Solar Energy
Solar heating is the natural way to reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint. It doesn’t have to cost the earth.
Solar Energy for a Brighter Future
Solar energy is free, clean and safe. It produces no carbon emissions, one of the major contributors to global warming. Using solar energy enables you to reduce your carbon footprint as well as your energy bills. Tax credit and grants are available through many Government initiatives. Solar thermal technology is a perfect investment in today’s economic and financial climate. Reliance on traditional fossil fuels is no longer a viable option. Limited resources, fluctuating prices along with the impact on today’s environment means a shift towards renewable technology is inevitable and key to survival.
What is Solar Energy?
Solar Energy – Ireland and UK’s Largest Energy Resource
Solar radiation drives all natural cycles and processes on earth such as rain, wind, photosynthesis, ocean currents and several others that are important for life. From the very beginning of life, the overall world energy need has been based on solar energy. All fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) are a result of solar energy.
The energy from the sun acting on the earth’s surface, over a 15 minute period, is more then the earth’s total energy requirement for a year. The amount of yearly global radiation on a horizontal surface may reach over 2,200 kWh/m2 in sunny regions. In Northern Europe, the maximum values are 1,100 kWh/m2 and are 943kWh/m2 in London and 990 kWh/m2 in Rosslare, Ireland.
The supply of solar radiation in UK and Ireland differs by a
factor of 10 between summer and winter, e.g. Rosslare: 6.36
kWh/m2/day in June; 0.64 kWh/m2/day in December. Fig 1.
Global radiation comprises direct and diffuse radiation.
As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, some of it is
absorbed, refl ected and scattered by air molecules, clouds
and dust particles, this is known as diffuse radiation. The
portion of radiation that hits the earth’s surface without any
change in direction is known as direct radiation. Fig 2.
In Ireland and UK, diffused radiation makes up between 40%
(May) to 80% (December) of the total solar energy available
in a year.