Solar Technology Uses The Sun 's Energy

     Solar energy is the most ancient kind of energy found on earth, for it is as old as the sun. "Solar" means from the sun. The earth is only one of the many planets which is bathed in the sun's overflowing energy. Every second the world receives 95.8 trillion watts of power…just think about that for a minute. Think about how much power the earth just received in the time it took you to read this sentence? It is well beyond the amount of power used in one day. It has the potential to satisfy all our energy needs forever without ever having to use the pollutive fossil fuels ever again. "The problem however, does not lie in the limited source, as do fossil fuels, but in harnessing

One extremely popular source of alternate energy is solar. This energy has been around for a large sum of years and is quite well known as solar panels are being installed on buildings and houses every day. Solar power relies on the enormous amount of energy that comes from the sun in the form of heat and light. This energy arrives in packets called photons, which hit the atoms in solar cells placed on houses and open fields. These photons knock out the electrons which then flow through the cell’s circuit, this, in turn, creates electricity (Figure 1). An electrical panel attached to the circuit then transfers this energy into the house to power lights and appliances. The reason this method of creating power is so popular is due to its many evident advantages. One of which includes the environmental benefits solar panels have. These benefits

installing solar panels are changing tastes and preferences of consumer. As Energy Sage (n.d.) stated,

In this modern fast paced world that we live in, there are many issues that are looked over, energy is one of these. As a world, we are dependant on dwindling fossil fuel supplies and take for granted electricity, oil, and gas. There are four completely renewable sources of energy around us that should be used and developed, they are: wind, growing plants, flowing water, and the sun. These sources of energy are the ones we should be tapping, because they are reliable and renewable. Harnessing the suns energy is the most certain and ultimate energy source. Looking at a brief history and some facts about solar energy, a glimpse of the future can be seen, a future not dependant on

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

Since first discovered in the 1860s, the concept of storing energy from the sun to use as a source of power has been studied and pursued by many programs. Either using solar collectors or photovoltaic cells, the methods of using solar power are becoming more efficient and cost-effective. Solar technology is currently being used by homes and businesses, but is still too expensive and risky for many residents. Researchers are still making advances to solar technology for it to be a feasible energy source in the future.

In today’s world, Earth is facing a major energy crisis and consumes large amounts of energy. Moreover, both developed and developing nations continue to grow reliant on nonrenewable energy to power their rapidly expanding nations. Not only will the world run out of these resources, but the Earth will suffer because of the consequences that come with using fossil fuels. Luckily, there are alternative sources of energy such as the renewable and clean sources of solar energy. For the time being, fossil fuels are more affordable and easy to sell to a variety of markets. On the other hand, solar energy continues to grow and will eventually become more affordable and efficient than nonrenewable energy. Also, solar energy will eventually become cost effective and provide a strong return on investment. Furthermore, solar energy is renewable and will be around even when fossil fuels run out and solar energy will only continue to become more efficient and versatile in the future (“The Pros and Cons”). While fossil fuels may be more affordable, solar energy is cleaner, renewable, and will soon become a far cheaper power source.

Solar panels have become increasingly popular and increasingly common, but there is a huge disadvantage to using them; they require a lot of space. To power the average US home one would need 600 square feet of space - about 55 square meters - which costs $55,000 - almost €70,000 - (Statistic Brain). Now researchers at the Michigan State University believe that they have found a solution to make solar panels more space efficient.

The first step to implementing solar panels in a home is looking at the home’s energy efficiency. It is important for the homeowner to explore their current energy use, and the possible upgrades they can make in order to increase the energy efficiency of their home. Solar energy is not the only option available, which is why it is necessary for the homeowners to see if solar is the best fit for them (“Planning,” n.d.).

Solar power has been around for many years. The very first silicon based photovoltaic was invented by Bell Labs back in 1954. At this time the cost per watt was high at $285 and in 2009 it dropped to a mere $3.00 per watt (Solar Tech USA, 2014). Solar energy dates back as far as the 2nd century with the Greeks and Romans starting fires through broken glass. Indirect benefits from solar have been used way back to even photosynthesis (Bengtson, 2012). Passive solar energy was used to heat building by using the design to capture the sun for heating and lighting. Moving into the 20th century major changes have accrued and there is now concentrating solar power technologies for centralized solar thermal plants (Bengtson, 2012). The public believes that solar is not yet ready to take charge and become a major source of power, yet some experts disagree.

