Solar Power for Homes

 

With cost of living going up every day, it’s time to change things & become aware about the efficient usage of our natural & earthly resources. As the cost of electricity is boosting, let us now think to make use of solar energy for homes. Since Sun will come up daily, it will keep our solar appliances getting charged and remain fully charged and when it’s winter season or raining days and Sun veils away, still it would be better enough to get all the way through till next dawn or so, otherwise we can make use of regular power as backup.

When in general talking about that why I require using electricity formed by solar energy for my home, you would also consider that every appliance that is functional with the help of electricity will be bringing into play solar power electricity. If you want that every appliance in your house run on solar power then you will require solar panels, solar grid-tie, Inverter or charger and Battery.

Why We Use Solar Power for Homes?

When deciding for being solar, every home owner will have their individual precise grounds for making use of solar energy for home, but the maximum of the home owners can be classified into 3 main categories -

1. Environmental Impact
2. Financial Benefits
3. Energy Independence

Comprehending why solar energy usage is vital for you will assist you to develop a solar energy plan that can fetch your solar visualization to existence.

1. Environmental Impact:

Many home owners make up their mind to use solar energy just because of the positive impact it gives to our environment. Global warming and climatic alterations are some major problems which the world is facing now a day… and you can be a fraction of the way out by captivating benefits of solar energy!

Not like fossil fuels, solar energy does not bring into being the injurious pollutants liable for raising the greenhouse effect which directs to global warming. Solar energy is a fresh and prolong energy source that you can bring into play for solar heating, solar electricity, solar lighting and solar cooling. By making use of solar energy, you -

• Will decrease your carbon footstep,
• Can experience a satisfaction about being an environment friendly responsible citizen.

2. Financial Benefits:

An additional key reason for home owners bearing in mind solar energy is the monetary feature. The financial gains of solar energy can be observed in condensed utility expenditures as you bring into play solar energy for electricity, cooling, lighting and heating. Additionally, by sinking your domestic operating expenditures you are also escalating the rates of your residence.  As you can witness, captivating benefits of solar economics will -

• Save you a lot of funds in present as well in future,
• Endow you with a sturdy investment for your upcoming future.

3. Energy Independence:

A final answer to the query “Why make use of solar energy” is the energy freedom it will provide you.

By bringing into play solar energy, you will decrease your reliance on the utility firms. You no more require having electricity supplies to your residence as you will be capable to manufacture your individual solar power electricity. Solar expertise will also liberate you from making use of customary energy supplies for heating as well as for cooling, etc. All of this implies you will at last be liberated from increasing utility prices & bills!

Solar energy also provides you a plane of dependability and safety that other energy resources cannot counterpart. When your neighbors do not have electric power owing to an outage, you would not be concerned as your residence produces its individual electricity and heat (this is also acknowledged as micro generation). Additionally to the individual safety you will get free from your neighboring utility firms, you will also facilitate to eradicate our dependence to overseas energy manufacturers which, in present day’s world, is dangerous for national safety.

Solar Energy (Solar Panel) Installation for Home:

Installing a photovoltaic (solar or PV) power structure is an awesome technique of imprisoning the Sun’s vast solar energy to produce electricity for our individual homes. Once your solar system is fitted properly, it will facilitate you to lessen your electrical energy bills and together with will lend out your hand to keep your environment clean & green. Solar power arrangements are also low at maintenance and can boost the cost of your home.

 

Solar power systems can be coupled to the main electricity network or can be set up as a separate structure. If you attach solar power system to the main grid you still have to pay an electricity bill. If you are yet utilizing some electricity from the main electricity network, think about purchasing Green Power so that your residence electricity supplies are fulfilled from renewable resources. If you get installed a solar power system at residence, you might be entitled to obtain renewable power benefits in the outline of STCs (Small-scale Technology Certificates).

How to Install Solar Energy Systems:

1. Find out where the installation of your solar panels will be appropriate. To get the maximum out of the solar energy system, you are required to maximize their exposure to the Sunlight so that they may get direct as well as maximum daylight all year round.
2. Make certain that all your solar panels are mounted on a rafter.
3. Fasten the solar panel mounts to the roof with sturdy lag bolts. Position mounts in such a manner that solar panels will have a minimum of three inches of air-flow underneath them. This checks the system from getting overheated.
4. Fix metal flashing above the solar panel mounts to evade leakages. Fasten the metal bars to the mounts with steel screws.
5. Fix the solar panels above the metal bars. Unlock the connection box on each & every solar panel and attach the boxes by uniting their cables collectively on the suitable terminal bolts. The cables will keep the panels together in series. Run the cable on the very last solar panel to the charging controller for the solar panel unit.

Once your system is installed successfully, set up the final inspection and here you solar energy is ready to be used. So, it is actually an easy and uncomplicated course of action. The only significant point to make a note of is that you should bring into play a MCS licensed solar power systems in order to avail the benefits and grants. That’s a compulsory condition.

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Mark the ground with an X and say Dig Here!

Figure 1 - Acoustic surge detection

No matter what method is used for fault locating on direct buried underground cable, at some point an “x” must be marked on the ground to say “dig here.” The most commonly used prelocation methods such as arc reflection or current impulse will get reasonably close to the fault, but are not accurate enough to define the exact fault location.

Before digging, in order to repair the faulted cable, some type of pinpointing technique must be used.

