps that can help you immediately save energy and money:
Make sure all appliances and lights are turned off when not in use.
Turn down the thermostat on the home furnace and water heater to a minimum setting.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs.
Install weather stripping around doors and windows.
Install a programmable thermostat.
Many homes and businesses have inefficient or outdated appliances (refrigerators/freezers, washing machines, dryers, water heaters) that waste energy. You can save energy by replacing them with newer, more efficient models.
To get more ideas on how you can conserve energy and how to reserve your California Solar Initiative Cash Rebate you need to complete the PG&E Energy Survey. The summary results of your survey will give you more useful tips to help you reduce your energy use.
http://www.pge.com/myhome/saveenergymoney/analyzer/en/
Here are simple, inexpensive steps that can help you immediately save energy and money:
Make sure all appliances and lights are turned off when not in use.
Turn down the thermostat on the home furnace and water heater to a minimum setting.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs.
Install weather stripping around doors and windows.
Install a programmable thermostat.
Many homes and businesses have inefficient or outdated appliances (refrigerators/freezers, washing machines, dryers, water heaters) that waste energy. You can save energy by replacing them with newer, more efficient models.
To get more ideas on how you can conserve energy and how to reserve your California Solar Initiative Cash Rebate you need to complete the PG&E Energy Survey. The summary results of your survey will give you more useful tips to help you reduce your energy use.
http://www.pge.com/myhome/saveenergymoney/analyzer/en/
Photovoltaic: Sun falls on your house or business every day and is the source for all the earth's easily available energy. Why not harness this power and produce your own electricity? Albert Einstein was the first person to study and document the photoelectric effect. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Peace prize for his work on this topic. It wasn't until the 1950s that scientists at the Bell Laboratories created the first working solar cells.
Improvements on this technology resulted in the modules we use today. Photovoltaic modules allow you to convert the energy from the sun into electricity for your home. Once you have installed your system, it will immediately start producing electricity.
You have the right to install your own power supply and sell it to your local utility. Your system meets your immediate electrical needs first, and then your nearest neighbor's loads. Any surplus energy produced is fed into the electric grid, creating an energy surplus in your account. At night, you can easily tap into these reserves gained during the day.
With your solar output you are currently able to displace exactly as much electricity as you use on an annual basis. This can yield a $0 electrical bill at the end of the year. If you produce more than what you need the local utility uses it, but you are currently not compensated for the clean electrical production. This is about to change, regulations such as California AB920 will remove this sizing restriction. This will enable homeowners and businesses to install larger systems meeting more than just your own needs while getting properly compensated for those needed clean peak solar kWhs. Working solar energy farms in Germany and elsewhere in the world are excellent, worthy and ecologically sound examples of independent producers contributing to global energy demand, directly reducing CO2 emissions while creating a new economic engine and consequent new green collar jobs.
A PV system is elegantly simple; there are no moving parts. The solar modules produce DC electricity from sunshine and are connected to the inverter which transforms the DC electricity into AC (household current) serving as your power source. Any surplus electricity is fed back into the grid for your neighbors and local community to use - while you get the credits banked in your account!
Improvements on this technology resulted in the modules we use today. Photovoltaic modules allow you to convert the energy from the sun into electricity for your home. Once you have installed your system, it will immediately start producing electricity.
You have the right to install your own power supply and sell it to your local utility. Your system meets your immediate electrical needs first, and then your nearest neighbor's loads. Any surplus energy produced is fed into the electric grid, creating an energy surplus in your account. At night, you can easily tap into these reserves gained during the day.
With your solar output you are currently able to displace exactly as much electricity as you use on an annual basis. This can yield a $0 electrical bill at the end of the year. If you produce more than what you need the local utility uses it, but you are currently not compensated for the clean electrical production. This is about to change, regulations such as California AB920 will remove this sizing restriction. This will enable homeowners and businesses to install larger systems meeting more than just your own needs while getting properly compensated for those needed clean peak solar kWhs. Working solar energy farms in Germany and elsewhere in the world are excellent, worthy and ecologically sound examples of independent producers contributing to global energy demand, directly reducing CO2 emissions while creating a new economic engine and consequent new green collar jobs.
A PV system is elegantly simple; there are no moving parts. The solar modules produce DC electricity from sunshine and are connected to the inverter which transforms the DC electricity into AC (household current) serving as your power source. Any surplus electricity is fed back into the grid for your neighbors and local community to use - while you get the credits banked in your account!
Thermal: Humankind has utilized the sun's thermal power for thousands of years for simple tasks such as space heating, drying clothes and food. However, it wasn't until the industrial revolution that people began to attempt to harness the power of the sun to provide energy for industry.
The first solar inventors focused the power of the sun with mirrors, allowing the heat generated to cook food, run steam turbines or desalinate water. Today, you can harness the heat from the sun with thermal panels. Solar thermal or SDHW differs from photovoltaic because, rather than creating electricity, these dark colored panels soak up thermal energy from the sun and transfer it to a solar storage tank. Since the water is preheated by the sun, the electric or gas water heater is basically eliminated. Little or no conventional energy is needed to bring water to the desired temperature in your home.
The first solar inventors focused the power of the sun with mirrors, allowing the heat generated to cook food, run steam turbines or desalinate water. Today, you can harness the heat from the sun with thermal panels. Solar thermal or SDHW differs from photovoltaic because, rather than creating electricity, these dark colored panels soak up thermal energy from the sun and transfer it to a solar storage tank. Since the water is preheated by the sun, the electric or gas water heater is basically eliminated. Little or no conventional energy is needed to bring water to the desired temperature in your home.
Both: If you install both Photovoltaic and Thermal Solar Systems, their effects are cumulative, saving you more energy and money.