Led and introduced by the Nigerian Energy Agency engineers, Enson Meng and Freddy Tong went deep into the rural areas of Nigeria and visited the local power situation. A 25KW micro solar power station can power the nearby more than 100 families, making their lives brighter. Just in Nigeria, nearly 90 million people live in places where there is no electricity supply!

The result is what is known as N-type silicon and its what you find on the surface of solar panels. Below that layer of N-type silicon resides its mirror opposite: P-type silicon. P-type uses impurities from elements like gallium or boron with means the material has space for other electrons. This creates an electrical magnetic field where the upper N-type silicon layer is negative, and the P-type silicon is positive. Electrons are knocked free from atoms in the N-type layer and move towards the p—type layer to fill the empty electron spaces. The flow of electrons creates electricity.

What makes up a solar panel?

Solar panels are made from layers of silicon. Silicon forms a hard and brittle crystalline structure and is the second most abundant element on earth. This semi-conducting material it can be grown, and scientist grow silicon in a tube as a single, uniform, crystal. They then unroll the tube and cut the sheet into ‘wafers’ making them as thin as possible. Most solar panels have efficiency between 10 to 20 percent. A decade ago solar panels had efficiency levels at around 13%. In 2019 it has risen to 20%. The upper limit of silicon is 29% due to the nature of silicon.

1. Solar is now the least expensive as well as most plentiful energy resource worldwide

In December 2016, the expense of structure as well as installing brand-new solar electrical energy generation dropped to $1.65 per watt, directly beating out its sustainable counterpart wind ($ 1.66/ Watt) as well as its nonrenewable fuel source rivals.

2. Over a million solar systems have been mounted in the UNITED STATE alone

In very early 2016, the millionth solar system was set up in the UNITED STATE, notching a turning point that took 40 years for the photovoltaic or pv industry to get to. Nevertheless, the more significant tale that included this accomplishment is the forecasted timeline for the next million setups, which is anticipated to happen in the next two years.

3. Numerous producers offer a photovoltaic panel today above 20 percent efficiency

Solar panel efficiency levels have actually been raising as quickly as solar costs are decreasing, In 2018, homeowners can obtain budget-friendly quotes for photovoltaic panels in the 20 to 23 percent effectiveness variety throughout the U.S.

4. Home owners in the U.S. have actually attained breakeven with solar in as brief as 3 years

In 2018, most home owners are seeing payback periods between 5 and also 8 years as well as 20-year savings estimates upwards of $20,000. Some homeowners are seeing break-even factors as reduced as three to 4 years in states where utility costs are high like Massachusetts as well as New York.

5. The expense of a solar installment is currently at or listed below $3 per watt in certain U.S. states.

Now in 2018, we’re seeing the $3.00/ Watt mark take effect– prices quote with rates listed below $3.00 are can be found in on the EnergySage Marketplace on a daily basis. The typical price per watt in 2018 is $3.16 per watt on EnergySage, implying that a typical sized system (5,000 watts) will certainly set you back $11,060 after the solar ITC subsidy.

6. Planes can fly all over the world while running entirely on solar power

In early 2016, the Swiss pilot and also specialist traveler departed from Abu Dhabi in the popular airplane called Solar Impulse II, making this much anticipated around the world return in July.

7. Property owners do not need to install their very own solar panels to go solar

People are usually shocked to discover that going solar does not necessarily entail mounting photovoltaic panels on your building. In 2018, the concept of shared solar or area solar– the idea of installing an enormous solar ranch where hundreds or perhaps thousands of individuals can source their electricity– is really taking off.

8. Solar energy can supply power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

A variety of well-regarded brands have gotten in the solar storage area (including Tesla, LG, and also Mercedes) and also brand-new competition and innovation are causing the cost of solar storage to drop. In 2018, house owners can acquire solar-plus-storage systems as well as be entirely power independent.

Five years ago, a prominent African who wanted to bring electricity to the continent criticised the idea that solar lighting could provide electricity access. However as lighting technology has improved and become more accessible to poorer people, we can see again and again, having access to solar lighting has improved lives massively. Having off-grid solar lights that can be installed even in the most remote places of Africa can ensure that people be more productive, be safer at night and improves the quality of life.

