• About Refined Solar
• Why Choose Refined Solar

• Answers Your Questions About Solar Power: For Your Home | For Your Business

photo credit: america.gov

Welcome to Refined Solar!  Solar is all about Renewable Energy Systems, especially Solar Energy Systems.  Refined Solar is helping America reduce her carbon footprint. We are exploring ways to save on your energy costs, new solar technologies, and tracking developments in governmental incentives and controls. Learning to speak solar is like learning a new language, but we will help you translate all of the techno-speak into understandable concepts that define both the benefits to the earth’s well-being and the benefits to your wallet.

Clearly, global warming and the costs of depleting the earth’s resources are issues that have to be actively dealt with in this 21st century. It is necessary for the immediate future and to be sure that our children and their children have a future beyond today.

Many would see solar energy systems as a way to “Go Green” but we really see it as “Going Yellow!”  The sun shines, whether we can see it or not, it is always above us shining at full power. It is a resource we can mine forever without depleting it. Think about that! No single person, country or company can ever control solar resources. Ever. It is the most cost effective and least harmful of any energy source. We do not need to destroy the earth’s delicate infrastructure or destroy her landscape or doom men to work underground when we harness the sun’s rays.

Energy sources can be divided into three categories: fossil fuels, renewable sources, and nuclear sources. The term fossil fuels refer to coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Renewable energy sources are solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and geothermal power. The nuclear-powered sources are fission and fusion.

Fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas, and their derivatives) provide more than 85% of the energy used by mankind today. Unfortunately, the reserves of those fuels are not infinite. Scientists predict that within the next two centuries we will run out of those valuable energy sources. Clearly, new sources of energy must be developed.

Solar power is one of the cleanest methods of energy production known. Because solar panels simply convert the energy of the sun into energy mankind can use, there are no harmful byproducts or threats to the environment. Why is solar energy so under-used in a world that needs it so much?  Solar technology has been a rapidly developing arena for the past 20 years.  Inefficiency of solar collection systems to address energy storage meant that the solar collection area needed to be considerable. Another major concern is the cost of solar power. Solar panels (accumulators) are not cheap; and because they are constructed from fragile materials (semiconductors, glass, etc.), they must constantly be maintained and regularly replaced.

Further, since each photovoltaic panel has only about a 15-20% efficiency, single solar panels are not sufficient power producers. However, this problem has been offset by placing many large panels to act in accord to produce energy. Although this setup takes up much more space, it does generate much more power. These are two basic problems that have so far limited the use of solar power on a large scale: energy intensity and cost of the technology.

In acknowledgment of these problems and to encourage further development of solar energy power sources, governments have taken an active role in both development of the resources, and in helping citizens overcome the initial cost of adopting solar energy systems. As with any new technology, those with a desire to experience leading edge technology may pay a premium price for early technology offerings, but they are also encouraging developers to continue to refine and enhance solar products at the same time as they are reducing costs and increasing effectiveness.

One day soon, my friend, we will have a solar equivalent of an iPod instead of the Victrola. Stay tuned – we’ll be here to tell you each exciting renewable energy system development as it happens.