Posts

Make Your Home Solar Powered

/0 Comments/in /by

Solar PanelsHomeowners across America are turning to solar panels to help power their homes. If you’re unsure whether you want your house to go solar, here are a few benefits of making the jump.

Price is Right
Right now, solar panels and solar technology are being produced cheaper than ever before. This means purchasing it for your home won’t cost too much. Therefore, where you thought you would have to potentially take out a loan from small-cash.com from here to convert your home, you might have enough money to get it done without the help of a loan.

Tax Breaks
There is plenty of tax breaks and incentives for installing solar power on to your home. So not only will you save yourself money when you purchase the system, but you may also get more money back during tax season as well. Many of these breaks and incentives are first come first serve, however, so get your taxes done as soon as possible.

Energy Price
With solar panels, you will find out how much energy you use and how much you will have to pay for it. This will make it easier to balance your finances and adjust accordingly if by some chance money gets short.

Increased Property Value
Whenever you add something to your home it raises the property value and solar panels are no different. This can be helpful if you are planning on selling your home down the road.

Local Economy Support
When you get your solar panels installed, you more than likely will be hiring a local company to handle the installation. By doing this, you help support your local economy and give the company free promotion by having their product on your house.

Energy Reliability
If you were to install solar panels, you would no longer be at the mercy of rolling blackouts and power outages. Your home would keep running like normal, allowing you to go about your day.

With all these benefits, it’s easy to see why you should install solar panels on to your home. When you’re ready to, let the experts at GR Solar Solutions take care of it. We’ve been designing and installing solar electric systems in Texas and New Mexico for over 30 years and will have your home running solar energy in no time. For more information, call us today at 915-581-0461!

 

 

Why Your Local School Should Go Solar

/0 Comments/in /by

School is all about learning, improving and creating a better world. Over the years, electricity prices have been rising and the cost of energy is expected to continue to increase over time. A great way to take control of energy costs is to go the solar energy route and generate your own power from your schools rooftop.

Save money

Why not save and use a stable and clean energy source? If solar panels are installed, your schools electricity bill can significantly be reduced. Solar panels can last up to 25 years and a solar investment can save millions in the long run. To make your schools budgeting easier and to protect against rising electricity costs, your school can sign a contract to purchase a solar system which allows the school to guarantee their electricity prices for up to 20 years.

Promote educational opportunities

Students are able to see first-hand how sunlight is converted into electricity with solar systems at their school. Schools often have a large incentive to go solar not just to save money but to also create a sustainability- conscious student body. Solar energy installations can be integrated into science, math and technologies programs within schools which could then potentially improve test scores in those fields.

Improve our planet

Not only will your school save money and create educational opportunities for students with solar energy, it will also help our planet. Solar power is a renewable substitute to fossil-fuel burning sources. It is free from the sun and never runs out, therefore switching to solar energy is one of the biggest changes we can make in our communities to restrain global warming.

To improve the health of the environment and generations to come, solar is an extremely wise investment, especially in schools. 

Have you been thinking about getting solar panels for your home or local school? If so, call  Solar Solutions at 915-581-0461 and talk to a professional who can answer any questions you may have.

Why You Should Camp With a Solar Panel

/0 Comments/in , , /by

With summer shortly approaching, your mind is automatically planning trips you want to take with family and friends. Perhaps you want to get back to the simplicity of nature by going camping, but you don’t want to completely go off of the grid. In that case, bringing a solar panel camping will allow you to enjoy electricity at any time without doing any damage to Mother Nature.

Are you worried about running out of battery on your next camping trip? No need to panic. You’ll still be able to run your refrigerator, mobile device and camping lights if you use solar power. You won’t have to detract from the peace and quiet you went outdoors to find, like generators tend to do. Instead, you can use solar power, a clean form of energy that’s natural, renewable and free.

What you’ll need

A compact and portable solar panel, a solar regulator, a deep-cycle auxiliary battery and an inverter (if you’re planning to charge large appliances such as a television or laptop.)

How it works

A solar panel gathers power from the sun, which then flows into the battery through the solar regulator. Solar regulators are important because they prevent damage to your battery from fluctuating charge or overcharging. How much power your panels gather depends on their size, how they’re used and the amount of sunlight hours in a day. Keep in mind that not all sunlight is created equal. Factors such as geographic location, surrounding temperature and the time year all have an influence over how much power your solar panels are able to gather.

