Electrical Energy Production Basics

 I have often used the analogy, when training sales professionals "You do not have to know how to split atoms to sell electricity", kind of ironic, as I have never been an Atomic Energy supporter. I am always interested to find that when I take a step back from training, and I ask if the trainee or group, know how an atomic reactor produces electricity, or any power plant produces electricity, they many times think it is some "magic" complex process or have no idea. Allow me to reveal the secret. All conventional power plants do the same thing. They turn turbines. They drive a turbine, which spins a generator to produce power. Atomic, coal, oil, wood, gas, geo-thermal, hydro and even wind power plants all spin a magnet inside of a coil (usually made of copper) that causes electrons in the copper, to be knocked out of their orbit of the nucleus by the magnetic field and to be moved in a uniformed direction. THAT'S IT! That flow of electrons IS electricity. How they power the turbine is the only real difference. Hydro power plants harness the flow of water, tides or currents (dams create currents with gravity by dropping water from the top of the dam to a lower point) to turn the turbine. Wind power plants use wind currents to turn turbines. All the rest, all fossil fuel burning plants, geothermal plants and even including the "mysterious" nuclear plants, all use steam to turn the turbines. The steam geothermal plants use comes from naturally occurring water sources heated by sub-surface lava flows, deposits or other volcanic activity. Fossil fuel plants burn their deadly fuels to heat water to create steam to turn turbines. Nuclear plants do the very same thing, but instead of burning fuel, they "spend" fuel rods. They move radioactive materials closer to each other (or remove control rods from between them) to produce a "reaction" that creates heat that boils water to make steam. The steam drives a turbine, which spins a generator to produce power.                                               Basically it boils down to... STEAM!                                                       Humans have been harnessing the expansion of water into steam for hundreds of years. This is the same technology that powered the first steam ships and trains HUNDREDS of years ago! It is time to move on to a clean, sustainable energy future.                                                                 Solar Photovoltaics, Solar cells work by absorbing light and converting it to electrical power, referred to as the photovoltaic effect. Photons (light particles) in sunlight hit electrons knocking them out of their orbit of the nucleus of the molecule. The majority of commercial solar cells in use today are made of silicon, the same semiconductor material used in the microelectronics industry. In addition to the semiconductor materials, solar cells consist of a top and bottom electrical contact to move the electricity out of the solar cell. The performance of a solar cell is measured in terms of its efficiency in converting sunlight into electricity. Typical commercial solar cells have an efficiency ranging between 10% and 20%, meaning that for every 1,000 watts of sunlight striking a solar module, 100 to 200 watts of electricity will be produced. Several manufacturers have reported working prototypes and production plans for solar modules / panels achieving 36% or higher efficiency; making the potential opportunity even greater in the near future. The bulk of today's solar panel market is served with lower purity, or rejected silicon semiconductor wafer material from the integrated circuit industry. Silicon is abundant in the earth's surface and processing it to a suitably pure crystalline form is getting increasingly cheaper and more efficient. The process is becoming less energy and capital intensive, resulting in lower costs. Lower costs for photovoltaic grade silicon and increasing competition, continue to suggest the trend of increasing supply at decreasing expense will continue for the foreseeable future.


Make a free website with Yola