Florida is the Sunshine State, and
leads the country in research, developement, and use of solar energy. Thermal solar
energy, and solar Photovoltaic energy are in wide use today in the forms of Solar Water
Heaters, Solar Pool Heaters, and Solar Electric Cars and Homes. It is now not only
possible, but very intelligent to GO SOLAR in many parts of the world. Photovoltaics
is the direct conversion of solar energy, the Sun's energy,.. into electricity. Photo
means light, and voltaic refers to electricity; or, electricity from sunlight. For
centuries, Man has found many uses for the sun's energy. Over the past 30 years new solar
technologies have been developed. The generation of electricity directly from solar energy
is still new and very attractive. In the 1950's, NASA began developing photovoltaic
cells to provide electric power to the new satellites, ...orbiting the earth. Today, there
are hundreds of satellites; totally solar powered with the use of Photovoltaic
technology. Here on Earth, we're using photvoltaic cells to provide power for
our pocket calculators, remote weather stations, microwave radio repeaters, highway sign
and billboard lights; and many, many, other uses. Some people even have Solar
Photovoltaic Powered houses and cars. In the very near future, more and more uses for
solar power will be developed and used in our everyday lives.
Photovoltaic Cells, or PV's, are made from purified silicon chips, that generate
small currents of electricity when exposed to the photon energy from the sun. Many PV
cells are manufactured to make PV Panels, or solar electric collectors. PV Panels are
electrically wired together to form Solar PV Arrays, which provide the power for Solar
Electric Systems.
Electricity can be provided 24/hrs/day by storing the PV electric power (DC power) in
batteries. This technology is currently being developed for use in solar electric cars and
household electric systems. Currently, there are several homes in the Gainesville, Florida
area that are electrically solar powered,......my house is one of them. The Sunshine State
is very fertile ground for pioneering PV technology.
Since the sun's energy is free, inexhaustable, and non-polluting, there is almost no limit
to the amount of electricity that can be produced. For example,....If the entire State of
Florida were covered with Solar PV Panels,....enough electricity could be produced to
provide power for the United States and Canada !!
by Perry A. Bocci, Scientist/Designer/Consultant/Inventor