Solar energy is power generated from the heat of the sun. The sun illuminates and provides heat and warmth on the surface of the earth. Technologies that capture and store solar heat for an extended period of time can be applied to benefit homes, offices, and factories. They can transform solar energy to run devices that provides warmth and lighting during nightime or during cloudy days.

You can make use of solar energy yourself by learning how. Solar energy as a resource is free. However, the cost of materials and equipment you need to tap that resource ranges from high to low, depending on what suits your needs. The good thing about it is that, unlike oil or gas heaters for which you pay every month, you spend less and less for energizing and heating your home with solar energy. Without ill effects on the environment, solar power can cool, heat and ventilate your home.

If you are thinking about having your own solar power for any particular use, it would be easier if you try to find a solar collector first. A solar collector is any material such as clear plastic or glass that can attract and capture the energy brought on by the heat of the sun in concentrated quantities. An example of a trapped or captured heat is when a car that has sat out in the warm sun all day has become exceedingly hot so that you need to open your windows in order to let the warm air escape from your seats and compartments and allowing the car to cool inside. A greenhouse is another example. It has the same effect as its glass or clear plastic walls and roof can attract the heat of the sun and trap it inside to keep the needed amount of heat for the plants to grow normally and efficiently.

Also, tapping solar energy for home use can offer you optimum benefits if you familiarize yourself about what an active and a passive home means. These are two types of solar homes which give homeowners choices on which part of the homes they want energized or what equipment they want run by solar power. Solar energy can be used to warm your home, heat your water, as well as generate electricity for lighting at night. Consequently, you will need to consider the cost which a particular type of solar home entails when you choose the type of solar home you want.

Passive homes do away with special facilities or materials for heating. They merely use their windows for maximized entry of sunlight. The sunlight gets stored by having the doors totally closed during the warmest hours of the day and keeping the heat trapped inside. In the evenings, thick curtains can be used on the windows to keep this heat concentrated inside the home. This allows the natural heat of the sun to warm your home without using any special or elaborate equipment and materials.

Active homes, on the other hand, use equipment such as blowers and pumps. Substitute heating sources also need to be used when the sunlight captured during daytime is not enough for the heat to circulate inside the house. Active homes use specially-designed boxes placed outside to attract sunlight and store the heat, thereby providing more supply of energy to heat the homes. These boxes heat water or air inside pipes and ductwork which in turn facilitate the circulation of heat inside the homes.

In the long term, solar energy is cost-effective. It can heat our homes without spending for artificially-generated heat. Solar energy does not harm the environment and can be found anytime and wherever the sun shines.

Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) have proven to be a hit seller in the UK in recent years and as such become an important part in fighting global warming. All central heating radiators must be fitted with a TRV, following the amendment to the Building Regulations introduced in 2002. The amendment to the Building Regulations requires TRVs to be fitted on all newly installed domestic radiators. Such new requirement has clearly help the TRV market more than double in volume (from around 3.7 million units sold in 1995 to more than 7.5 million in 2003).

With the high profile of global warming in the news, the UK government has set a stretching target for reducing carbon emissions. Along with the Kyoto protocol, the government intends to lead the way within the developed world in terms of reducing the UK’s impact on the environment. The protocol signed by the UK in 1997 sets a target of reducing the baseline emissions of six key greenhouse gases by 12.5% compared to 1990 levels. The UK government has gone further and set a more challenging target of 20% compared to the 1990 baseline, with a long term goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050.

According to Building regulations Part L, central heating engineers must install only A- or B-rated central heating components (such as condensing boilers) that are environmentally friendly and deliver high energy efficiency performance. At current levels, around 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions are released into the atmosphere every year purely as a result of heating our homes. The total emissions level of the domestic sector is even higher and stands on 535 million tonnes per year.

TRVs help reduce wasted heat by allowing the user to set the desired temperature in each room separately. This way the user doesn’t need to heat unused rooms just to get the right temperature in rooms that are used. TRV manufacturers have made the kits not only technically effective but also visually pleasing. Most new units now have polished stainless steel finish which looks nice and is easy to clean.

Modern TRVs use a system of liquid filled controls. Unlike the wax-filled valves that were used in the past, the liquid is more sensitive and as such much quicker to react to changes in ambient temperature. This feature makes the liquid filled Thermostatic Radiator Valve better at adjusting the room temperature when there are changes (such as opening the front door).

Installing a TRV is a major step in reducing wasted heating energy. Nevertheless, it would be a wasted effort if the homeowner (or tenant) is not properly educated on how to use the TRVs effectively to save them money and reduce their carbon footprint. It is estimated that by installing TRVs and using them effectively a home owner can reduce their heating costs by up to 17%.

Another industry that has grown under the TRV umbrella has been the towel warmer. Closely linked to the TRV technology, towel rails have grown to be a 33 million industry last year, with an estimated volume for this year of around 1 million units.

The United States Department of Energy has devoted itself to the cause of renewable energy promotion with its creation of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado.

This renewable energy program facility offers programs in a wide variety of renewable power topics which span the various green energy resources such as wind, water, sun, biomass and even nuclear. NREL also conducts ongoing research and development in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable power. Each area of research is further enhanced by functions that cut across the various programs and reach out to industries for partnerships. These collaborations on renewable energy could include the transfer of technology, energy analysis and the integration of the various programs of each collaborator.

The 12 program areas of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are wind and hydropower technology intergovernmental projects on weatherization the technology of solar energy industrial power efficient technology the technology of fuel cells, hydrogen and building infrastructures geothermal technology the technology of vehicles and the Freedom Car energy management by the U.S. federal government energy-efficient building systems biomass and analytic studies. Each of these NREL programs is conducted by technology management experts whose capabilities and expertise span the programs wide renewable power technology range.

The Analytic Studies Program at NREL studies a wide variety of renewable energy analysis to support the programs and initiatives in place at the Lab. It also works with the Department of Educations Office for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy EERE as well as the energy analysis community at large. The labs Office of Energy Analysis integrates this analysis and supports its functions and the functions of the various research programs and centres of technology throughout the NREL.

Those who study renewable power analysis do so in five major interest areas. They look at the technologies involved in renewable energy, the benefits of the initiatives, and the markets for renewable energy, the policies that affect its implementation and embracement, and the analysis of the various programs. Many research programs are covered that include assessments of life cycles, vehicular systems, Web-based applications to assess renewable power possibilities and programs. The aim of this analysis is to understand how technology, policy, markets and the various software applications can interactive to the success of expansive and continuing renewable energy programs.

The study of biomass is an important ingredient in the renewable power implementation. Biomass offers a terrific opportunity to make use of sustainable as well as domestic resources for the production of power and fuel and the meeting of chemical needs through plants and t he material derived from them. Biomass starts with grasses, trees, biological material and agriculture. These can be used as renewable energy, either solid or through conversion to liquid or gas. These can produce electricity, chemicals, fuel or heat.

An important part of this NREL program is the development of energy-efficient and cost effective biomass technology that will reduce the U.S. dependence on oil from foreign countries, while it grows rural economies in our own country and improves the quality of our air.