Solar-Powered Car Circumnavigates the Globe
If you're new here, you might want to subscribe to subscribe to email updates or subscribe to this blog in a reader. Thanks for visiting!Its the latest news in the solar power industry. A solar powered car has completed a trip around the world. The driver is hoping to encourage the auto industry to gear up for electric car production. Solar powered cars have long since ceased to be mythical creatures of our imaginations, but this news helps drive the point home even further. More information at this news article.
Tags: Around the World, environment, solar, Solar Car, Solar Power, Solar Powered, Solar Powered CarRelated posts:
Solar Shingles and Solar Roofs
Solar Shingles and the Solar Power Roof
With the rapid advancement of solar power we are now seeing new products enter the market containing “integrated solar panels”. For example, solar shingles.
What are Solar shingles? Essentially they are ordinary roof shingles which are made out of photovoltaic materials. They perform the same function as an ordinary roof shingle, but have the added capability of producing electricity.
The advantage of the solar shingles is that these thin “solar panels” can now be integrated right into one’s building materials - so instead of having solar panels on your roof, you would now have a solar roof.
Aside from being more desireable from an aesthetic standpoint, this also eliminates the need for the installation of bulky and heavy “traditional solar panels”.
How are Solar Shingles Made?
Advancments in solar power technology, such as the inventions of solar ink and other combinations of semi-conductors, have made it possible to combine or include photovoltaic materials in with a wide range of other products and materials. Solar cells no longer need to be made out of bulky heavy weight silicon panels, but can in fact be printed on just about any type of material - such as plastic, metal, and others. Researchers have even found ways to produce organic photovoltaics, though that is at the moment still in a purely experimental phase.
Benefits of Solar Shingles
- Attractive style
- Fully integrated shingle roof
- Lower electric bill
- Free electricity
- Pollution-free power
- Increased home value
- Protects the environment
- Exceptionally durable
- Great investment
- Significant state cash rebates available
- Federal tax incentives available
Solar Shingles Costs and Financing
To be honest, right at this moment solar shingles might still seem expensive to some, but as any new technology develops its products become cheaper with time. However it does look as though the cost will be considerably lower than installinga comparable set of conventional solar panels. In one recent example, the entire cost of a solar shingle installation on a home was about $16,000, with a $12,000 tax rebate. This brought the entire cost to only $4000. Not only is that considerably lower than the usual cost involved in installing a home solar power system, but one has to keep in mind that the cost of tiling or shingling a roof is covered at the same time. The solar shingles are, afterall, shingles as well as solar panels.
Clean energy cash incentives and tax rebates are available at a federal level, and most states also have a clean energy or sustainable energy source rebate program. This combined, with energy savings does make solar shingles affordable, and will in most cases pay for itself over time.
Tags: electricity, energy, energy savings, environment, home solar power, Installation, photovoltaic, photovoltaics, solar, solar cell, solar cells, solar panel, solar panels, Solar Power, solar power system, Solar Powered Roof, solar roof, Solar Shingles, sustainable, Sustainable Energy
