Solar Power or Wind Power, Which One to Choose?

Solar power and wind energy are both renewable energy sources and both would help you to offset your carbon footprint. However choosing which option is right for you is critical since they both require large amounts of investment, and practicality and end results should always be an important consideration.

The first thing you need to know is what technology is viable within your area? Australia is blessed with enough sun hours and enough wind to power the systems, however to maximise your system and get optimum results you must do some investigation.

You can do a manual inspection of your place. You can check your neighborhood and see what they chose and you can tell from day to day experience which energy is more abundant. There are also commercially available instruments that can measure solar and wind energy and average them for a certain period giving you an idea which would perform better in the long run.

But apparently more Australian households choose solar power over wind powered systems. Why?

1.       As mentioned above both require money to set up, however with the way solar power is going right now its initial cost would be significantly lower than wind turbines, especially with all the government programs underway. Wind turbine installation also requires more components than solar panels and it takes a lot longer.

2.       Solar power would be more viable in urban areas compared to wind energy because of wind flow obstruction due to buildings and other commercial establishments. Roof top solarpanels can be angled to harness the greatest amount of sunlight as possible and wind turbines cannot. In remote areas wind energy is viable but so is solar power and once looking at the costs of both, more people tend to make the switch to solar.

3.       Maintenance is also another factor as to why solar panels have left wind turbines by a mile. A typical solar system is expected to last for more than 25 years and requires little or no maintenance at all. Wind turbines are more prone to wear and tear because of all the moving parts and external conditions.

4.       Large open spaces are also required before you can erect a wind turbine, spaces that modern and urban houses do not have. Though solar panels require larger space (per square meter) the system will be installed on your roof and it wouldn’t become an obstruction to anything.

5.       Lastly, solar panels are as quiet as a vacuum sealed room compared to wind turbines that increase noise pollution.

Importance of Early Climate Change and Renewable Energy Education for Your Kids

Educating your children in regard to the facts about harmful effects of carbon emission and climate change is important if you want to pass down the habit of caring for the environmental. Early education about how to save energy and reduce your family’s carbon footprint will set a great example for them now and help to set good habits that will just become a part of their life when they are older.

Depending on your children’s age bracket you can teach them only the most basic principles through to the most detailed information of global warming for those how are old enough to understand. Imparting accurate knowledge in a way that captures their interest is likely to nourish their urge for social responsibility, and we can only hope that their generation does a better job of protecting the environment than the ones that preceded them! The awareness that they gain at an early stage will remain until they have their family and they will pass those same important values onto their children.

So after they have an interest and awareness then it is time to introduce them the useful methods of environmental protection; You can start by teaching them how to conserve energy by turning off any appliances or lights that are not in use, and encouraging recycling and walking or public transport rather than being in the car all the time.

As you progress, you can then teach them the importance of using renewable energy sources. Showing them how a solar panel works for instance, and how they contribute in the global campaign against carbon will spark their young minds to be creative – and who knows years from now they might be contributing to a new age of solar technology.

Another way of teaching them is by being a role model. It may sound stereo typical but studies shows that most children mimic their parents actions for better or worse, and continue to do so even as adults.

By doing so, you are not only teaching your own children the good practices of environmental protection. If you encourage good habits and new knowledge to children there is a big chance that they in turn will share with classmates and friends and the trend will continue to grow.

We are caught up in the cross fireand small details of the opposition and administration regarding the carbon tax, and it’s easy to forget what the real purpose of it is, and all the renewable energy initiatives in the country. If we really want to make a difference then we must work hard for it and every change starts at home - one step at a time.

Summary of Australia’s Clean Energy Plans

The federal government of Australia has developed a comprehensive Clean Energy Plan to address the impending effects of global warming and reduce the countries carbon emissions.

The Clean Energy Plan has four major elements to achieve its goals; the Carbon Tax, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and action on the land.

The Need for Action

The comprehensive plan of the government was driven by strong economic reasons as well as concern regarding the factual effects of climate change and global warming, which if left unchecked could have a catastrophic effect on our environment, economy and way of life.

The government has also identified that cutting our carbon emissions will ensure the continued prosperity of the country as nation. The consequences of not acting are greater than what it will cost if they are addressed now.

Goals

Ultimately the goal of the country is to reduce its carbon emissions by 23% by 2020, and more than 80% in the year 2050 while doing its fair share in reducing global emissions.

Why Tax Carbon?

Aside from being one of the essential parts of the overall plan, putting a price on carbon is one of the most environmental and economically friendly ways of reducing national emissions.

