Energy for Today and Tomorrow: Solar Energy - Research Paper Example

Energy for Today and Tomorrow: Solar Energy Introduction Solar energy refers to the radiant heat and light energy that is usually harnessed from the sun to provide photovoltaic electricity, light, heating and even cooling for both domestic and industrial purposes. According to recent statistics, the Sun radiates approximately 174 Petawatts (Pw) of solar energy daily out of which a major share is absorbed by the atmosphere while another 30% is reflected back to the space (Boxwell 89). Although only a tiny fraction of the sun energy researches the earth’s surface, it is still more than enough for the daily global needs of energy. I have particularly chosen solar energy technology due to its numerous advantages and its promise as the main source of energy for tomorrow. For example, solar energy is currently being lauded as renewable energy source that is both pollution and noise free. In addition, the technology has been widely praised for its versatility. For example, solar cells have a potential of generating power for the domestic buildings and futuristic cars just as easily as it may be used to power satellites in the space. An important limitation of solar energy is that it can not work at night without storage devices like batteries and is often unreliable during cloudy weather. Solar technologies are also still relatively expensive to most people. However, despite some of the few drawbacks, the recent gains in efficiency as well as the rapidly falling prices have seen the use of solar energy has significantly surge within the last decade. As the global energy needs continue to grow and the supply of fossil fuel increasingly diminishing, solar energy is currently one of the alternative energy sources that holds a promise to for the future. Solar Technology and Its Deployment Costs As long as a person has a solar PV, he can be assured of energy supply even during cloudy days. To ensure continuous energy supply, users resorting to PV have to acquire batteries for storage of energy. On the same note, people wishing to adopt this manner of solar energy production have to acquire the solar PV which is expensive. A project aimed at constructing a solar array with the ability to power the whole earth using the contemporary solar technology would need to cater for costs in different aspects of implementation of the given energy system. Solar cell costs would tune to around $59 trillion; the transportation, processing, manufacturing and mining facilities constructed to fulfill the solar goals would tune to $44 trillion; the batteries required for power storage for use during evening hours would tune to $ 20 trillion (Zehner 34). Overall, the whole process will cost $123 trillion in addition to a maintenance cost that would tune to $700 billion annually. If the real installation costs of California based solar projects are anything to go by, a worldwide solar project would cost around 1.4 quadrillion (Boxwell 73). Generally, there are numerous countries facing high population density and high energy consumption as Britain thus making solar technology to be a more relevant energy production approach in comparison with the fossil fuels. Why Solar Energy Holds a Promise as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels Solar energy technology is currently regarded as one of the most viable alternative energy sources capable of fulfilling the goal of different states to control carbon emissions that are arise from the electrical sector through the use of an economically beneficial and a cost-effective way of energy production (Programs to Reduce Household Energy Consumption 168). At present, the increasingly reduced prices of solar energy and the steadily growing generation capacity, based on the advancement in the panels used in the generation process, has granted the solar energy production approach an increased level of use among consumers. However, the advent of the latest generation of the PV’s offers a better promise; the new tools will be capable of capturing more of the sunlight. Countries such as Australia are already employing Spark Solar that has multidimensional surface structures intended to capture extra wavelengths of light (Garg, and Prakash 264). Basically, the advanced cell designs are in a position to convert more than 40% of sunlight into electricity. On the other hand, the introduction of concentrating solar power (CSP) systems presents another element of progress in the solar energy arena. These systems utilize a mix of lenses or mirrors in concentrating direct beam solar radiation in order to produce useful energy forms like electricity and heat. In contrast with the flat plate PV, they never use radiation that is diffused by things like dust or clouds. Thus, they best fit places with high level of clear sky especially in locations that lack smog. In an energy-based report, MacKay (197) uses a UK case study to explain the contemporary energy use and different sustainable energy options for the future. Going by the report, the rate of energy consumption within Britain is around 5000 watts per individual, and the population density is around 250 people for every square kilometer. A multiplication of population density by the per capita energy consumption gives the aggregate primary energy consumption for every unit area, which was 1.25 watts for every square unit for the UK as of 2013. This power density is painfully comparable to the mean power density associated with other renewable sources such as Germany’s Bavaria-based photovoltaic farms and USA’s Vermont-based photovoltaic farms are capable of delivering 4 watts for every square meter or the Europe-based energy crops and wind farms that deliver around 0.24 and 2.5 watts for every square meter respectively. Natural Environmental Assets of the Technology Solar energy developments performed on public land are never compatible with other utilizations of the land. As a result, some extent of loss of ecosystem services surrounds large scale or extended solar developments. The resulting losses would be deemed as integral components of external costs which must be valued in order to be treated as one of the factors that influence use management decision. Whilst the technologies behind solar energy production improve and the level of penetration in the energy market heightens, it becomes more crucial to evaluate the external cost associated with this energy production approach. Solar energy production breeds some negative externalities just like other energy production methods like nuclear power and carbon-oriented energy sources. Processing, smelting, mining and fabricating the panels that aid in solar energy production plus the hardware associated with the energy generation process results into nearly 149,100 megatons of Carbon (IV) oxide. Another aspect of pollution is manifested in the attempt of the energy generation processes to recycle or dispose the solar panels. Conclusion In conclusion, solar energy is currently one of the viable green energy sources that hold significant promise as alternatives to the fossil fuels. Despite some of its few drawbacks such as high costs of installation and unreliability during cloudy weather, solar energy has been lauded as versatile renewable energy source that is not only pollution and noise free. The promise of solar energy has been further boosted by the recent gains in efficiency as well as the rapidly falling prices have seen the use of solar energy has significantly surge within the last 15 years by up to 20%. Works Cited Boxwell, Michael. Solar Electricity Handbook: A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy : : How to Design and Install Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems. Ryton on Dunsmore, Warwickshire, U.K: Greenstream Publishing, 2012. Print. Garg, H P, and J Prakash. Solar Energy: Fundamentals and Applications. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill, 2000. Print. MacKay, David J. C. Sustainable Energy-Without the Hot Air. Cambridge, England: UIT, 2009. Print. Tiwari, G N. Solar Energy: Fundamentals, Design, Modelling and Applications. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2006. Print. Zehner, Ozzie. Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism. University of Nebraska Press, 2012. Print. Read More