The classical methods all revolve around a way to zero in on the sound produced by the thump or discharge of energy at the fault created by a surge generator. A simple and well-used method is the fault-locator-ear-on-the-ground-butt-in-the-air technique. Under some conditions such as after a rain or heavy morning dew this can be a shocking experience, literally. Under certain conditions such as created by a corroded neutral, when surging the cable, current will flow in the earth itself rather than back to the generator through the neutral.

When this occurs, a voltage drop is produced between the spread hands of the fault locator each time the surge generator discharges. Other less painful approaches involve old reliable tools such as traffic cones, shovel handles, and modified stethoscopes.

Slightly more sophisticated equipment uses an acoustic pickup or microphone placed on the ground, an electronic amplifier, and a set of headphones.

This setup amplifies the sound and helps to zero in on the source at the fault. An improvement on this technique is the addition of a second pickup. See Figure 1 above. A switch and meter on the amplifier allow comparison of the magnitude of the sound from each pickup. The higher signal is from the pickup closest to the fault and the sensors are moved in that direction. With pickups straddling the fault, the sound levels are equal.

These acoustic techniques all assume that the sound produced at the fault travels directly to ground level unimpeded and that the loudest sound is heard precisely above the fault. If the cable happens to be in duct or conduit, under paving or surrounded by tree roots, this assumption may not be valid. In duct or pipe, the loudest sound occurs at either end or at a break.

If the fault is under paving, the loudest sound may be at a crack or seam. Root systems seem to carry the sound off in all directions.

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Alternating Current (AC) Home Wiring

Homes typically are powered with both 220-volt and 110-volt alternating current (AC) electricity. Modern outlets have three different shaped holes to assure plugs can only be inserted in one way. Two of the holes are considered grounds, for reasons of safety. Proper grounding and the use of fuses are important to maintain electrical safety in the home.

Questions you may have include:

• What is the configuration of home wiring?
• What do the holes in the wall outlets represent?
• What safety features are necessary?

This lesson will answer those questions.

 

Home wiring

Typically, homes receive 220 volts of AC electricity. Certain high-power devices, such as an electric stove, use the full 220 volts. The rest of the outlets in the house use 110 volts.

Wires into home

Usually, three copper wires come into the home. Two are covered in black insulation and one has white insulation. Sometimes one wire is red instead of black. Each black or red wire is called a "hot" wire and has 110-volt AC. The white wire is called the "common" and is grounded at the power station. Measuring across the two hot wires results in 220 volts. Measuring the voltage between a black (or red) and white wire, results in 110-volt AC.

Wiring configuration

Copper wire

Copper wire is used because it is a good conductor of electricity. Materials that do not conduct electricity as good usually have a higher resistance. This results in wasted energy and the tendency to get hot, which could be a safety hazard.

In the 1960s many electrical contractors started to use aluminum wire instead of copper. Aluminum is almost as good of a conductor as copper, but it is much less expensive. After a number of years, it was found that this type of wiring caused a potential fire hazard. Problems due to expansion caused overheating at connections between the wire and switches, outlets, or splices. Many homes had to be re-wired, although there still are many that still have aluminum wiring but have never had problems.

Wall outlets

The wall outlets usually have a one wide slot, one narrow slot and one round-with-flat-bottom hole. This is to assure that each part of the plug will be used as it is supposed to and to increase safety. Older outlets have both slots the same size and no round hole.

Typical wall outlet

Outlet slots

The narrow slot is considered "hot" and is where the alternating current power comes out. The wiring behind the outlet to this slot is usually black in the U.S. The wide slot is considered the "common" and is supposed to be grounded. Using the white wire as a common grounded wire, means that everyone is working from the same zero voltage position.

Round hole

The hole that is round on the top and flat on the bottom is an extra ground. Usually the wire behind the wall outlet has green insulation. Sometimes it is a bare wire. This extra ground is to make sure your utensils are properly grounded in the situation that someone had improperly wired the house. It is an extra safety measure.

Common wire

Although the white wire is not supposed to be a "hot" wire, in some cases it is used that way, especially in older homes that have the old style outlets. In general, this is acceptable, but it can result in problems. If you touch a common wire that is properly grounded, you should not get a shock. But if that wiring has made it hot, you can get a shock. Also, by using the white wire where the black should be used, you may cause a short circuit.

Safety

Proper grounding and the use of fuses are important for protection against shock, as well as to prevent electrical overheating and fire hazards

Grounding

Correct grounding is very important. Often ground wires are connected to water pipes that normally go into the ground. Connecting to a hot water pipe means that the water heater is between the connection and the ground. The water heater may have plastic parts that would insulate the connection to ground. Thus, using a hot water pipe is not a good idea.

Another consideration in using water pipes to ground the circuit is that plastic piping is often being used in plumbing. You must make sure there are no plastic pipes between your connection and the outside earth or ground.

Fuses

Fuses and circuit breakers are used as a safety measure in case of short circuits. A fuse or circuit breaker will break the connection if more current is passing through the wire than is considered safe. This will prevent the house wiring to overheat and start a fire.

Most homes now use circuit breakers instead of fuses. One reason is because people with bad wiring in their homes that constantly blow out fuses, would then force pennies in the fuse receptacles, thus bypassing the requirement for a fuse. This removed the aggravation, as well as the expense of buying new fuses, but it also often resulted in serious electrical fires in the house.

Summary

Most homes use both 220- and 110-volt AC electricity. Wires have black, red, white or green insulation, depending on their use. The holes in modern outlets assure plugs can only be inserted in one way. Proper grounding and the use of fuses are important to maintain electrical safety in the home.

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