The carbon tax mechanism will start on July 1 2012, and will create powerful incentives for business to reduce their carbon emissions and invest on renewable energy sources, especially with the prices of solar panels in Australia continuing to plunge. The carbon tax package will also pave the way to bright new ideas and advancements in the renewable energy field.

Supporting the Country

As the carbon tax is implemented and the country undergoes transition towards a clean energy future the federal government of Australia will deliver support groups and financial assistance to households and businesses.

A generous tax cut will be offered to households (depending on your economic status and capabilities) and increases in pensions and allowances. The tax cuts will eventually increase over the past few years paralleling the effects of carbon tax it with the tax threshold.

Over $9 billion was allotted to support jobs during the transition period under the Jobs and Competitiveness Program.

The Role of Renewable Energy Investments

By tapping into renewable forms of energy Australia will decrease its carbon emissions significantly. The country is blessed with world class researches that are currently developing new technologies and creating breakthroughs.

Sources like solar, wind and geothermal energy will play an essential role in the overall plan and the federal government will provide financial assistance both for research and applications.

The controversial Clean Energy Finance Corporation will have an initial seed of $10 billion that will be invested in renewable energy and low carbon technologies.

While CEFC is in charge of the actual application of the technology, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will lead the research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of potential sources.

Currently local governments have done their part by implementing various solar power bonuses and schemes that increased the industry by several folds and boosted the solar capacity of the country.

Energy Efficiency

By using energy wisely and more efficiently the country can lower its carbon emissions without any major investments done. By discovering ways of saving energy and informing the public about it Australia will have a supportive measure to renewables.

The Prime Minister has created a task force on energy efficiency to monitor and examine the most economical ways and best practices to save energy and help households from the rising energy prices.

Supporting the Agriculture Sector

The fourth element of the Clean Energy plan has the same bearing that of the first 3, the government has identified the agricultural sector as the most vulnerable as the climate shifts and the effects of unmitigated carbon become more widespread.

If so, consequences will have a chain reaction in the country, affecting food supply and raw materials for various products. To prevent this from occurring the government has dedicated enough funds to assist farmers as the effects of carbon tax are felt.

A Carbon Farming initiative was also formed to grant rewards to farmers and land owners that strive to reduce their carbon emissions.

Various biodiversity plans were also developed by the government to prevent hardship in the sector and to help it prosper even with the ongoing transition.

Renewable Energy Will Phase out Coal

During the EcoGen conference in Brisbane earlier a couple of months ago, Kobad Bhavnagri from Bloomberg New Energy Finance said that renewable energy is already cheaper than coal in many regions, and that both wind and solar energy are staring to dominate energy production in countries where the conditions are favorable for these two renewable energy options.

He also said that Australia will rely more heavily on solar energy technology than wind farms because of various factors, including the quality of current wind farm projects, and the naturally favourable conditions which are isolated in certain parts of the country. Despite that Australia still has the ability to increase its wind energy capacity by 20% in a few years from now.

Mr Bhavnagri stressed that solar power has greater growth potential though, with it being likely the country can increase its solar energy capacity to 5 GW by the year 2020. Plus an additional 2 GW could come from solar thermal technology if the funds from the price on carbon are be used to increase the bankability of large scale solar projects, and consistent policies are legislated to help boost investor confidence in renewable energy.

Kobad Bhavnagri’s observations and predictions were backed up by Patrick Hearps, who is an analyst from Melbourne Energy Institute and a co-author of the Beyond Zero Emissions 100 per cent renewable energy vision for Australia. Hearps contradicted the first prediction of the Australian Energy Market Operator of $220-$225 per MWh by 2025 for solar thermal energy, and instead said that prices per MW would range from $120-$135 by the same year.

The successful EcoGen conference was a great success, laying out the pros and cons of various renewable energy options and presenting potential emerging technology that hopefully will soon power our cities and mitigate carbon for good.

The rising solar PV industry alongside with all other clean energy sources has already proven that its costs can soon be on par with coal and even be cheaper, which looks promising for the gradual phasing out of dirty and finite energy sources.

With the federal and state governments providing up to 50% financing for accepted projects the renewable energy sector in Australia is expected to go from strength to strength in the next few years, which combined with the falling prices of solar panels worldwide and continued research and development of the technology will aid Australia to achieve its renewable energy goals by 2020.

How Do Solar Panels Work?

