Solar Power: The Advantages And Disadvantage Of Solar Energy

1058 Words3 Pages

Solar energy is solar radiation or sunlight that’s given off by the sun. Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect which is how electricity can be generated from sunlight, but the solar cell wasn 't invented until 1941 by Russell Ohl. which creates electricity or heat. Solar power cells convert solar radiation or sunlight into electricity, using the energy of photons to make an electric current within the solar panel. The electric current then flows out of the solar panel into an inverter that converts the DC power into an AC power, which is then used by the population. There are two types of these solar panels, there’s a passive and an active. Passive solar panels convert solar radiation into usable heat …show more content…

The main reason solar energy is getting so big is because of the advantages of the use of solar energy. The main advantage of solar energy is that the power source is infinite unlike fossil fuels which are limited. Scientist currently predicts that in the next forty to fifty years fossils fuels will expire. Also solar energy is cleaner, rather than fossil fuels, solar energy doesn’t give off pollution and also is water efficient. Nuclear power plants and gas power plants use up so much water to cool the plant down, solar panels however doesn’t need water for anything. Solar plants can also be set up in remote areas where other types of plants can’t be set. Also solar panels don’t need maintenance to run, it works on its own, besides annual cleaning to clean the solar …show more content…

Some solar panels only produce electricity when the sun is shining but scientist thing they may have a solution to change that. Scientist made carbon nanotubes which are atom-thin layers of carbon rolled into small tubes which absorbs the suns radiation and stores it. It can only generate heat, not electricity, but in the near future scientists believe that they can change that. It’s a major improvement over not being able to use anything when the sun isn’t shining. According to defense one, MIT/ Harvard team is currently looking into other types of photoswitching and under laying layers to possibly increase the amount of energy the carbon nanotubes can hold. Also the use of solar panels in wintry climates is the same, if snow covers the solar panel then the efficiency of the panel is highly reduced. The solar panel would still work but not work efficient enough. This problem can be solved with a tracker, which is a device that tilts and move towards the sun, which improve efficiency but cost tens of thousands of dollars. So places like Michigan that causes a problem in the winter time, but when its 30 degrees or lower and sunny outside solar panels tend to work better. Solar panels are built to last the most extreme weather conditions and last up to twenty to thirty years or more with annual cleaning and maintenance. Solar panels are very resistant and

More about Solar Power: The Advantages And Disadvantage Of Solar Energy

Open Document