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1) Individual silicon based (most commonly) cells called photovoltaics (PV) make up the modern day solar panel. These PV cell clusters perform the task of converting incoming sunlight directly into electricity. 2) Wires attached to the panels transport the converted electricity to a piece of equipment called an inverter. The job of the inverter is to convert the solar generated Direct Current (DC) electricity into the type of power your home can use, which is called Alternating Current (AC). 3) After the electricity travels through the inverter, the AC electricity is then transported via wire to your breaker panel to meet your home’s electric demands. 4) The process doesn’t end there, though. There are times when your panels will generate more power than you consume and times when you aren’t generating enough electricity (night times and periods of low light). When your panels are not generating enough solar electricity, you will continue to get power from your local utility. However, when you’re generating a surplus of solar electricity, that excess clean energy will be “net metered” to your local utility grid and you may earn a credit on your power bill for that net metered electricity.

Solar Energy comes from Sun.

Biodiesel can result in significant reductions in a number of air pollutants. In general, reductions are greater as more biodiesel is used, depending on the type of biodiesel (soybean, rapeseed or animal fats) and on the conventional diesel used in the blend.

Advantages of Tidal Energy1)  It is an inexhaustible source of energy. 2)  Tidal energy is environment friendly energy and doesn't produce greenhouse gases. 3)  As 71% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, there is scope to generate this energy on large scale. 4)  We can predict the rise and fall of tides as they follow cyclic fashion. 5) Efficiency of tidal power is far greater as compared to coal, solar or wind energy. Its efficiency is around 80%. 6)  Although cost of construction of tidal power is high but maintenance costs are relatively low. 7)  Tidal Energy doesn’t require any kind of fuel to run. 8)  The life of tidal energy power plant is very long. 9)  The energy density of tidal energy is relatively higher than other renewable energy sources.

Disadvantages of Tidal Energy 1)  Cost of construction of tidal power plant is high. 2)  There are very few ideal locations for construction of plant and they too are localized to coastal regions only. 3)  Intensity of sea waves is unpredictable and there can be damage to power generation units. 4)  Influences aquatic life adversely and can disrupt migration of fish. 5)  The actual generation is for a short period of time. The tides only happen twice a day so electricity can be produced only for that time. 6)  Frozen sea, low or weak tides, straight shorelines, low tidal rise or fall are some of the obstructions. 7)  This technology is still not cost effective and more technological advancements are required to make it commercially viable. 8)  Usually the places where tidal energy is produced are far away from the places where it is consumed. This transmission is expensive and difficult. Tidal Energy is thus a clean source of energy and doesn’t require much land or other resources as in harnessing energy from other sources. However, the energy generated is not much as high and low tides occur only twice a day and continuous energy production is not possible.

By powering your house with solar panels instead of using nonrenewable sources, you could help fight global warming.

Archeologists have also found evidence that the Romans in England used it in the second and third centuries (100-200 AD). 

In the 1700s, the English found that coal could produce a fuel that burned cleaner and hotter than wood charcoal.

As gas prices rise and global warming becomes more pervasive, more people are using biofuels as a way to save money and decrease their consumption of fossil fuels.

The Brazilian government still awaits a reduction in solar prices to create a specific auction by the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014. However, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) does not demonstrate any signs of this happening.

In 2013, however, revenue and capacity installed are expected to double: projects will be delivered, the resolution 482/2012 will have a major impact, and X% of the National Association of Electric Energy’s (ANEEL’s) research and development (R&D) will conclude. Capacity installed expectations in 2013 will near X megawatts (MW); in 2014, X MW; in 2015, X MW; and beyond, faster expansion is expected. Currently, capacity installed for the solar market is X MW, but it is expected to reach X MW by 2017. The total possible capacity installed for Brazil is close to X gigawatts (GW). This market revenue will have a X% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the forecast period (2012–2017) due to ANEEL´s R&D, international events, and the resolution 482/2012 cost reductions. Now, market revenue is close to $X million and can reach $X million by 2017.

Distributed generation could grow faster with financial support, better service from energy concessionaries, and cost reductions; nonetheless, it will grow considerably.

8: One Megawatt of Wind Energy = 2,600 Fewer Tons of Carbon Dioxide So, with all the noise about clean energy, what kind of improvement are we really talking about with wind? Consider that every year 1MW of wind energy can offset approximately 2,600 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) [source: NREL], and the interest comes into focus. The simple math is less fossil fuel consumption equals less CO2. And measuring carbon reduction has become a key benchmark for monitoring the progress of alternative energy adoption.

We have been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years. From old Holland to farms in the United States, windmills have been used for pumping water or grinding grain. Today, the windmill's modern equivalent - a wind turbine - can use the wind's energy to generate electricity.

Wind turbines, like windmills, are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more aboveground, they can take advantage of the faster and less turbulent wind. Turbines catch the wind's energy with their propeller-like blades. Usually, two or three blades are mounted on a shaft to form a rotor.

A blade acts much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade. The low-pressure air pocket then pulls the blade toward it, causing the rotor to turn. This is called lift. The force of the lift is actually much stronger than the wind's force against the front side of the blade, which is called drag. The combination of lift and drag causes the rotor to spin like a propeller, and the turning shaft spins a generator to make electricity.

The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft connected to the generator and produces electricity. Turbine blades are designed in such a way that wind causes them to rotate, which rotates the shaft at low speed, with a gear at the end that itself is connected to small gear on high speed shaft that runs through alternator housing.

he generator produces electricity using the same principle as a generator of your car (depending on the turbine). Magnetic Rotor inside the generator on high speed shaft spins inside loops of copper wire that are wound around an iron core. The rotor creates “electromagnetic induction” as it spins around the inside of the core through the coils, which generates electrical power. The current is regulated and transmission network (or home network system connection), after some changes, so it can use in our homes or sent to a battery bank for storage.

The combined health, environmental, and climate benefits of a solar panel in New Jersey are fifteen times greater than those associated with one in Arizona, and a wind turbine in West Virginia displaces twice as much carbon dioxide as the same turbine would in California.