How do solar panels work?

Michelle Kodis wrote a booklet entitled “Turn Me On” to show us how easy it is for us to use solar energy. The booklet is an introduction into how the sun can be turned into an earth-friendly alternative to fossil fuel consumption. The booklet contains doses of information about how solar powered energy projects are growing around us with heaps of websites about different solar powered products for us to take a look at.

Let us start with the Super Solar Shower which is a lightweight non-toxic PVC 20L water bag fitted with solar-energy battery for a hot shower at campsites. The cost is only NZ $14.99 - visit www.kiwicamping.co.nz to check this out.

Then there is the Solar Powered Hat Fan that begins to spin as the hat’s tiny photovoltaic panel soaks up the sun’s rays. Cost: estimated by Michelle at US$10.00

Should we care about carbon emission? The booklet introduces us to website of Carbon Monitoring for Action www.carma.org

http://www.carma.org

http://www.carma.org

Relevant quotes from this website are:
“If our greenhouse gas emissions succeed in pushing the climate past the point of no return, we are unlikely to realize it until it is too late to avoid the consequences.”
“Mankind probably needs to reduce total carbon emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050.” - This looks impossible.
“In the absence of action on the part of governments, hundreds of millions of increasingly climate-conscious citizens can promote low-carbon alternatives by changing the ways they purchase, invest, vote, think and live.”
Take a look at a lesson from Richard Komp at TED.
https://youtu.be/xKxrkht7CpY
https://youtu.be/xKxrkht7CpY

Photovoltaics (PV) convert sunlight into electricity. The naturally occurring photons in the sunlight are absolved by the solar PV cell or panel enabling stored electrons to break free forming an electrical current.

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