Without permission from the power company? I know it’s probably illegal, but Arkansas has the worst rules regarding this and it’s not worth it to do it legally because they make you pay for a special meter, plus additional monthly charges, and then they pay you nearly nothing for any power you send back to the grid. So it’s pretty clear that they don’t want you to do it. What I want to do is set up PV solar cells to produce about 1 kW max, then just hook this into my system in parallel. This will (I reckon) offset some of my consumption during the day, and also give me something to run my refrigerator, freezer, and well pump (one at a time) when the power goes out, which it frequently does in this remote location.
I am also a small worried about undervoltage on these appliances. Will I need UV protection breakers for them? (expensive) And what happens if I am not consuming enough of the solar production? Will something burn out, or will voltage go too high? I know how voltage regulators work on mechanical generators, but have no thought what is going on with solar panels.
Yeah, I am an engineer so don’t assume that I’m stupid. I am just ignorant about solar cells and electronic power inverters.
OK, this really helps. I really wanted to avoid having a battery bank though, because it’s expensive and troublesome to maintain. I may be better off to just get a small gasoline-powered generator for emergencies.
I hadn’t considered synchronization, as the power supply is only single-phase 220v. I now see, but, that there would be a frequency difference between my output and right sinusoidal 60 hz power. (I’m familiar with synchronization of 3 phase power systems, but not this.) Thanks, guys.

First of all, solar cells produce low voltage DC, so you need batteries to store the DC, a charge controller to control the charging, and, most vital, a excellent sine output inverter. The output from solar arrays varies all over the place so the charge controller and batteries are needed to control that. The inverter will shut down if the current goes too high, or the input voltage goes outside of specs. so you don’t need any UV protection.

The inverter generates the 120 volts 60Hz you need if you are in the US.

But you cannot connect the inverter output to your power lines, you will burn out the inverter or get the power company very upset. AC voltages don’t add. They will be at two slightly different frequencies, and the voltage will add and subtract as the phase changes. You will get high currents into or out of the inverter or into or out of the AC mains. Something burns out quickly.

You need a special switch that disconnects the AC mains and connects your inverter output. You can do this for the entire house or a part you select.

Or you need a special inverter that synchronizes with the power company frequency and phase, but you need the permission of the power company to do that, plus a special meter, as sometimes power will flow back into the meter.

Or, for small scale, just an outlet strip plugged into the inverter, into which you can plug your appliances when power goes out.

.

I live in Canada. Are there any excellent online companies that can ship to Canada. If anyone had a personal experience, it would be greatly appreciated.

How about Canada? The Ottawa valley is known as silicon valley north for a reason.

We see many companies now-a-days producing solar cars, solar cooker, solar electric producer, etc.
howmuch it’s harmful to environment in producing

The environmental impact is the sum of the non geo,solar and or wing power sources needed to power the electric ovens to make the solar cells. Most of the processes for panels will not have much on the way of byproducts.
One of the new types uses Cadnium and Iridium as an alteritive to Silicon based products though which does pose a threat at the end of the panels life for landfills. Most panels are rated 10 to 30 years.
And there is water way tests for safe lvls of Silicon in water but I have not heard of any for Si02 as air based hazards. I mean particles from a vapor state reaction used to make the semiconductors

Do you reckon the scientists that are researching this now "useful" plant are being paid by the tobacco companies? If not, why of all the thousands of species they couldn’t find a suitable plant other than tobacco? Is it a trick to fool people into thinking tobacco smoking is not so terrible because subconsciously they reckon tobacco has beneficial uses?

Remember that there were studies funded by the tobacco companies which coincidentally found no correlation between smoking and lung cancer.

Weird products come from weird places. First you take it at face value until you can investigate.

I for one am just sick of the tremendous amounts of money I shell out every month for my phone bill. Many of us don’t realize it but the cellular companies have us consumers cornered. With nearly every cell phone company comes similar rates and not much to shop around with. I wanted to know if there was a way we as individuals can setup our own cellular plans from our homes or from a bought telephone tower? Just like how some of us setup solar panels and eliminates some of our energy bills could we see a future in this as well? Thanks!

Simple answer is no. There are very basic and limited plans you can buy nowadays.
Everyone thinks they need a cell phone. If you can’t deal with the costs, get a house phone and voicemail setup so that people can call you at home.

I thought I heard "millions."

And if you were to make windmills, solar cells, or curly lights in California, could your company offer competitive prices?
Yes, Brother_Lu. I just heard the results.

Save any feathers you should buy my feline friend. There will be lots of use for them in the 2010 congressional elections… Now, where did we place that bucket of tar?
The solar panel arrays made in the United States are limited and significantly more expensive than those of the major manufactures (most of which are in China.)

Nearly all CFLs are made in China. (Too much hazardous mercury involved.)

2.5 Million jobs lost according to the GPO and the Heritage Foundation.

Do you reckon the scientists that are researching this now "useful" plant are being paid by the tobacco companies? If not, why of all the thousands of species they couldn’t find a suitable plant other than tobacco?

Remember that there were studies funded by the tobacco companies which coincidentally found no correlation between smoking and lung cancer.

They probably are. So what? If they come up with something useful, people will start checking other plants to find something cheaper or something that doesn’t require excellent bottomland to grow.

I am researching on renewable energy.

So far I know Singapore has implemented biomass, solar energy and fuel cells.

The problem that I am facing is that when I search the net for renewable energy, all the information given are not within Singapore region. I need someone to tell me where can I find more information on renewable energy in Singapore.

Do anyone know which companies uses renewable energy? Who can I find to know more about the topic?

Is there any other students doing major project on renewable energy? If yes, email me. I hope to work together to produce excellent results.

Thanks a Lot!

Not sure if this will help but you can do a search on the Singapore Yahoo search engine: http://sg.yahoo.com/ , Type in ‘renewable energy Singapore’ click on ‘Singapore’ and it should turn up a few websites for you. You can go to the National Environmental Agency (NEA) at http://app.nea.gov.sg/ or visit the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) at: http://www.seas.org.sg/

Other sites you may wish to check out:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Singapore/Background.html

http://www.serayaenergy.com.sg/energy/generated/SEContent/content/energyinformation/energyeducation.html

http://www.rsi.sg/english/ecowatch/view/20050203215113/1/.html

http://www.sde.nus.edu.sg/MEM/dissertation/4.%20Ong%20Hwee%20Fang%20Amanda.pdf

http://www.nccc.gov.sg/renewables/renewables.shtm

like.. solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen fuel cells etc…

the companies which make alternate energy to crude oil…

Thankz

The first link below is for biodiesel.
The second link is for BP’s Alternate Energy.

My husband and I are about to make an investment to make our own solar panels for our home. He is the mechanical end in terms of sealing and mounting the panels and I am the technical side. My question is this.. have any of you bought the cells themselves in bulk form and soldered them yourself? What company is a excellent one (price-wise/ease of assembly/high quality) to buy the cells from? I have found quite a few online companies to buy from and am curious as to what kind of results you had before I make this choice.

I have a strong background in electronics and have a excellent understanding of how it all works in terms of converting your home so technical jargon is OK in your explanation. Please be specific!

The Earth4Energy kit suggests one of those well loved alternative energy devices that prove to drop home energy costs by 50-80%. The kit also shares information on where to buy free batteries required for your project. These batteries store the alternative energy making it a portable energy resource. You can take them anywhere, for any use!