The earth intercepts over 173 thousand terawatts of energy. Solar cells offer a means to harness this energy by converting solar energy into electrical energy. While some may argue that solar energy is an inconsistent energy source, research is being poured into creating more efficient solar cells so that when light is incident on the solar cell, the solar cells operate at their highest possible efficiency levels. Currently, the most efficient solar cells convert 34.5% of sunlight to energy. With innovations like floating solar farms, such as the one pictured in Fig. 1 built in Tokyo Japan, and Tesla’s new solar roof, pictured in Fig. 2, the competitiveness and feasibility for solar energy continues to grow. The question now becomes, can we power the world using solar energy?

19 Executive Summary This publication builds upon past analyses of solar energy deployment contained in the Word Energy Outlook, Energy Technology Perspectives and several IEA Technology Roadmaps. It aims at offering an updated picture of current technology trends and markets, as well as new analyses on how solar energy technologies for electricity, heat and fuels can be used in the various energy consuming sectors, now and in the future. If effective support policies are put in place in a wide number of countries during this decade, solar energy in its various forms – solar heat, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity, solar fuels – can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent problems the world now faces: climate change, energy security, and universal access to modern energy services. Solar energy offers a clean, climate-friendly, very abundant and inexhaustible energy resource to mankind, relatively well-spread over the globe. Its availability is greater in warm and sunny countries – those countries that will experience most of the world’s population and economic growth over the next decades. They will likely contain about 7 billion inhabitants by 2050 versus 2 billion in cold and temperate countries (including most of Europe, Russia, and parts of China and the United States of America). The costs of solar energy have been falling rapidly and are entering new areas of competitiveness. Solar thermal electricity (STE) and solar photovoltaic

We all rely on some sort of power source for our household appliances, devices, lighting and entertainment needs. Sadly, the electricity used in the majority of our homes are powered by something dangerous, fossil fuels. Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and gradually disrupts nature and pollutes the air. Now imagine a reliable alternative source of energy that can fix this issue. Solar energy is the answer. We cannot reverse the devastating damages caused by fossil fuels, but we can take a step forward in the right direction by switching the power in our homes to a solar panel system. Ask yourself why you have not switched to solar panels yet. It is possibly due to misconceptions such as it being too expensive,

Solar power harness the sun 's energy to create electricity. Solar energy assets are enormous and boundless, and they can be tackled anyplace that gets sunlight. The measure of solar radiation, otherwise called insolation, coming to the earth 's surface consistently is more than all the energy at present devoured by every single human activity yearly [1]. Various variables, including geographic area, time of day, and current climate conditions, all influence the measure of energy that can engage in for electricity creation or heating purposes.

1). So, why is solar energy not being used? Currently, solar energy accounts for 8 TWh, terawatt-hour, of the more than 10,000 TWh of electricity produced by the countries in the OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Resch and Kaye, 2007, pg. 63). When comparing these two, energy produced by solar energy is less than one percent of their total energy use. Solar energy is a fantastic resource that is not being taken advantage of all around the world. Resch and Kaye (2007) state that “... these low- carbon technologies could provide more than 30 percent of the world’s energy supply in aggregate by 2040” (pg. 63). In addition, if the world switches to solar energy completely and only are able to harvest 10% of the energy actually emitted by the sun, that 10% of energy would equate to 200 times more than the energy obtained from fossil and hydroelectricity (Emetere, Akinyemi, Edeghe, 2016, pg. 2). Solar energy not only has the ability to produce very large amounts of energy and is more environmentally friendly, it is becoming more and more cost effective. The cost for solar energy is currently decreasing 10% every year (Jurich, 2015, pg. 32). Currently, single solar modules are 3-5 dollars per watt; however, if this technology gets more support and funding, it would be cost-competitive with the current energy cost for the United States (Resch and Kaye, 2007, pg. 63-64). Solar