Let the Sun Shine!

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“Mom, why aren’t the lights turning on?”

Staying in Bagneres-de-Bigorre for 2 weeks was really interesting as we were living “off the grid“. This means the house is not connected to the power lines which deliver electricity. The house, all it’s appliances and electric fencing for the animals is run on solar power. Solar power is a way to make energy without burning fossil fuels. On the farm, we learned a lot about solar energy and how it works.

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First, the sun shines down on the earth and the rays get absorbed into dark panels called PV or photovoltaic panels.

The PV panels at the farm
The PV panels at the farm

Second, while in the panels, the rays are turned into a type of electricity called Direct Current (DC).  The current travels in one direction and the electrons must travel the full distance of the circuit in order to work.

A diagram of the flow of Direct Current www.green-planet-solar-energy.com

Next, the current flows through a charge controller which tells how much electricity is generated by the solar panels, and how much energy is stored in the batteries.

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The readings on the charge controllers

Then the current passes to batteries that stores the electricity for later use.  (We were unable to get a photo of the batteries as they were inaccessible.)

 

Finally, the current flows through an inverter and converts the Direct Current into another form called Alternating Current (AC). With Alternating Current, the flow of electrons is not in one direction as it is with DC, rather it is constantly being reversed thousands of times per second.  This form of electricity is more efficient, as it allows the electrons to stay in the general area of the device being powered.  When the electrons have used up their energy, they gain more energy through collisions with their neighbours which occur as part of the process of constantly changing direction of the power flow.  This is the current used to power our house and electric appliances.

A diagram of the flow of Alternating Current
http://msmcgartland.pbworks.com
How the inverter works
How the inverter works

There are a lot of pros to solar power.  It uses a natural source (the sun) which is renewable and doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses. If the solar power system is connected to the grid, extra electricity produced can be sold back to an electricity company.  From this, one can receive credits to deduct money from a normal electricity bill. While we stayed at the farm the sun was shining most of the time so we generated lots of power.

However there are some cons to this type of energy.  If the day is cloudy, not as much power is collected and some appliances may not be able to function like the vacuum, washing machine, and fridge. During our experience, the power was not strong enough to support more than one major appliance being used at the same time.  For this reason, the fridge was on a timer for four hours and we were only able to do laundry at 11:30 am.  Furthermore, the initial investment to generate solar power is expensive and doesn’t pay itself off for awhile.

Other ways to produce electricity are: coal, nuclear, wind, and hydroelectric energy.  They are similar to solar because they all produce electricity, but some of the differences are as follows: coal is a nonrenewable source and emits greenhouse gasses, nuclear has large plants and some degree of risk, wind relies on a different source and is government owned, and hydro needs a lot of space and free flowing water.

What could Kim and Steve do if power is needed and there is no sun or stored power? This could be a big problem for them in the winter when it’s cold and gets dark quickly outside. Their solution is to use a generator! The generator is powered with gasoline so it can be used at any time and in any season.

Living “off the grid” and using solar power was an interesting way to live for two weeks on the farm and Kim and Steve showed us how it can be done.  It was neat we were able to produce natural and clean energy using the power of the sun.

I’m interested to see how solar power will develop in the future.  I would really love to drive a solar powered car.  Take a look at what Spain is doing….

Solar Thermal Power Station


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Comments

12 responses to “Let the Sun Shine!”

  1. Thank you for helping me to understand with your blog, what many others have tried and failed to get be to understand about how solar power works. Makes me wonder why more nations are not using this…

    1. Hello Herta,

      Solar power is a really interesting way to generate electricity. I studied it in science class, so I already had some knowledge about how it work. It was incredible to see the real process in action!

  2. Beverley Cude Avatar
    Beverley Cude

    Very interesting! We don’t usually think about the power that is needed to run everything.

    1. Hi Beverley,

      This was a really amazing experience for me to see how the power was generated. I haven’t really thought a lot about it until we had to know how much power was being used if we wanted to use other electrical appliances.

  3. Thank you for sharing the info on solar energy. It was very informative, and as well, I appreciated the info on the pros and cons of it!
    Love, Baba

    1. Hi Baba,

      I think I would like to have our house half on and half off the grid just to see what it’s like. I think the pros outweigh the cons!

  4. Another very informative blog Mikhaila. We take so much for granted just flicking a switch. Living off the grid would be a huge challenge but very rewarding if you were as successful as Kim and Steve! I know a lot of people who bought generators after the ice storm last winter! We are using lots of power these days, bitterly cold in Ontario. Love to all, Teta Doreen

    1. Hello Teta Doreen,

      Kim and Steve did a great job with the solar! When you have to watch how much electricity you’re using, it really makes you realize how simple it is to remain on the grid.

  5. Hi, Mikhaila, Opa and I are just catching up, and really enjoyed your posting. It is great how you explained step by step how the system works and also posted the cons and to have a “back up” plan for the days the sun doesn’t shine. Let’s hope that more is done to use solar and wind power in the future. We loved all the photos and also the drawings. We both found the video of the Solar Thermal Power Station fascinating. You sure get to see and experience many different things. Lots of XOXOXO’s

    1. Hi Oma,

      I think in the future there will definitely be more of a focus towards alternate sources of energy. This trip had taught us a lot of great things through hands on experience which I really enjoy. 🙂

  6. Wow, Mikhala thanks for explaining our power system to me in a way which I could understand (Steve’s explanations are too technical, I guess that is because he is an electrician). So glad you managed the solar system so well.

    1. Hello Kim,

      It was really interesting to see the process happening and this experience helped me to understand it better.