This paper will explore the many aspects of solar energy. From how it was discovered to what it is used for, how it is used, and the many benefits of it. Solar energy is defined as, radiant energy emitted by the sun. Solar energy has been used for many years and also has been used to generate a number of things that we use today, from solar powered cars and cell phones; solar energy is a huge aspect of human life as we know it. If it weren’t for solar energy, many things may not be able to operate and many other things may not have been discovered because of it.
Solar energy has a long history, dating back to 1767. A Swiss scientist by the name of Horace-Benedict de Saussure created an insulated box with three layers of glass, absorbing energy
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It can be used for ventilation, heating swimming pools, heating a home and even indoor and outdoor lighting. Who would have thought that solar energy would become a part of everyday life? Solar energy can be used residentially, commercially and for transportation. Residential use is of course for a home by powering lights, appliances and other electrical devices; the most common and least expensive for residential use is a grid-tied PV system. The PV system allows homeowners to use their own solar-generated energy and also save money while doing it. The grid-tied system comes with many benefits, excess electricity being produced can be fed back to the grid through a process known as net-metering. Many homeowners seem to be converting to a solar powered home to ultimately reduce the cost of electricity. Commercial use is also an aspect of society that uses solar energy to reduce the cost of electricity. Commercial and residential solar energy use seems to go hand and hand; if a company invests in solar panels, it would benefit and help the company in so many ways. Companies that use solar power benefit from incentives controlled by the government, such as the Feed-In Tariff scheme. Depending on the amount of energy their solar panel system produces, the business makes money. There are number of business that make money yearly because of this incentive; this …show more content…
In 2011 a team of researchers led by Jan Kleissl, a professor of environmental engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, discovered that solar panels on top of a building or home, cools the place five degrees cooler than when it was under an uncovered roof. They also discovered that at night the panels trapped the heat in, reducing the heating cost in the winter; the panels act as shade on the roof. “The more efficient the solar panels, the bigger the cooling effect…the panels reduced the amount of heat reaching the roof by about 38 percent” (NSF). Solar power is ongoing free energy; it doesn’t require raw materials to operate because it comes from a natural source, the sun. Solar power plants also benefit the society by producing jobs. In an article written by David Anderson, he stated that “in 2007 the solar power industry accounted for the majority of the 89,000 jobs creating, distributing and storing clean, renewable energy found in the United States” (Anderson). During this time 65 percent of energy generated jobs were solar based. As far as job creation, solar is ahead of coal by a long shot. Because solar energy is so inexpensive to access, “solar panels have seen a consistent drop in prices over the last three decades and in the last few years; prices have gone from $77/watt to around $.75/watt. That makes solar 99 percent cheaper than it used to be. Since 2008, the cost of coal has
Everyone is looking for a better way to have power. Solar power has very dependable technology, with little to no maintenance. It can bring finical savings by making more power a home owner may need and you can resell back the power company. Lastly help the environment by having no waste so less pollution and takes up unused space by putting them on to the roofs of the houses. In the end Home owners should try looking pass the initial price of Solar panels and see that this is a great way to produce energy that does not produce any carbon foot print.
Solar energy is energy taken from the light that reaches earth's surface from the sun. There are four different kinds of solar energy, which are active solar systems, passive solar systems, photovoltaic cells and concentrating power systems. An active solar systems is a system that captures solar energy by mechanical means. Common active solar systems are often in buildings or homes. Some examples are roof collectors and water heating. Low Intensity and high variability have limited the use of active solar energy in Canada. A pass...
The sun has been a major aspect of life since the beginning of time. People used many other forms of energy before electricity was discovered. There has been a debate over energy resources for years. Many people are worried about what current energy resources may be doing to the environment. Oil spills and nuclear power plant mishaps have only been a few accidents that have had a big impact on the environment and the people who inhabit it. There are plenty of energy sources that do not harm the environment and are still able to get the job done. Solar energy is one energy alternative that will insure the betterment of the country and, at the same time, protect the natural environment.
