ThingsPoweredbytheSun.Com
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 Things Powered by the SunThere are lots of things powered by the sun. For starters, all the plants, the wind, and the entire earth is powered by the sun. People have also come up with many products that are powered by the sun. For example, solar panels, solar calculators, solar batteries, solar backpacks, and more.Things Powered by Solar PanelsThe first thing that people think of that is powered by the sun are solar panels. This is because solar panels were the first known ways to harness the suns energy. The first solar panels had very poor conversion rates (around 1-2%) and that made them not a viable energy source. The solar panels were just too expensive for the amount of energy produced. This was in the early 1800s that solar began to get investigated seriously.It would take many years for solar to catch on. President Jimmy Carter, in the 1970s, gave a famous and serious speech about how Americans need to get off of foreign oil and that the government was going to start supporting solar. The reason is that the 1970s was deeply affected by oil shortages and price inclines that hurt the economy. Unfortunately, what happened is that everybody pretty much ignored the warning signs. Once the economy stabilized nobody cared about it anymore. In our current energy situation, people were clamoring for almost anything other than oil just a year ago. Now, since prices have come down a little bit, people are starting to be less serious about alternative energy. What the recent oil crisis did was help give legs to a movement that was already underway – the green movement. It seems clear that people desire change, but what seems less clear is if we are fully committed to long term change and to stop using oil as a primary energy source. Of all the energy sources, solar is the best. Solar panels run silently. Solar panels run cleanly. Solar panels are now becoming inexpensive. Solar could make it possible for every living person to have free energy. Things Powered by Amorphous and Thin Film SolarThere are many devices that are solar powered. For example, there are many different solar calculators on the market today. They work by a thin film of amorphous solar that is integrated with circuits and plastics. Because of improvements, this same technology has improved and is now called thin film solar. You can find its effects in clothing and many small appliances.The strategy that makes a lot of sense for people is to simply have a rechargeable power station. You can purchase solar battery packs that come with solar panels. You can recharge the battery with solar power and then use it on almost any device you wish. You can use the battery pack for the cell phone, the mp3 player, the toaster, the cooler, and the laptop, and more. This makes more sense. You can make a lot of devices for less money and use one energy source for all. This makes solar a portable dream. Unique Solar Powered ProductsSolar Powered PaperThere are a lot of things powered by solar that you may not have thought of. For example, solar paper. In a classroom, each person can have solar paper. The paper is actually digital and sends a wireless signal to the teacher. The teacher has a special program on their tablet that will allow them to see what each student is doing. That way a teacher can tell who understands the concepts and how quickly people are learning the material. The real advantage is that the teacher can see thing in real time. Further, the teacher can programs the electronic paper to automatically score testing results and that will save a lot of grading time.Solar Powered Hot Air BalloonsImagine a hot air balloon made of flexible thin film solar panels. The solar panels heat up the air and an electronic device controls how hot the air can get by letting it out appropriately and also by turning the solar panels on or off. Since people only use hot air balloons during the day, it makes sense that solar power will work great for these. Some of the hot air balloons work so well that they can also store energy in batteries so that energy will also be maintained at night.Solar Powered WeaponsThere have been many millions of dollars of research in how to create a cosmic death ray. The idea is to put some giant mirrors or solar panels up into orbit. The sun would be concentrated and controlled remotely. Countries could then be attacked with the solar ray. The solar ray would be so powerful that all the water would be evaporated at one time and people would be cooked alive. The only escape would be to go underground or underwater. The hard part about this type of technology is that it takes a long time to produce and is vulnerable. Warring nations could easily destroy a giant mirror or solar panel. It is a “sitting duck”.The idea isn't far fetched. Japan has recently undergone a project to put giant solar panels up into orbit. These solar panels will beam down energy to power a good portion of the city. Solar Powered BlenderSolar company named Sparling has created a powerful solar blender. The solar powered blender is about eight feet tall with a solar battery and solar pv panel on top. The blender can mix up drinks and also does misting to keep you cool. The solar powered blender looks to be an outdoor item that you would use in the middle of the summer for events.Solar Powered OvenThere are a lot of solar powered ovens that work well for developing nations and especially for those that do not have electricity. The solar powered ovens are basically a parabolic dish that is mirrored. The food can be put onto the dish and cooked from the suns heat. One other option that people use is to take one of the large parabolic dishes and directing the sunlight through a window or a hole in the wall. Then, a second mirror reflects the light onto the stove and that can be used for cooking. The parabolic dish can be moved by remote or manual for times that you do not want to cook.Solar Powered HairHave you ever noticed how hot your head gets, in the summertime. The strands or locks of hair have melatonin, in them. Hair has been shows to be a good conductor of electricity. Since so many people get their hair cut, it is feasible that you can make a solar panel out of hair instead of silicon. The cost would be much cheaper and the hair is easily replaceable. The next time you get your hair cut, hook up an led light to your hair and watch it light up.Black Silicon Solar PowerResearchers have found that if you shine a powerful laser on silicon and also use the chemical sulfur hexafluoride that the silicon will become very sensitive to infrared and regular light. The new research suggests that black silicon solar panels may be able to reach the 70-80% efficiency rate. Currently, this technology is only available to the military.Final ThoughtsAlmost anything you can think of is being improved for solar use. The reason is that the green movement is underway and people want to stop using fossil fuels permanently. People have finally realized that there must be a better way to live and that fossil fuels were are becoming way to expensive to be sustainable. Some of the more important discoveries are thin film solar nanotechnologies and black silicon solar power.
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