The Cultural and Economic effect of Solar Panel Technology on our Society. Solar energy and its use isn’t new to the world. It has been used by various societies beginning from 7thCentury B.C, when the sun’s heat was concentrated by glass and mirrors to light fires. Today, we have everything from solar-powered buildings to solar-powered vehicles. By and large solar technology has some environmental, economic, psychological and ethical implications for our society. Actions taken by companies and individuals to increase the use of solar technology will create good local jobs, improve our environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil while doing what’s ethical and moral for our society. What …show more content…
The costs for installations are outrageous and it will take years just to make the installation fees back. If more of these expensive farms are built before we can research to get the price lowered, we will all be hurting through our tax dollars. So beware… solar technology isn’t as friendly as it seems! This issue has stopped some politicians in their tracks and has complicated the process of building solar farms. Politicians have spent a long time debating this. Instead, a rule could be passed that restricts the areas in which solar farms can be built. These areas should have low economic value (i.e. swamps, desert land or rooftops). The slowdown of the process may hamper our efforts of bettering our socioeconomic lives as well as the environment. Solar power is one of the most environmentally benign energy sources available. Just 20 days of sunshine produces the same amount of energy as everything stored in Earth’s reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas—yet does not come close to producing the same amount of environmental damage as even one of those options (Greentips, 2005). Solar farms are a clean renewable source that can meet high energy demands and can creates thousands of jobs in the future. It is also used during peak demand for electricity. During the hottest days, the panels are absorbing more energy while homeowners have the a.c. on full blast. They can be installed anywhere
Global climate change has fundamentally transformed the way civilization views the energy of the future. As evidence of the drastic consequences of nonrenewable energy has become more widely accepted, society has embarked on developing innovative solutions to the energy crisis. In areas that experience prolonged periods of sunlight, solar panels have become a sustainable and cost-effective form of renewable energy. The Mojave Desert, located in California and Nevada, has proven to be one of the most promising areas for solar development (The Nature Conservancy). Fortunately, BrightSource Energy has invested $2.2 billion in the construction of a solar farm in the Mojave Desert region (Cart, 2012). The development of solar projects creates a
Solar is extremely efficient in most weather conditions. For instance, even in places where it’s often overcast like San Francisco or Seattle, solar production is surprisingly efficient.
Akarslan’s book is about solar energy that is used around the globe. Focusing on the pros and cons of the solar panel, Akarslan links that the most controversial green technology isn’t holding up to its reputation. He goes into depth of each time period to explain the direction and development of the solar panels. Akarslan sheds light on the negative effects that have been masked by the positive effects that society focuses on. He links key scientific development of the solar panel and demonstrates how we can change part of the solar panel so that it would cause less harm to the environment. For example, there are many ways to create a solar panel, all being different by the material we use to compose to device, and increasing the efficiency
Claim: Solar power has the potential to become the United States main supply of energy and replace are needs for more conventional and harmful forms of power generation.
Solar Energy has amazing potential as a primary source of energy with a host of benefits. The sun provides vast amounts of free renewable energy that should be harnessed. A realistic Solar Energy Policy should be defined and pursued vigorously. The capture of the sun’s energy is underway but supplies only a small fraction of our current energy requirements. Non-renewable sources of energy have been the primary source of energy production throughout the industrialized world. Fossil fuel technology drives most of our economy. We power our cities, industries, and cars with petroleum based products such as gas and heating oil. In some areas there is still reliance from coal to generate power and heat. One downside if we keep using non-renewable resources there is a chance we could deplete these resources. Solar radiation could be seen as an ideal energy source, as it is abundant, free and essentially limitless. Shifting from non-renewable resources to renewable resources could be beneficial to our society. Just as certain climate factors affect air pollution, air pollution can alter the climate. Global warming has transitioned into global climate change, shifting from average weather conditions as a result of natural and human factors. Predominantly caused by human activity, the formation of an aggressive solar energy policy would help to reduce both pollution and it reduce the dependence on imported fuels. This
The pros of using this energy source is that when using solar energy it saves a lot of money from your annual electricity bill. It also doesn’t use fossil fuels. Why? Since we used fossil fuels for anything it creates pollution, which is not good for the environment. It is a sizable share for the energy supply. This does not use fossil fuels and does not require any fuel combustion. This then reduces the dependence of fossil fuels. The cons of this energy source is that in the winter time when the sun is not out you cannot produce much light. Also it is very expensive to build and it takes energy from the sun and the energy from plants. Lastly, it takes over a lot of land and habitats can be destroyed from
In the last decades energy consumption has come to a time where people started noticing the climate changes and the effect of fossil fuel energy for not only being environmentally destructive, but also causing Global warming (the warming that occurs as a result of increase emissions of greenhouse gases) has become a very big issue worldwide. The fossil fuels (Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas) which is the main sources of the world’s energy sources, is also one of the main causes of the climate change. In addition with some human activities (e.g. through burning fossil fuels), they have contributed immensely to the global warming, which has also affected the climate conditions in the world. The affect of these changes has prompted some people to propose alternative energy like solar panels. According to Abby Gruen, after realizing the issues, the engineers at Bell Laboratories come up with the first useful photovoltaic cell, an alternative to fossil fuel energy but less harmful for the environment and the pocket. Solar panel which uses renewable energy like the sun to light homes heat and produces electricity. Unlike fossil fuel, solar panels is less harmful for the environment. Since it creation few decades ego, just recently solar panel started getting popular in homes in the United States and around the world. When it was invented people were not interested about it, because of the high installation price, however the price has changed dramatically since then. Even though
The Sun’s energy out powers all of the energy sources made on Earth. Even though only a fraction of the Sun’s energy makes it to Earth, it is still ten-thousand more times powerful than the energy sources on Earth. However, we are unable to harness such energy because of the many breaches we have to past through to achieve solar energy. As well, solar energy lacks certain aspects causing fossil fuels to be valued more. Although, by creating engineering advancements to improve the efficiency, expenditure, and availability of solar energy, the problem of solar energy usage will be resolved.
