Young’s Air Conditioning is going Green with Solar

Young’s Air Conditioning is your Energy Specialist; we have a team of experienced and well trained installers. We look at the whole house and how you can reduce your total energy use. Call us today for a free review (209) 826-4807.

Young's Air Conditioning does not want to just sell you a solar system to cover your current needs.  We want to look at your whole house and make suggestions to reduce energy first.  We are BPI certified energy analyst, which looks at sealing the whole house to reduce the amount of energy used.  We will then design a system to cover your new energy needs.

What is photovoltaic?

Solar systems that produce electricity directly from sunlight are called photovoltaic systems (fo-to-vol-ta-ik). The term "photo" comes from the Greek "phos," meaning light. "Voltaic" is named for Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), a pioneer in the study of electricity for whom the term "volt" was named. Photovoltaic, means "light electricity." Photovoltaic (PV) systems produce clean, reliable electricity without consuming any fossil fuels. PV systems are being used in a wide variety of applications, from providing power for watches, landscape lighting, and highway signs, to providing for a household's electrical needs.

What is the difference between "solar energy" and "photovoltaics?"

Photovoltaics is one form of solar energy. The term solar energy can refer to something as simple as the energy gathered in your parked, sealed car (your solar collector) and converted into heat. Solar energy is often used to heat houses directly through passive means (sun enters window, room warms). Solar energy is also often used to heat water (a solar collector is mounted in direct sunlight, which warms a heat transfer fluid, which in turn heats the water in your hot water tank).

Photovoltaics refers specifically to the practice of converting the sun's energy directly into electricity using photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic cells are often referred to as PV cells or solar cells.

What is solar thermal energy?

Solar thermal energy refers to harnessing the sun's light to produce heat. Heat results when photons, packets of light energy, strike the atoms composing a substance (water, your body, asphalt), exciting them. Solar thermal technologies include passive solar systems for heating (or cooling!) buildings; flat plate solar collectors, often used for providing households with hot water; and solar concentrator power systems. These systems, also known as solar thermal power plants, use the sun's heat to create steam, which then turns a turbine and produces electricity. (Fossil fuel burning power plants also produce electricity by first creating steam in order to turn a turbine.)

Can I heat my house with photovoltaics?

Using electricity to heat a house, as anyone who uses electric heat and pays monthly bills to the utility knows, is very inefficient and costly. Theoretically, one could heat one's home with photovoltaics (electricity is electricity, whether it comes from PV panels or from a coal burning power plant). Practically, though, this would be costly, as producing electricity from a PV system is more expensive than purchasing it from the utility. One can, however, heat one's house very effectively and cheaply by harnessing the sun's energy in other ways.

How can I conserve energy? Electricity?

It is critical that heating and cooling systems, (which account for 40% of the energy budget of the average American household), be highly efficient. Electric heaters and air conditioners are tremendous energy hogs; fortunately, more efficient options abound. In addition, it is important that once your house feels comfortable to you, it stays that way--good insulation is crucial. (Preventing air leakage by caulking and sealing is the most cost-effective way of reducing heating and cooling costs.)

A household can save electricity a number of ways, including: purchasing energy efficient appliances and fixtures (e.g. compact fluorescent lights); using solar thermal energy (e.g. drying clothes in the sun, using a solar hot water system); investing in propane or natural gas-powered major appliances (such as refrigerators, stoves, and clothes dryers); and cutting back on appliance use (e.g. turning off lights, abandoning the electric can opener).

Resources:

PG&E - Smart Energy Analyzer

Energy Star – More energy-saving appliances

U.S. Department of Energy – Exploring Way to Use Solar Energy

U.S. Department of Energy – How Small Solar Electric Systems Work

SOURCE: Solar Energy International