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| news archive | |
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Summer 2006 Newsletter |
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In this issue: |
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What's a Watt? (and other mysteries of the world of electricity) |
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Are you a QF interested in becoming a producer via an RFP for grid-tied PV of 10 kW or greater, with a premium paid for kWh generated and supplied to the grid through an I.O.U. located in N.C.? If so, click here. If, however, you are scratching your head wondering what exactly a kW is and how you can tie it to your I.O.U., then don’t despair, because you are not alone. The energy industry, like many others, is filled with concepts and terminology that makes comprehending what they do all the more difficult. Most people understand that the power company keeps the lights turned on, but the language of energy and how it works |
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| is a bundled mass of formulas, acronyms and processes that are often as easily understood to the average consumer as ancient Greek. And while having a respect for the complexity of language is always a good thing, being able to speak the language is even better. | ||
The language of energy can be complex and so, as with any new language, it is important to start with the basics. Electricity is energy derived from the flow of electrons, which are negatively charged particles that orbit the nucleus of an atom. The world is filled with atoms. They are all around us and inside of us. Even our body is made up of atoms, which are so small that you could place millions of them on the head of a pin. Atoms are comprised of a nucleus which contains positively charged protons and neutrons which carry no charge. Orbiting around the nucleus, like little planets in a microscopic solar system, are the electrons. |
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Electricity comes from many sources and can be found just about everywhere. Lightning is a form of electricity, with bolts caused by the passing of electrons from cloud to cloud or cloud to ground. Static electricity is another type caused by the exchange of electrons from one surface to another as a result of friction. In their natural state, electrons orbit their atomic home in a kind of harmonious dance. Half of the electrons in the atom spin in one direction and the other half spin in the opposite direction. They are all evenly spaced and everything is in balance. But when the electrons are placed in the environment of a magnet, something very different happens. |
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The evenly spaced, harmoniously spinning electrons skew themselves to one end of the magnet or the other, creating an imbalance in the forces found between each end. The resulting imbalance is called a magnetic field. |
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Electrons flow to the north or south poles of a magnet |
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Most people are familiar with the behavioral tendencies of a magnet. Each end, or pole, of the magnet will either attract or repel another magnet that comes into contact with it. This bipolar behavior is caused by the magnetic field that pushes some electrons in one direction and the rest in another direction. |
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When two magnets meet, like poles repel each other |
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Because of the north-south flow of electrons in magnets, |
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A powerful discovery In the early 1800s, a scientist named Michael Faraday discovered what is now known as electromagnetic induction. The concept of his discovery was that if a magnet was rotated around a loop of wire, the wire would become electrified from the movement of electrons in the metal. That discovery would be compounded on by Thomas Edison who, in 1882, opened the world’s first electric power plant in New York City. It used the same model of a magnet rotating around a wire to generate electricity for the city. Today, power plants use a larger, but similar technique to provide for the electric needs of towns and cities around the globe.
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