The challenges that will be faced are the fact that many countries are already producing their own solar energy and storing it as well using it within the grid system that is already established. It’s called harnessing the energy. The main grid systems are aware of the energy that can be produced and in large countries are encouraging solar power for homes and businesses, solar energy is definitely the way of the future. In Burnaby for example if a home owner installs solar panels on their home and does not use all the power produced, the left over energy will go to BC Hydro the home owner will then receive a cheque for the extra energy Hydro is still hooked up to your home and monitors your consumption.
Though this statement is supported by the International Energy Agency (IEA), an authoritative international institution that making his statement much credible, we should realise that there is an underlying assumption for this premise to be true, that is, the current policies are unchanged. Since we are not sure whether the current policies would continue or not, this premise is not necessarily true. On the contrary, according to another report by IEA, solar electricity is estimated to cover 25% of the world’s total electricity needs by 2050, taking up the largest portion of all sources of electricity (IEA,
Using the sun for its heat and energy is not a new idea. It has been around for thousands of years. The first record of sun being utilized for energy and heat dates back to 400 BC. The Greeks designed their buildings and oriented their houses to utilize the sun during the winter and obscuring its hot rays during the summer. The Romans then continued on with harnessing the suns energy by developing window glass that allows the sunlight to come in, but traps solar heat. The Romans even put the sun in their legal system as to make sure that every house had so much access to the sun.
The future of the United States solar energy industry will be shaped not only by economic growth, but also by the rate of declining oil resources and the global realization of the consequences of human induced climate change. Political responses to this realization in the United States include; new policies, legislature, and tax incentives to both businesses and private households to promote growth and investment in the solar power industry.
Preview: Today I will discuss the potential that solar power has to become this country’s main supply of energy and the latest research that can make solar power more efficient and cost effective. I will also present the environmental benefits that come with using solar power over other and more harmful forms of energy.
Solar is a viable alternative energy source with solar panels becoming more affordable and more efficiently designed.
Solar collectors are special type of heat exchangers that transform solar radiation energy into thermal energy. The key component of all solar system is the solar collector. This is a device which absorbs the solar radiation from sun converts into heat and transfers this heat to a fluid ( air, water, oil ) passes through the collector. The solar energy collected is carried from the circulating fluid either directly to the hot water or to a thermal energy storage tank from which can be utilized for use at night or cloudy days.
Today, solar power has become part of our daily lives. Appliances like solar notebooks, solar air-conditioners, solar cars, etc. demonstrate the use of the sustainable power of the sun. As the adverse effects of burning of fossil fuels and the depletion rate of non-renewable energy sources increase, the future of solar energy looks bright. The problem with renewable sources of energy is that they are not easily predictable in advance and vary based on both weather as well as site specific conditions.
... Sunlight and heat will always be available to us because, it is a non-extinguishing resource and so, let us make use of it. With all these points made, there is no question that, solar energy is capable of becoming the world's future power supply. Works Cited Venables, M. (2008), “Bring me sunshine [Solar energy].” Engineering and Technology Vol.
The Earth captures around 342 W/m2 of energy from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which the atmosphere reflects about 77 W/m2 and will absorb around 68 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. Therefore, the Earth’s surface is receiving, on average, about 197 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. This amount of energy received is roughly more than 10,000 times the amount of all energy humans consume per year. This energy can be used to produce electricity or heat. This energy source is not being used to it’s potential considering how much effort would come into effect to store and transport this energy.
One of the most compelling arguments for the use of renewable energy is how many forms exist of it. Nuclear power, solar power, wind power, tidal power, hydroelectric power, pumped storage, wave power, geothermal power, biomass, and biogas are the most widely known renewable energy sources (Darvill, 2013). This large selection of fuels supports the idea of renewable fuels one day powering the entire planet. All the sources of energy have different niches and benefits. Solar energy is extremely ef...
First of all, solar energy is the energy produced when the sun heats the solar panel. Thus, when the sun heats the panels, it produces electricity. Solar power produces energy during the day and can store energy for the night. Solar power does not pollute the environment. However, it has high maintenance cost, and it takes a lot of land space.