Solar power energy might turn out to be one of the inventions yet! We are practically using the sun’s rays to produce energy that is clean, affordable, easily available and renewable. It is very Earth friendly and cost lesscompared to the traditional power sources that we used now. So, how does solar power energy work? Why does it need to have the solar panels? How do these panels convert the sunlight into electric energy?  We need to understand these basic things about solar panels especially if we are planning to install our own solar panels in our homes.

The solar panels or more correctly the array of photovoltaic cells can use the renewable energy from the sun& convert it into usable electricity to power our homes & feed back to the grid. We already know that sunlight is made up tiny packets of energy called photons. Solar panels are made of many solar cells that are usually composed of materials such as semiconductor like silicon. These solar cells function as a large conductor and then utilize a large area called p-n junction diode. The p-n junction diode now converts the energy to electricity.They collect the solar radiation from the sun in a DC form, and then it is actively converted it to the usable AC electricity form we need via the Inverter.

The energy produced from the photons that strike the surface of the solar panels allows the electrons to be knocked out from their orbits and then released….. The electric fields in the solar cells pull the free electrons into a directional current, from which the metal contracts to the solar cells that generate electricity. The more solar cells in the solar panels the higher the quality of the solar cells. The process of converting the sunlight into a usable energy is called Photovoltaic Effect, hence where the name solar PV panels come from. The Photovoltaic effect rises from the properties of the p-n junction diode, as such no moving parts in the solar panels is needed.

The solar panels are designed to have a positive and negative layer like what batteries have. These positive and negative sides create an electric field. The silicone that acts as semiconductor is actually neutral. The positive and negative charge sides are usually created with additional materials to the cell such as phosphorus or boron. As the sun photons are absorbed by cell, the energy causes the electrons to become free and these electrons move towards the conductor wires and then exit through the connecting wire; simple but ingenious!

New Carbon Tax Figures Reveal Favourable Outcomes for Australia

The Federal government released a new carbon tax figures on September 21^st regarding its possible effects on the economy, Australian families and job growth. The figures showed that the tax would only reduce a family’s take home income by 0.1% annually.

The figures released was based on the proposed starting carbon price of $23 per ton which is almost identical to the original figures released using a $20 price. Treasurer Wayne Swan said that the carbon tax will grow the average income of an individual by 1.1% to 2050 which is 1% higher than the tax’s impact of 0.1% annually to 2050.

He also added that the economy will grow under a carbon price and that a 1.6 million job growth is projected by 2020 in conjunction with the country’s renewable energy target of 20% national clean energy use.

The implementation of carbon tax on July 2012 will begin the taxing the country’s top 500 polluters on a $23 per ton scale. PM Gillard has stated that this will bring about change in almost all industries and will push polluters to invest into renewable energy alternatives.

 Currently the carbon tax is being pushed through parliament, and as soon as the tax is legislated experts believe that it will bring a whole new life in the renewable energy industry. This will be welcomed by all involved, especially in the solar PV industry which has been heavily affected by recent feed in tariff uncertainty.

The tax will provide considerable funding for new large scale renewable energy projects across the country and encourage the overseas investment which is crucial to take clean industries to the next level in Australia. A large number of new green jobs will be created in the process.

The carbon tax has been a sensitive and maligned issue in the country, but many of the fears stem from incorrect facts. Hopefully the projected financial effects released by the treasurer will reassure the majority of the population that in the long term the price on carbon will prove beneficial to the economy, to our environment and to an average Australian families cost of living.

The Australian Government’s recent attempts to convince the public of the benefits to them of the carbon tax have been largely unsuccessful due to a lack of concrete data to back it up. But finally this week some strong leadership and straight talking has helped their cause. During a meeting in Canberra Treasurer Wayne Swan stated categorically that based on extensive modeling projections Australia’s economy will become richer despite the instigation of a carbon tax. He also said that an average Australian family will increase earnings by about $8000 within the next few years.

As a result of the carbon tax the $8000 dollar mark will continue to increase by more than 300% by the year 2050 and so on. The federal government’s treasury number crunchers have also estimated that more than 1.5 million jobs will be created by 2020, all of which are related to green projects that are expected to mushroom with the extra investment dollars the carbon tax will ensure. The Treasurer said that the country will be able to progress even further with these new industries, while making deep cuts to our carbon emissions at the same time.

While many still oppose the carbon tax, the Gillard administration found valuable support from seven of the most prominent people in the country. Victorian governor Professor David de Kretser and philanthropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch signed an open letter saying that Australia must not allow progress to be "thwarted again". The letter, co-signed by guru Peter Cundall and four former Australians of the year - Sir Gus Nossal, Ian Kiernan, Dr Fiona Stanley and Professor Patrick McGorry, says that our nation is at a critical point right now and that it is time to build a cleaner and better future for the next generation.

