Heliocol solar pool heating

... pool heating industry since its production of the world's most advanced pool heating panel in 1977. (Heliocol was chosen to provide the solar heating ...

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Heliocol Solar! Sun + Water = Fun!

Hundreds of thousands of Heliocol solar pool heating panels have been installed ... highly automated manufacturing line enables Heliocol to produce a very uniform solar panel with ...

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Advantages of Solar Energy

The sun is at the heart of all our power, so there really are plenty of advantages of solar power. In fact, they greatly outweigh the disadvantages.

Enormous Potential : The Earth receives a massive amount of energy from the sun, far far more than we are ever likely to use. In fact, the Earth receives about 174 PW (that's 174 with 15 zeroes after it) and we use about 15 TW (15 with 12 zeroes after it). Now, all that solar energy doesn't reach the surface, but if we could tap just 1% of what we get from solar power, we would need nothing else, though granted, most of that energy goes to warming and driving the Earth's climate. This is one of the most important advantages of solar power over the other forms of renewable energy; there is simply so much more of it potentially available.

Most Suitable in Developing Regions : It would appear that "developed" countries are those that are not generally concentrated around equatorial regions (Africa, South America, India and so forth), while the "developed" ones lie more in higher latitudes. This means that those who are now developing into larger economies, and so are ripe to begin with renewable energy rather than going via fossil fuels, do in fact have the most solar energy available to them. I can probably make that clearer with a map: http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/natural-resource-solar-power-potential

As you can see, equatorial regions receive far more solar energy per square metre than regions at higher latitudes. This is not to say that solar panels would be wasted in Europe, say; just that they would produce more electricity in most of Africa.

Clean : One of the main advantages of solar power: it produces no greenhouse gases (though tiny amounts would be produced during production).

Cheap to run : Aside from production and occasional maintenance costs, solar panels do not cost much to actually run.

Renewable : I suppose this one is fairly obvious, really, but do bear in mind that the sun will not go anywhere. It will exist for many billions of years to come, so there is no chance of ever losing this source of energy (whereas rivers can dry up).

Aesthetics : Unlike wind turbines, no one complains about the erection of solar panels on a rooftop. On a small scale, they are unobtrusive. On a large scale, they are likely to be in a fairly barren and remote location anyway, for example desert land.

Low Maintenance : Once solar panels are erected, they do not require a large effort to keep them running. Unlike a gas or nuclear plant, solar panels can effectively be left to get on with it.

Silent : Another plus for domestic purposes, solar panels will not annoy the neighbours. It is far less likely that they would require planning permission to install (compared to a 20 foot tower).

"Ecologically" Friendly : Forgive the odd choice of words, what I mean is that solar panels do not have a large impact on their environment (something which is quite heavily associated with wind power).

Ideal for Domestic Purposes : Essentially because of many of the reasons already listed, solar power is probably the most appropriate form of renewable energy to be applied domestically. I'm of the opinion that all new builds should include solar panels (as the cost of solar roof tiles is not that much more than regular roof tiles).

Safe : As far as I'm aware, no one has ever died in a "solar explosion". This is a problem which plagues effectively all non-renewable sources: deaths occur in mining, power plant accidents, and so on, not to mention the death toll which could one day be attributed to global warming.

So those are the main advantages of solar power. As you can see, there are rather a few. Solar power technology really has a very long way to go, and that's why it has so much potential. I expect to see the days when solar panels are printed onto panes of glass and woven into clothing, to really maximise the amount of free energy we can gain from the sun.

Michael Ashcroft is a Physics student at Imperial College London, with a passion for Environmental and Energy issues. In fact, he hopes to make this his career. He's also a keen musician and photographer, and writes articles on Environmental topics for his website. For more articles, please visit http://www.howtopowertheworld.com

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