How to calculate your solar power requirements

Knowing how to calculate your equipment’s power usage is key to creating a solar power system that’s tailored to you. If you don’t have a basic understanding of how much power your appliances are using, you could end up buying the wrong-sized solar panel or incorrect battery.  To calculate your usage, look at your devices and see if they have a power draw on the label, then figure out how long per day you will operate the equipment to calculate its overall power draw. To figure out how to calculate your solar power requirements in depth, check out iTechWorld.

How to set up your solar panel

In order to optimize its best performance, position and align your solar panel perpendicular to the sun, it will capture the maximum amount of solar energy. When possible, try to align your panels according to the sun’s position in the sky and clear off any dust that gathers on the panel with a microfiber cloth.

Now that you’re thinking about solar panels, call GR Solar Solutions, one of the most experienced solar power companies in Texas and New Mexico, at 915-581-0461 for more information.

How do Solar Systems Produce Energy?

/0 Comments/in , /by

If you take some time to watch YouTube videos, do a search for living in a van and see what appears. There are quite a few videos that show van dwellers who are able to call a van or RV their permanent home thanks to solar panels on their roofs. It’s a pretty amazing thing to think they can be in a van reading articles on their computer screen while running a blender to make a smoothie.

Take a look around the neighborhood where you live. Be on the lookout for solar panels. You’ll see more and more of them as time goes by.

Solar power from the sun can be converted into energy to power things, and that’s a modern day marvel, isn’t it?

Solar panels receive light from the sun. Not to get too technical, but the sun’s rays are converted into electricity by exciting electrons in specially-designed silicon cells that utilize the photons of light coming from the sun.

Did you know solar panels contain “photovoltaic” cells? This is a big, fancy word that means electricity from light. Underneath glass, these cells have a positive and negative film of silicon. When light hits them, electrons get knocked off the silicon. Negatively-charged free electrons end up on one side of the cell creating electric voltage. Thus, electricity is collected and channeled to run people’s appliances, computers, and more in their vehicles, homes or wherever else they need it. When more and more solar panels are linked together, even more electricity can be generated.

The electricity ends up at an electrical box which contains fuses as well as connections delivering power to an item called the inverter. DC (direct current) gets converted into AC (alternating current) thanks to the inverter. The AC gets connected to a circuit breaker in the electrical panel. Power goes to any electrical loads currently in operation.

GR Solar Solutions can install solar panels on or near your home. Please call 915-581-0461 to discuss your needs.

Source Used:  http://www.nwwindandsolar.com/solar-power-in-seattle-and-the-northwest/how-do-solar-systems-produce-energy/

Myths Surrounding Solar Energy

/0 Comments/in /by

MythsThe sun is nature’s way of giving life to the planet. And, in recent years, the sun’s light has been harnessed to provide power for many people the world over. Solar energy is becoming increasingly popular, yet there are plenty of myths associated with it.

For instance, some people think that solar panels require a tracking system to follow the angle of the sun. For residential purposes, moving parts aren’t needed. They’ll work just fine staying stationary. Interestingly, since solar panels have no moving parts, they don’t require maintenance. As for cleaning, the rain will clean them off so you don’t have to!

Then there’s the myth that solar panels are ugly. It turns out that they’re quite sleek and are seen as a way to enhance the look of a place these days.

Is it just “too expensive” to have solar panels? Actually, most customers notice they save money using solar energy compared to the traditional way of powering their home. Thanks to modern financing options, solar panels are being installed on homes with little-to-no money down.

What about foggy or cloudy days? People often wonder if their solar panels still work when it’s cool, cloudy and/or foggy outside. The good news is this: they work fine in ambient light. They’re nearly as efficient on cooler days.

Finally, people often think, “Well, solar power will get more efficient so I should wait before I buy.” This might surprise you– the same solar technology from the 1960s is being used today! Unlike cell phones and computers, solar power doesn’t experience dramatic improvements in short periods of time. As solar panels become more efficient, it’ll just mean you won’t need as many as before.

GR Solar Solutions of Texas provides solar pool heating systems, solar domestic hot water heaters, and photovoltaic solar systems, with locations in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Please call 915-581-0461 (Texas) with any questions you have about solar energy.