Currently the carbon tax is still on debate from all aspects starting from whether it is really needed, what  the necessary starting price is and where should the revenue be directed. Recent surveys shows that many Australians want the country to be 100% renewable, however they haven’t necessarily accepted the fact that long term projects and a sustainable future for renewables can only be achieved with carbon pricing.

Moree Solar Project Gets $66 Million Dollar Bigger

The large scale Moree Solar Photovoltaic Project, the largest of its kind and one of Australia’s solar flagship programs, was recently granted another $66.5 million in funding for its research and development of large scale solar power generators. The additional funding will also boost the solar farm’s capability, and will make it as one of the most advanced energy producer of its kind.

Already the project will be historical; consisting of over 650 solar photovoltaic panels it will be capable of producing 150 MW of electricity, enough to power at least 45,000 households. It will reduce the country’s carbon emissions by more than any other existing renewable energy system in the country.

The multimillion dollar grant was made under the initiative of the EIF or Education Investment Fund, adding to the substantial existing budget for the project of over $900 million. The Government has committed to funding a third of the budget. Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said that the additional grant will not only benefit the project itself, but importantly it will help develop solar power in Australia.

Minister Carr also added that the research and development fund will improve the profitability and resilience of large scale solar power applications, and will reassure prospective investors that the country is more than capable of becoming the world’s number one clean powered country.

Moree Solar Farm spokesman Tony Stocken stated that the data and knowledge that will be collected in the project will be shared across the country, and will serve as a strong foundation in propelling the country’s solar industry which will play a vital role in achieving Australia’s renewable energy targets for 2020 and 2050.

The Moree solar farm will start construction by early 2012 and will be built just outside the town of Moree in New South Wales.

Melbourne’s Green Hotels Cleaning the Environment

As part of Melbourne’s sustainability initiatives the city has launched a test pilot for its program to improve the energy efficiency, water consumption and waste management of its hotels and residential apartments. The data collected from the 30 participating hotels showed staggering results.

The initiative was a result of a study conducted in the city showing that Melbourne’s residential apartments and hotels are accountable for 22% of the city’s water usage, 14,000 tons of waste and 9% of the total carbon emissions.

The results of the test pilot were phenomenal showing how easy it is for businesses to make sustainable changes that will save them a lot of money as well. On average the 30 participating hotels and apartments were able to reduce a guest’s water usage by 4.8 litres, reduce a total of 2410 tons of waste annually and over the course of the test able to save almost 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases. 

With the project’s success the city council of Melbourne is now encouraging more hotels to “green” their facilities by releasing a series of water and energy starter kits.

Melbourne has continued its pipeline of projects to make the city more sustainable, not resting of its existing achievements even after winning the 2011 award for Most Liveable City. The use of renewable energy in the city has escalated over the past few months, especially in the case of solar panels in Melbourne.

New Types of Solar Technology

It is an exciting time in the solar industry right now, with various breakthroughs and important discoveries made lately to further the quest for better and better solar cells. Scientist from around the world, including top notch Australian researchers, have developed ingenious ways of making solar energy more viable and cost effective.

Thin Film Solar Cells

Scientists have discovered that thinner solar cells are capable of trapping more sunlight than traditional arrays of solar cells. By making them thinner and intentionally roughing the surface of the cells, the light bounces inside the cell which results in better absorption and efficiency.

Thinner solar cells are also cheaper to manufacture, and by improving the absorption of electrons also further boost efficiency and output. University of New South Wales professor Martin Green recently revealed that this breakthrough will also serve as a backbone to organic semi-conductors and even plastic solar cells.

Though plastic is not an ideal material for solar panel arrays, Professor Green said that the thickness that the researchers are dealing with will allow plastic to work because of the low optical density that the thin solar cell processing will require.

Nano-sized solar cells

Recently this year Australian researchers invented a nano-sized solar cell about 1/100^th the size of an average solar cell found in regular solar panels. These solar cells, or quantum dots, are made from cadmium telluride, which has good light absorbing characteristics.

The quantum dots are so small that they can be suspended in a liquid medium. This will allow solar manufacturers to directly mass produce roofing materials that have built in solar cells, and they will be a cheaper price because of its less complex process. 

The reduced size of the quantum dots hasn’t greatly compromised their efficiency rate; researchers said that the solar cells have an efficiency rate of 12% against the current 18% of traditional solar panels. This new technology will not be limited by your available roof spaces though, so you can generate more energy per home.