We can see the huge impact that solar power can make to Africa by looking at a recent solar power plant that was built in Rwanda. The construction created 350 jobs and is now powering 15,000 homes, it is majorly helping the country develop as a result.

Africa acknowledges that they will need other form of electricity to provide universal energy access, however as a first step, solar power seems to be the way to go. With solar power supply systems that are safe, clean and reusable they do more than shine a light on poverty – they shine a light of hope far and wide.

The 200MW solar plant will begin construction in summer 2019 in Alcalá de Guadaira, Seville. The plant will be connected to the grid in 2020 to power 105,000 households.

The 300MW solar project will be deployed in later in 2019 in the Extremadura region of Talayuela in Spain, for integration with the main grid in 2020 to meet the needs of more than 150,000 homes.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman of Canadian Solar, commented, ‘We are very proud to partner with Solarcentury in one of the largest solar power projects in Europe, which is set to be built without subsidy in the country. This partnership further expands our presence and competitive position in this region.’

From Smart Energy

https://www.smart-energy.com/renewable-energy/new-deal-to-add-500mw-of-solar-into-spanish-grid/

5G Technology on Smart Solar Lighting

The next generation wireless technology is undoubtedly playing the leading role by 5G. It is not only the direction of the development of smart phone communication, but also the future wireless highway. 5G technology is at least 100 times faster than 4G. It can live video with almost zero lag time and download a complete movie in a few seconds, and we don’t have to worry about speed with the high resolution trends of visual effects. 5G technology is actually a great leap forward, bringing new revolution to all industries.

What do Chinese consumers know about lighting technology? Or ask another question: how much do Chinese consumers think they know about lighting technology? Do they know how to purchase the corresponding watts number of lighting products according to the color temperature and lumens they need? Do they know that light has biological effects? In the “landvance international consumer research” survey, including a representative survey of more than 2000 Chinese consumers, people still lack enough understanding of many aspects of current and future lighting technologies. Landward Vance hopes to end people’s confusion about lighting through the international day tomorrow.

The United Nations Educational, scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced that May 16th is the “international tomorrow”, the purpose of which is to give people all over the world the importance of lighting and lighting technology. What level of knowledge do Chinese consumers think of their own knowledge of light? What caused such a serious problem? What do they think about the problems of future lighting technology? Recently, a representative study by Research Now, representing landward Vance, has provided answers to the above questions. “LED technology can bring a lot of benefits. But for consumers, how to choose a suitable light source or luminaire has become more and more complex. This is also an indisputable fact. Moreover, the European Union has issued a ban on a number of inefficient lighting products, which once again made the situation even more confusing. Such complexity and uncertainty are reflected in our findings. Mr. Lin Xincheng, general manager of Greater China, LED, a global lighting company, explains.

Little knowledge of the basic unit of lighting

Most consumers think they know a lot, but that’s not the case. 65% of Chinese consumers, in answering the questionnaire, expressed their full understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of various lighting technologies, or at least well understood, including the understanding of (intelligent) LED lighting products to the traditional incandescent lamps.

Landward investigation shows that consumers still have many misconceptions about lighting technology.

Landward’s 2017 “international consumer lighting research” conducted by 2011 respondents.

When asked about the problem of measurement units, for example, for those units that have long been printed on light sources and light fixtures, the cognition is immediately clear: 78% of Chinese consumers can connect Watt and electricity consumption correctly. For “color temperature” and “lumen” and other important units of measurement of LED products, only about half of the respondents (58% and 61%) are able to have the right cognition.

The reason for this problem is that “color temperature provides color information about light, such as daylight (greater than 5300K), white light (3300K to 5300K) and warm white light (less than 2700K), according to the general manager of Lin Xin, a large China region. Lumens in lumens tell people how much light is emitted by lamps. Therefore, for high-efficiency LED lighting products, the key value of luminance is not wattage, but lumen number.

It is worth noting that the accuracy rate of German respondents in identifying these units is lower than that in all other countries. Of all the respondents in Germany, only 33% could make the right choice among all the measurement units. Among respondents in the UK, France, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Brazil and China, the proportion of these measuring units could be correctly identified from 40% to 50%. The correct rate of respondents in Italy reached 55%, which was the highest among all respondents.