PV Gap

Stella Said:

how do i cost-effectively provide basic light with solar power?

We Answered:

Here is a couple of quick ideas for you.

Get solar yard lights. They are small and if you have enough of them you will get ok lighting and they do last all night even in the winter where the days are only about 8 and 9 hours long.

If you get solar panels you will then need batteries. This will work but pretty bulky. You can get 12 or 24 volt compact fluorescent lamps or LED lamps

Here is a catalog in PDF format. Look on Page 70 for the lighting.

Elsie Said:

how expensive does it cost to maintain a solar power plant?

We Answered:

Commercial solar electrical power generation uses solar photovoltaic panels only in a few experimental situations in Florida and Spain.

Many forms of alternative energy like wind and hydro can be traced to the energy from the sun. But some forms of electrical generation take energy from the sun directly. It is then concentrated and transformed into electricity. Photovoltaic panels are only one and one of the least efficient ways to do this. The advantages of solar panels are scalability and no moving parts. This would tend to give them one of the lightest maintenance loads. The concentration is done electrically. Solar photovoltaic panels are from 8 to 20% efficient (41% in the lab) and they tend to be expensive.

Concentrated solar thermal technology is far more efficient and boasts the most efficient collector to grid efficiency. Methods of solar thermal power generation include:

Solar power tower
Solar parabolic trough collector
Solar parabolic dish collector
Solar chimney design
Solar pond collector.

Some of these methods are simply a thermal feed in to a conventional thermal (usually steam) turbine electrical generation plant. The parabolic dish system often uses stirling engines to power generators. A solar chimney would power wind turbines.

In every case maintenance would depend upon the specific equipment, environmental factors, usage, and how well a maintenance schedule is managed. Every case would be different and generalities may be difficult with so few actual plants in production. Specific data will come first from solar installations in Spain and Southern California.

The one expense that would not exist is a fuel cost unless the facility were part of a hybrid as some power tower / conventional gas turbine may be.

Jessie Said:

Would our environment be more safe, cost efficient and a little more natural is we used solar power instead of

We Answered:

Sure. Jay Leno just outfitted his 7,000 sq. ft garage with solar panels and he actually puts energy back into the grid. There are some really cool solar products out there. Check out some of the links below for more about Jay Leno and solar products.