Stacked printable Solar cells

Lead researcher Dr.Udo Bach from the Monash University in Melbourne, in collaboration with the University of Ulm in Germany, discovered that stacked printable solar cells are capable of producing more energy than a single active electrode solar cell.

Dr. Bach explained that printable solar cells already have 2 electrodes stacked on each other,however one of them is inactive. The breakthrough is that Dr. Bach and his team found a way to replace that inactive electrode with an active one making it more efficient.

Although this technology is still under extensive research and development because of the relatively low efficiency rate compared to today’s solar panels, researchers believe that due to the fact that it can be printed onto cheap polymers, this technology will someday revolutionise the solar industry.

3-D solar panels

Dr Zhong Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, together with US scientists, is now developing the so called “3-D” solar panels which use fibre optic technology instead of the typical solar cells.

The fibre optics work by collecting sunlight into the protruding tip, and as the light travels down the length of the cable the zinc oxide converts it to electricity. The two stage conversion process allows the zinc oxide to convert any missed light during the first stage.

Currently the technology has an efficiency rate of 3.3%, which as an example means that a 10 watt light bulb will be powered per 4 inches of fibre optics.

While mostly still in the development phase these innovations in solar power promise an exciting and better future for us, with sustainable and clean energy becoming cheaper and more effective, and the bonus of greatly reducing carbon emissions around the world.

Solar Power’s Harmless Electricity

Circling the internet are some false accusations in regard to harnessing solar energy by way of solar panels. Claims had been made in various articles and blogs saying that hydrogen is produced in the production of electricity, but is that really true? Well hydrogen itself is a very combustible material if not handled properly and it can really spell disaster so it is very important to know if so. However, the production of electricity in solar panels is created throughthe photoelectric effect which doesn’t produce any hydrogen at all.

The Photoelectric effect functions the moment the sun light strikes the solar panels; being made from a special silicon material the panels have the ability to breakdown the components of the light energy into an atomic level, absorbing only what is necessary for electrical production, which is the electrons.

Other components of the light energy are discarded, and these pose absolutely no threat in any form.

After knocking down the electrical charges this DC current produced is then directed to the inverters which converts the electricity to a domestically usable AC form. This is basically what the huge transformers contained in electric grids do as well.

Of course since we are dealing with electricity, there is always a risk if your solar PV system is not installed properly, that is why the federal government of Australia has insisted that only solar systems installed by certified installers be eligible for rebates and solar schemes such as the Feed in Tariff. The government also formed the Clean Energy Council which is solely devoted to implementing suitable safety and standards, and ensuring that all solar equipment purchased is of a suitable efficiency & quality. Visit their website for the full list of certified solar components & installers.

So we can comfortably conclude that harnessing the sun’s energy is safe, and we can definitely have a brighter future with solar energy to power our homes & cities without any carbon left behind!

QLD’s Solar Bonus and Schemes Have Boosted Economy

The government of Queensland has announced that since the implementation of their comprehensive solar bonuses and schemes, significant improvements have been made in the states renewable energy output, along with new job opportunities and extra streams of income.

An analysis of the scheme was conducted, and according to Energy and Water Utilities Minister Stephen Robertson, the schemes were shown to have made solar panels in Queensland more affordable and accessible for all. He added that before the July 1 2008 implementation, there were only 3.2 megawatts of clean energy production (1200 households), but after barely 3 years in effect the scheme has now propelled the state towards a much greener future. Nearly 150 megawatts of electricity output was recorded in 2010 and 72,000 homes are now participating in the scheme.

The minister also emphasised the economic benefits and extra jobs created by solar bonus scheme, during the first quarter of 2008 there were only 78 accredited installers in the state, compared to today’s 690 accredited installers.

And with the explosion of solar PV companies across Queensland since its inception, the amount of competition has helped to further decrease the costs of solar systems, which has made it possible for a lot more Queenslanders to reduce or even eliminate their electricity bills.

Currently Queensland has in place one of the most successful schemes across Australia, despitethe recent changes to system size cap to claim the premium feed in tariff. Earlier in May Minister Robertsen announced that the system size will be limited to 5KW effective June 7, 2011. The change is due in part to the increase in medium scale solar investors hoping to gain a large return from the income generating potential, about which he said "This practice is not in the spirit of the Scheme”.

Even with that cap nearing, analysts believe that the state will still wave goodbye to the current 150 megawatt mark, as the increased usage of solar panels in Queensland by home and business users is inevitable because of the strong foundation the schemes and the government have laid, and the ongoing issues with rising electricity prices.