Computers enhance solar efficiency.The phrase "cat on a hot tin roof" captures the sense of how much heat can accumulate atop a typical U.S. home. If only that heat could be captured and used efficiently. Now, A. Hunter Fanney, a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of "working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards" in the national interest. in Gaithersburg, Md., and his colleagues report a new type of solar water-heating system that uses microprocessors to increase efficiency by as much as 25 percent. In the new system, a rooftop array of photovoltaic cells A semiconductor diode that converts light into DC voltage. Also known as "solar cells," photovoltaic cells are used in a myriad of applications from simple light sensors to complete energy creation systems. See photovoltaic. sends electricity to heating elements Noun 1. heating element - the component of a heater or range that transforms fuel or electricity into heat bar - a heating element in an electric fire; "an electric fire with three bars" in a water tank inside a house. The novel component is a computerized computerized adapted for analysis, storage and retrieval on a computer. computerized axial tomography see computed tomography. control module that regulates current flow between the solar cells solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of silicon crystal. When light strikes the exposed active surface, it knocks electrons loose from their sites in the crystal. and heating elements, Fanney reports. As the intensity of sunlight falling on solar cells varies, the computer adjusts the distribution of power to an array of heating elements in the water tank. Regulation of the energy flow converts a higher percentage of power to heat. With the controller, a 16-square-meter solar panel could supply up to 75 percent of the hot water used by a typical family of four, Fanney says. |
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