One of the major setbacks of using solar energy is the cost. It is expensive to
Fossil fuels have depleted greatly over the last ten years causing many to wonder what the next renewable source will be to use if fossil fuels run out. A renewable source comes from natural resources which are naturally replenished and have the ability to reproduce through biological and natural process. One of those options widely discussed is solar energy, it’s power is obtained by harnessing the energy of the sun 's rays and converts light energy to generate electricity through photovoltaic or solar cells. Solar has no environmental effects and is ecologically acceptable. Solar energy is one of the few alternative renewable resources that doesn’t pollute the earth but also isn’t 100% risk free. The amount of sunlight that hits the earth in 1 minute meets the world’s energy demands for an entire year. That’s an impressive feat that even regular fossil fuels can’t compete with. Solar Energy has been around for over the past 50 years but it has been talked about longer than that, according to Je Solar, in 1447 Leonardo Da Vinci himself predicted that there would be a solar industrialization. It doesn’t just work on sunny days too as many believe as research shows even on a cloudy day or at night. It can also be used for many other technological advancements that can help power the entire world. Solar energy also saves money and is very effective to everyday life. Solar energy can be used for many every day tools such as heating, cooking, cleaning and just regular
Think about solar energy and the first image that springs to the mind is that of those arrays of shiny photovoltaic panels adorning the rooftops and the countryside. Indeed, photovoltaic cells still remain the most popular way of generating solar power. Solar power, for one thing, is not cheap. However, even though the initial set up costs can be quite high, the long-term financial benefits of using solar power are too strong to deny.
As world population continues to rise and economic development drives energy consumption upward, the necessity of energy diversification will intensify. Obvious concerns for fossil fuels, such as their inherent finitude and the pollution costs, only further accentuate the need for adoption of non-fossil fuel energy sources. In the renewable energy market solar energy is an increasingly popular option. Over the past 15 years, falling prices and increasing efficiency have resulted in a 20% increase in solar energy production; furthermore, as the Sun provides enough radiant energy to Earth each day to power society for year, the potential for solar development is markedly high but requires substantial development (National Geographic 2014). Solar energy production often takes two general forms: for residential power production, the photo-voltaic cell panel (hereafter PV) is the dominant mode; for commercial production, solar energy is converted to thermal energy and harnessed via turbine. Regardless of implementation, the primary obstacles of solar energy adoption are geographic space and high costs; otherwise, solar energy is a remarkably adaptable technology that can be deployed nearly worldwide despite differences in climate (National Geographic 2014). For the purposes of this research report, the focus will revolve around PV
Nuclear energy has given us the power to produce more weapons than to produce things that can make the world a better place to live in. We have to become more careful and responsible while using nuclear energy to avoid any sort of major accidents. Nuclear Power Plants are a big target for terrorist and attacks. Solar Power has its disadvantages just as well as Nuclear Power does. “Many nuclear power plants were situated next to the ocean to have ready access to huge volumes of water, and sometimes they were built on land that was not very high above mean sea level.” (Natalie Kopytko)”. The cost of purchasing and installing solar panels always become the first disadvantage when the topic of solar energy comes up. It can take up to 10 to 15 years to actually invest on the solar panels. The location of solar panels is of major importance for generation of electricity. Houses which are covered by trees and landscapes
The search for cost effective and efficient renewable energy is becoming an increasingly important area of study. According to Sampaio, “with the increase of population and technologic and economic development, human beings need more energy to create a better life environment.” Fossil fuel energy sources, while cost effective, have major environmental impacts that add to global warming, acid rain, and climate change. One renewable resource that is sustainable and readily abundant is solar energy, which is a reasonable and readily available replacement for fossil fuel energy sources globally.
With the world's natural resources depleting rapidly, humans must find a way to compensate. This society has milked oil, coal, gasoline, lead, uranium, and many other of these reservoirs in our Earth for hundreds of years and much has been done. Asphalt was used for our roads and highways, coal was originally used for heat before there was oil, and even water was used as a form of electricity on many rural farms. Luckily, more companies around the world are waking up to the fact that these resources will not be around forever, and that in the near future, other forms of energy will take heed. Solar energy, or energy powered by the sun, is one of the most promising. Since the sun's rays create so much