Solar and Farmers what are the Possibilities For You ?

For thousands of years, farmers have used solar energy to produce food. It turns out that solar energy can be put to work for other purposes as well, for example, generating electricity and supplying hot water for farm and home.

Generating electricity via photovoltaic panels and heating water with specially built components are probably the most feasible uses of solar power available to farmers today. Let's first have a look at how water heating systems work. These systems commonly include storage tanks and solar collectors. The actual sun or heat collectors are weatherproof boxes in which water or other circulating liquids are heated via solar absorber plates.

Water heating systems are considered either active or passive; an active system consists of circulating pumps and controls, while passive systems don't have these components. Active water heating systems can be again divided into direct or indirect circulation systems. Direct systems circ ulate tap water through heat collectors; these are suited for climates with rare freezes. For colder climates, engineers developed the indirect system which circulates a non-freezing transfer fluid through a heat exchanger.

Passive systems are not as efficient as active ones, but passive systems are usually less expensive, more reliable and may last longer due to their simpler construction. These systems come in two basic configurations called integral collector-storage passive systems and thermosiphon systems. Integrated collector-storage designs work well for households with large daytime hot water needs but are not well suited for areas with prolonged cold freezes. In thermosiphon systems, the sun collectors are installed below the storage tank and are placed on or beneath the roof to protect it from freezing.

Besides heating water, generating electricity is another good opportunity to take advantage of solar power. The Arkansas Energy Office provides rebates for small-scale photovoltaic systems placed exclusively on residential rooftops that might be of special interest for people living in remote areas. However, photovoltaic solar power can be used for farm applications as well, most importantly to pump water for providing cattle with water from streams, ponds or wells.

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