Other Uses of Solar Power

For years Solar Energy has been the Power Supply of choice for Industrial applications wherever power is necessary at remote locations. These applications mean Solar Power is economical without subsidy. Most systems in individual utilization’s call for a few kilowatts of power. Examples are powering repeater stations for microwave, TV and radio, telemetry and radiophones.
Solar energy is often used with transportation signaling for instance. offshore navigation buoys, lighthouses, aircraft warning lights on pylons or structures, and in road traffic warning signs. Solar is employed to power environmental and situation monitoring equipment and corrosion protection systems (based on impressing a current) for pipelines, well-heads, and bridges or other structures.
The great benefit for Solar here, is that it is extremely reliable and requires little maintenance which makes it ideal in places that are difficult to get to.
Remote buildings such as schools, community halls, and clinics can all benefit from electrification with Solar Energy. This can power television, video recording, telephone and an array of refrigeration equipment, which is available to meet World Health Organization standards for vaccine refrigeration, for instance. Rather than base Solar power generation or individual domiciles, it is also possible to configure central small town power plants that can either power houses via a local wired network, or act as a battery charging station where members of the community can bring batteries to be recharged.
PV systems can be employed to pump water in remote areas e.g. as part of a portable water supplying system. Specialized Solar water pumps are designed for submersible usage (in a borehole) or to float on open water. Usually, the ability to store water in a tank means that battery power storage is unnecessary. Large scale desalination plants can also be PV powered. Large off-grid systems can be constructed to power larger and more sophisticated electrical leads by using an array of PV modules and having more battery storage capacity.
To meet the heaviest power demands in an off-grid location, the PV system is sometimes best configured with a small diesel engine generator. This means that the PV system no longer has to be sized to cope with the worst Sunlight conditions available during the year. The diesel generator can then provide the back-up power, but its use is minimized during the rest of the year by the PV system, so fuel and maintenance costs are kept low.
Solar energy can also power area lighting to enable more outside activities after dark or improve security, and to illuminate signs or advertising boards.
On an office building, atria can be canopied with glass/glass PV modules, which can be translucent to provide shaded light. On a factory, large roof areas have been the best location for Solar modules. If they are flat, then arrays can be mounted using techniques that don't breach the weatherproof roof membrane. Also, skylights can be covered partly with PV.
The vertical walls of office buildings provide various opportunities for PV incorporation. The first is as a “curtain wall system” that comprises the weather barrier of the building. The second as a “rain screen over cladding scheme”, where there's an underlying weather barrier that provides the insulation and cooling of the building. The third option is to create Sunshades or balconies incorporating a PV system. Sunshades may have the PV system mounted externally to the building or have PV cells specially mounted between glass sheets containing the window.