JoleenG

**Thermal Energy Inlightenment, ** ====**Today I would like to talk about thermal energy and how, bit by bit, it saves our world.** ==== ====**Thermal mass materials store solar energy during the day and release this energy during cooler periods. Thus resulting in a clean way to produce heat into your house**. ==== **HERE'S HOW IT WORKS, ** For solar thermal energy plants, large mirrors are used to reflect sunlight onto pipes or a central tower containing water or another substance. When that substance is solar heated, it boils to create steam and spin the turbine. To harness thermal energy from the earth - called geothermal energy - deep holes are drilled into the crust, where rock is superheated by the earth's molten core. Water is heated in these deep layers of rock and pumped to the surface, where it creates steam. In a fossil-fueled power plant, coal is burnt off; the heat (or thermal energy) created is used to drive a piece of rotating machinery to produce electricity. Some fossil-fuel plants use combustion to create steam, but this reduces the overall efficiency of the plant. It is the "burning off" of fossil fuels that is causing the troublesome pollution in our atmosphere. For that reason, solar thermal and geothermal energy are fast gaining support and popularity amongst governments, businesses, utilities and the general population. Inexpensive Water Heating Using the sun's thermal energy to heat water can dramatically reduce your electricity bill. Instead of using an electric hot water heater, many homes have solar hot water heaters that not only heat water but pump it through the house. According to the government's Energy Savers website, solar hot water heaters work in any climate and the fuel is always free. They note that passive water heating systems---those without pumps---require very little maintenance, as infrequently as every 3 to 5 years. Read more: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">This energy saves our world by creating a clean source of energy that can help the world be a better place. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">So far this energy has, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">A report issued in January 2005 by Green Markets International found that solar water heating can be more cost-effective at reducing greenhouse gases than solar electric. They also found that solar thermal is comparable to wind farms and hydro electric facilities in terms of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme and Solar Industry agree on common methodology to calculate installed capacity of solar thermal collectors || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The International Energy Agency’s Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) and several major solar thermal trade associations agreed upon a methodology to present the installed capacity of solar collectors in GWth. This will make it possible to compare the installed capacity of solar thermal collectors with other renewable sources. The absence of such a methodology prevented the energy output from solar thermal collectors from being included in many official statistics on renewable energy.The definition that was chosen is similar to that for photovoltaic modules. A detailed description of the method is given in the technical note referenced below. Because the conversion factor is nearly the same for all collector types, it was decided to use one factor that is 0.7 kWth per m2 of solar collector area for all collector types. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Using this conversion factor, the installed capacity of solar thermal systems was calculated, based on the data from the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme for solar thermal collectors (see graph above). They are compared with the capacities of photovoltaic and wind power as published in UNDP’s World Energy Assessment. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">PG&E Found Solar Water Heating By Far HadGreatest Potential To Reduce Natural Gas Consumption || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Solar Thermal Power vs PV Power <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Solar Water Heating has 4 to 5 times the power density of PV. An average 40 square foot Skyline Water Heater produces thermal energy in an amount equal to the energy of a 2kW Photovoltaic system at a fraction of the cost. Solar Water Heating is a perfect complement to a Photovoltaic system because it doubles the energy ouput of an average 2kW system, at a fraction of the cost. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Good Scources, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Inexpensive Water Heating <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Using the sun's thermal energy to heat water can dramatically reduce your electricity bill. Instead of using an electric hot water heater, many homes have solar hot water heaters that not only heat water but pump it through the house. According to the government's Energy Savers website, solar hot water heaters work in any climate and the fuel is always free. They note that passive water heating systems---those without pumps---require very little maintenance, as infrequently as every 3 to 5 years. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">good scources, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Read more: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]  <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]
 * < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">[[image:http://www.solarroofs.com/images/image001.jpg width="397" height="343" align="center" caption="IEA"]]
 * < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">IEA ||
 * < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">[[image:http://www.solarroofs.com/images/clip_image002_000.jpg width="536" height="365" align="center" caption="power"]]
 * < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">power ||