Sunday, August 2, 2009

Simple Solar Energy

A Solar lantern is a simple application of solar photovoltaic technology, which has found good acceptance in rural regions where the power supply is irregular and scarce. Even in the urban areas, people would prefer a solar lantern as an alternative during power cuts because of its simple mechanism.
A solar lantern is made of three main components – the solar PV panel, the storage battery and the lamp. The operation is very simple. The solar energy is converted to electrical energy by the SPV panel and stored in a sealed maintenance-free battery for later use during the night hours. A single charge can operate the lamp for about 4-5 hours.
Besides the solar lantern, a solar cooker is also a simple application of solar photovoltaic technology. A solar cooker is like a hot box, in which we can cook our food without any cooking gas or kerosene, electricity, coal or wood. We donot need to spend even a single paise on fuel. The cooker works with the solar energy, which is available free.

In a solar cooker, we can boil, bake and roast and in a cooker for domestic use, we can cook food for four to five persons. Bigger size solar cookers are also available for cooking food upto 15 persons.
Solar street lighting system is designed for outdoor application in unelectrified remote rural areas. This is an ideal application for campus and village street lighting. The system is provided with battery storage backup sufficient to operate the light for 10-11 hours daily.

The system is provided with automatic ON/OFF time switch for dusk to dawn operation and overcharge / deep discharge prevention cut-off with LED indicators.

The SPV modules are having a service life of 15-20 years. Tubular batteries provided with the solar street lighting system require lower maintenance, have longer life and give better performance as compared to pasted plate batteries used earlier.
Home lighting systems are powered by solar energy using solar cells that convert solar energy (sunlight) directly to electricity. The electricity is stored in batteries and used for the purpose of lighting whenever required.

These syste4ms are useful in non-electrified rural areas and as reliable emergency lighting system for important domestic, commercial and industrial applications. The SPV systems have found important application in the dairy industry for lighting milk collection / chilling centres mostly located in rural areas.

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