Articles from Electrical Contractor

The various forms alternative energy generation share a number of problems. Cost tops the list, when compared to traditional fossil-fuel-based systems. It is assumed the price of basic equipment, such as solar panels and wind turbines, will drop once the market grows large enough so competition—promoted by expanded government subsidies—will stimulate research and economies of scale. However, other problems may be more difficult, though far from impossible, to solve. Two of the biggest are stabilizing and storing the energy produced by the sun and wind, and improving the process efficiency along the entire chain from initial production to final delivery to the end-user. These problems require design and development of new techniques as well as improvement of existing ones. (Read Full Article)