PV Gap

Perry Said:

THERMAL EFFICIANCY HELP FOR HOMEWORK DESPERATE?

We Answered:

"Thermal Efficient"

Thermal efficiency is important because it costs less to use an appliance (for example an air conditioner). If a house is built and insulated for good efficiency, heating and cooling costs will be lower.

A hot water heater can be wrapped with a thermal blanket and reduce operating costs, too.

Double- or triple-glazed windows use dead air space to insulate, reducing heating and cooling costs.

Solar water heating panels can preheat water going to hot water heaters. This saves energy.

Solar power panels can generate small amounts of electricity that can be used to power special appliances, but the initial cost is high.

Cindy Said:

solar panels?

We Answered:

There about 26 to 28 volts each,,around $300 to$450 dollars each depending on there voltage and amperage output.You need a DC to AC converter unit and so on " A lot of bucks "
My dad has a 14 panel setup with all the electronics..My place of work has a 3.5 million dollar setup on all there buildings."It's a FAIR Ground in California..The Electric Co.payed for 1/2 of it..
See if the link below will help you out in anyway..
Good Luck..If you can pull it off,,It can make your meeter go in reverse ...

Reginald Said:

Would it be possible to derive electrical energy from roads heating up during the day?

We Answered:

Its complex, and expensive, but a great idea. I've thought it before.

The only way to do it is to use a thermal cycle with a refrigerant. You need to embed a heat exchanger (tubes) in the road. They need to be able to withstand temperatures, thermal flexing, salt, mechanical loading from cars. There are some issues to overcome.

If you use the right medium it undergoes a phase-change at the operating temperature of a road, that sucks up a TON of energy. You pump in a liquid, pump out a gas. With hot gas you can either run it through some sort of generator, or use it to heat something else up then run the something else through a generator.

So you might think of putting fins on the coils and making them more like long lines. Here in Phoenix AZ the hot summer sun only radiates 1kw/sq-meter. You can compute from the radiation coefficient and the temperature of the pavement what part of that is re-radiated away. Its likely significant. Bottom line: to get meaningful power you must have large area of pavement soaking up light.

There is a good book in thermal system design by Boehme from the 1980's. You could find it, check it out using inter-library loan, and then put the idea as something in a science fair. If someone likes it, they could support your work, if not you can still earn glory and scholarships. A good heat transfer text would also do you pretty well.

Claude Said:

How to build a Solar Drying Room?

We Answered:

How about using thermsiphoning to create the air movement instead of fans. As you know, hot air rises. So get some long flexible 4" diameter aluminium tube and drill a 4" hole in your roof. Have one end of the tube sticking up through the hole about 1m. Paint that end black so that the air in it will be heated. Have the other end of the tube hanging just above your food. The heated air in the black end of the tube extending about the roof will rise out of the tube pulling fresh air in from the end above the food, creating the desired air flow.

Note: The above is just an idea off the top of my head. I'm sure it's been done many times though. You will likely have to experiment a bit. Maybe looking up "solar chimney" will help.

Crystal Said:

solar panel question or just wait for thermal power?

We Answered:

I'm not sure what you mean by thermal drilling. Is that a ground-based heat pump? Or is it geothermal energy?

It sounds like you're connected to the grid right now. Why not stay connected to the grid, then you won't need batteries at all - solar will just reduce your bills. If you speak with a local solar installer, they can advise you as to how much power you would need, and how much it would cost. I'm unfamiliar with the incentive structure in Australia.