Solar Power Has a Future

This is NOT a paper. It is an Annotated Bibliography

Plan: I want to look into solar energy and assess how likely it is to change American energy usage through the 21st century. This type of energy has worked well in Germany and should be greatly considered in the US. I think widespread usage of solar energy can prove a large step in solving our current energy crisis and assist in the current climate crisis at the same time.

Outline

I. Introduction

A. The current energy system needs a new solution

B. That solution may be solar energy

C. Basics of how solar works/types of energy available

D. Generally why solar is a great renewable energy resource

II. The issues and solar energy

A. More detailed explanation of how solar works than the brief explanation given in intro

B. Photovoltaic cells

C. Solar heating

D. Biofuels

E. How solar is the greenest energy source

III. Challenges

A. Technology is expensive

B. The sun only shines part of the day and only on sunny days

C. Batteries are needed to store energy for use at non-peak times

D. Large scale production requires large amounts of land

E. Current technology is very inefficient

IV. Benefits

A. Arguably the greenest energy source

B. Technology pays for itself halfway through its lifespan

C. Installing panels on your home or business allows you to sell that energy to the grid

D. Rather simple for home usage

E. Small scale units take up no space otherwise used

V. Germany’s experience

A. The government pushes solar greatly

B. For a brief time on a June day 50% of the country’s energy was coming from solar

energy

C. Generally how they have been doing: pros and cons of their experience

D. They are continuing to push for greater amounts of solar and other renewable energies

VI. Governmental policies

A. Pressure for utility companies to make a percentage of their energy come from solar

B. Tax incentives

C. Europe feels more pressure from the EU than felt in the US and they’re doing better at

switching to renewables

D. The US still lacks strong governmental policies to make the push toward solar and other

renewables

VII. Conclusions

A. Solar is certainly a way to help solve the current energy crisis

B. Solar alone will not become the new full scale energy provider

C. It works best on a smaller scale especially for the individual