PV Gap

Norman Said:

Solar power at night?

We Answered:

1. Solar power only works when the sun is out. Solar panels will not produce electricity at night or on very cloudy days. You would need batteries to store electrical energy for these times.

2. If you are running appliances, they will not be receiving any power from the solar panels. You would need batteries or need to be connected to the grid in order to run them.

3. You would need to either buy batteries or be connected to the grid (power company).

Most people who use solar energy or wind energy at home are connected to the grid. During the day, when the sun is out, if you are producing more energy than you are using, the extra power gets sold back to the grid.

Kenneth Said:

Is it possible to use hot asphalt parking lots to generate solar power?

We Answered:

In Death Valley, the ground can get hot enough to boil water, but in general, to get steam temperatures, you need insulation and something to cut off airflow. Concentrated sunlight doesn't hurt, either.

That's a clever idea, using asphalt that's going to get hot, anyway. It might make an economical water heater in a place like Hawaii or Florida. The downside in other places is that the asphalt won't get very hot all year round, whereas a water heating panel with glass could function even with freezing air temperatures.