Solar Power : The Future Of Solar Energy

Solar energy is clean, eco-friendly and also sustainable. Due to the fact that the energy produced from the

Solar energy is created by converting sunlight into electricity using photovoltaics (PV) or the less common

While solar power is one of the cleanest, environmentally friendly ways of producing energy, its popularity has rapidly declined, especially in the United States. Currently, solar power is an excellent supplement to other sources of energy, and has been rumored to eventually

Solar industry has been paying lots of attention to coating technology in the past 10 years. Solar energy is considered the future of alternative energy sources. It has been recognized as one of the most widely used renewable sources of energy in the few recent years for its non-polluting characteristics which combats the Greenhouse effect on global climate created by the use of fossil fuels, figure 1.6. The generation of solar power is done by converting the solar energy into electricity by using either photo-voltaic (PV) solar cells (direct method) or concentrated solar power (CSP). Photoelectric effect is used by PV cells to convert solar energy into electric energy. With the rapid growth of solar energy harvesting as a clean source of power, the enhancement of solar cell efficiency grabs more attention nowadays.

The greatest energy that can be produced by the sun is electricity. Photovoltaics, or solar cells, capture the sun and convert it into electricity. Solar cells were discovered by the Europeans back in the 1870’s when they used selenium to develop the telegraph. They found that when light hits selenium it would produce and electrical current. Soon enough there were many scientists and engineers working on photovoltaic systems. Silicon and Selenium proved to be the two best elements to conduct electricity when light hits them. Photovoltaic systems (PV cell) work by converting the suns light into electricity. A semi conducting material absorbs the sunlight, that energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, this allows the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity. The further development of solar cells can be attributed to the satellite industry. Solar cells were expensive and there was no use for them until satellites came. Because it is impractical to tether satellites it became important to develop solar energy at any cost that would power these satellites. This created a sustainable market for solar power, the first of its kind.

Solar power is the most abundant most renewable resource that we have and it is free. The process starts when the sun shines on Solar PV panels that have been installed on your roof. Photovoltaic refers to the scientific process by which solar energy is converted into electricity. There are a number of silicon cells within each PV panel. These react with photons, or units of light, from the sun to produce direct current or electricity. DC electricity then travels to an inverter, which converts this energy to electricity known as alternating current or AC that can be used in your home or office. AC electricity then travels to the distribution network in your home powering your domestic or office appliances. When your solar panels produce more electricity than your home or office is using, the extra electricity gets fed back into the national grid. Yet, there are many processes the PV cell actually goes through to produce power of electricity. The top and bottom layer of the PV cells are protective glass layers with conducting coding’s. Electricity in the form of electrons flows in and out of these conducting coding’s while electrical production process happens in the middle layer of the PV cell. At the molecular level, a photon strikes a dye molecule absorbed on the surface of the TiO2 causing an excited state, which releases an electron into the TiO2 that exists through the conductive layer. The

Solar energy begins with the sun. Solar panels, also known as photovoltaics, are used to convert light from the sun, which is composed of particles of energy called "photons", into electricity that can be used to power electrical loads. Light from the sun is a renewable energy resource that provides clean energy, produced by solar panels.

Solar energy is rising throughout the United States. This source is mainly used in remote locations, but is becoming popular in urban areas. In 18 days of sunlight the earth receives an equal amount of energy stored in all of the earths reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas. Solar energy is produced by collecting sunlight with large, flat panels, made up of individual solar cells, and converting the sunlight into electricity. Solar energy is an alternative to fossil fuel and it is important to know the advantages, disadvantages, and the overall price.

Solar energy is the largest energy resource available on earth. Not to mention concern about climate change have made this resource prevalent to individuals looking to lower their carbon footprint. Installing solar panels can decrease a household’s carbon footprint by an average of 35,180 pounds of carbon dioxide per year (Tusher, Christine, 2014). Solar panels got their start in the 1950s. They are what produce solar electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells, meaning they are batteries that harness sunlight, transform it into energy, then send the energy to an inverter, which in turn converts the energy into electricity. A well-known example of an object that uses solar panels to power itself is a solar-powered calculator. One advantage

Solar energy is energy that is collected from the sun that is then turned into electricity. The most common medium for using solar power is the use of solar panels. Through the use of solar panels people can use that harnessed electricity to power their houses, household appliances, their cars, even their towns and cities.

Solar energy is a type of energy that is used in many households all around the world it is a renewable resource meaning once you use it you can replace it. It is a great energy source that is going to rule over coal and oil when we run out of fossil fuels. Electricity received from the panels is light energy that has been converted.

There are two main forms of solar power: The use of photovoltaic, or PV, cells, and the use of thermal energy from the sun. Photovoltaic cells exploit the photoelectric effect, which converts the protons from the light of the sun into electrons, which can be converted into energy. Photovoltaic energy accounts for fifteen gigawatts of global energy, which is equivalent to fifteen large electric power plants. Also, the production of PV cells has increased by two thousand times over the past twenty years, and it is expected to continue to grow. Solar-thermal energy takes the thermal energy created by the sun and turns it into electricity. Although it only only produces as much energy as one large power plant, solar-thermal energy has many domestic uses. It can not only be used for electricity, but also for solar heating, which uses sunlight to heat up houses. Solar power has already proven to be a reliant source of energy, and it will only continue to improve in technology and

Basically, Photovoltaic (PV) panels use layers of silicone doped with other materials and sandwiched together to extract free electrons using sunlight. A dopant on one side of the panel generates a negative charge and on the other side a dopant generates a positive one. This creates an electric field and when sunlight passes through the panel it has the chance to knock an electron off an atom. Metal plates on the sides then collect these electrons, because of the potential from the electric field, and a current is generated which goes on to be converted to alternating current in an inverter and then used to power our homes (Dhar, 2013). Photovoltaic panels are ideal for any residential application because they require little to no maintenance as they have no moving parts, they can just be set up and run as much as necessary to supplement household power. Unfortunately though they only supply power when the sun is out so they would never be able to be the primary power source for a home. Commercially, thermal plants have the ability to produce large amounts of power in multiple phases and as technology improves it may soon even be able to run around the

Saving money is not a concept easily grasped when it comes to bleeding millions every year in efforts to maintain growing energy concerns. One of the major advantages of solar panels is that they can potentially become the country’s smart grid, providing energy to homes and businesses along their path.

In addition, solar energy operational costs are manageable. It is free from monthly charges compared to conventional sources of energy. Solar energy does not require raw materials such as oil and coal, and once the panels are built, there will be no monthly charges. In addition, the prices of fossil fuels are increasing day by day, and this means conventional energy will be very expensive. Solar energy will remain the most capable world’s future power supply because, it is cost effective once the plants are built, and there will be no transport costs like for conventional energy sources. Therefore, solar energy is cost-effective, and will help in future energy supply, as the maintenance cost is affordable, as long as they are installed properly, and are working efficiently ( Hans, 2012). Furthermore, with the improvement and advancement of technology, it will increase its efficiency, and cost of production thus, making it more cost effective and the world’s best