PV Gap

Jesus Said:

how many people use solar energy in canada?

We Answered:

Millions of people use Solar generated energy in Canada.

Geraldine Said:

Wind with solar energy in Canada?

We Answered:

B.C. has alot of hydro-eletric dams to you might want to examine these too. Not really sure about wind power up there. You might want to do some research on the wind fields in southern Alberta (im sure there has been cost analysis done on these.) I don't think solar power is very feasible up there, with the long, dark, cloudy winters.

Diana Said:

Need help doing an essay on Solar and Wind energy in Canada?!?

We Answered:

Canadian Solar Industries Associations http://www.cansia.ca/

Natural Resources Canada https://glfc.cfsnet.nfis.org/mapserver/p…

Solar Energy Society of Canada http://sesci.ca/

That should get you started.

Sue Said:

Why is solar energy in parts of Alaska and Canada often inadequate?

We Answered:

In the far north, the sun rises very late and sets very early in the winter, which is the longest season. The days are very short, sometimes just a few hours of daylight, or less. When the sun does rise, it's very low on the horizon, so the sunlight is not very intense. Not enough to even give you the Vitamin D you need from sunlight. So, in many northern communities, from October to March there isn't enough sunlight to really power something. In the summer, the sun is up all the time, but it's not as intense as it can be at the equator, for example. It is used to power small items, but not entire communities. Because of the latitude of northern countries, summer is very short, June, July and August. Snow begins in September. To see sunrise and sunset times for Barrow, Alaska, go to www. wunderground.com, search under Barrow, Alaska and then in the weather records section type in the date of December 21, 2009. Then type in the date of June 21, 2009. Barrow also has some web sites that talk about the sunlight there. You can find them on Google.
You can also do the same for communities in northern Canada.

Barbara Said:

What are some of the problems of harnessing solar energy in Canada?

We Answered:

The Southernmost point of Canada is at a latitude of about 41° 42'. During Winter Solstice a solar panel at this latitude must be inclined 65° 12' to be normal to the Sun's rays at noon to get the maximum benefit of solar radiation. If the solar panels are fixed in a Southern orientation the maximum radiation available to them is (2/?)(1252 J/m^2)(43,200s) per day, or 34,432 kJ/m^2/da, provided it is clear all day..

The second problem is the number of clear days per year, which gets smaller the farther North you go.

Problem #3 is that you never have solar power when you need it most. This necessitates a reservoir or battery system.

Latitude again presents a problem in that the average annual temperature at 42° N is about 55°F, and drops considerably as you go North.