Making Solar Energy more Economical - Essay Example

Making Solar Energy more Economical The field of energy economics has focused on energy commodities and energy sources and includes regulatory and market structures; motivating factors to firms and consumers to supply, transport, convert and use energy resources and distributional and environmental consequences. It is cognizant that energy cannot be destroyed or created but can be converted to many forms. It also appreciates that energy comes from the physical part of the environment and returns there ultimately. Providing energy is possible by harnessing energy conversion processes to transfer and reuse the available energy (Beggs 32). The demand for energy is dependent on properties of conversion means, technologies, and costs. Human energy makes use of resources that can be depleted in particular fossil fuels derived from the preferences. Market forces and cartels may guide a transition back to sources that are renewable. Energy as such has its effects and they come in terms of very heavy environmental costs. At the end of it they are incorporated into the energy cost and prices leading to overuse of energy and motivate policy inventions. Focusing on human utilization of the energy commodities and energy resources and the aftermath of that utilization is the main discussion of many experts. From an economist’s perspective the economic terminology, “energy” is inclusive of all energy resources and energy resources that have significant amounts of physical energy and as such can perform work. Partly, the study focuses on forces that lead economic agents to pursue alternatives in terms of other economically efficient provision and use of energy resources and commodities. The role of alternative energy market and regulatory rules on the activities of producing energy is a point of consideration for these studies. There is a kind of energy that can be replenished in a short period of time called renewable energy, which comes from sources that frequently being recycled and usually less polluting than energy from fossil fuels. There are five main categories of renewable energy: wind and solar, biomass, geothermal, hydropower among which the solar energy, provided by heat and sunlight, has been utilized least yet. However, solar energy holds a number of benefits for societies and it has already proven to have positive effects on residential homes and industrial applications. For many years, the economic choice of energy to use has been solar energy in many industries. In this areas power is required at remote locations without government help, as the vast majority of systems used need few kilowatts of power. Also, solar energy is frequently used on transportation signaling. For example, offshore navigation buoys, lighthouses, and increasingly, road traffic warning signals are using solar power due to its power saving efficiency. Solar power’s great benefit here is that it is highly reliable and requires little maintenance so it is ideal to use in places that are hard to access. Following are some details of the major advantages of solar energy. Primarily, as mentioned above, solar power is particularly useful in remote areas where it is lack of regular electricity supply. Moreover, a lot of greenhouse gases such as nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, mercury or sulphur dioxide that come from many traditional fuels have been kept from releasing into the atmosphere, and it greatly contributes to the decrease of harmful green house gas emissions. Accordingly, solar energy is extremely environmentally friendly. In addition, solar energy systems are free of charge substantially on conservation and will last for a relatively long period. Once installed, there are no recurring costs. They do not require you to add any fuel. More solar panels can be set up in the future with your energy requirements increase. Energy security is the guarantee of a reliable and stable supply of energy at reasonable economic prices. Relying on main energy sources such as oil and having a limited natural resource supply puts a country at odds to keep up industrialization and manufacturing. The need for a more comprehensive energy security plan is important to help curb external effects on the availability of main energy sources. Solar energy is a renewable energy source that can never be exhausted. We can obtain renewable energy from the sun (solar energy). No human activity can take place without energy and even if humans are superior beings among all living things on earth they need energy to survive. For a long time in human history, body power has been complimented by sunshine and other ways that energy can be harnessed. After the industrial revolution in Europe, fossil fuels became known and its use has been on the rise as the world economies accelerate against each other. In this scenario the shift of focus left the solar energy field unexplored and untouched to its core. Scientists and researchers have recently refocused attention to this energy source to tap into it. Berstein posits that the challenges in using these sources of alternative renewable energies can be as simple as dealing with growth of plants, weather and sunlight with the natural. Solar Panels run by the energy source of the sun. Those who live in a place with or so little sunlight or no sunlight, it might not become a popular product to use before they created energy savers. Energy Savers in Solar Energy are ways of maintaining, producing and saving energy for rainy days where it might not be able to produce (100- 120). Solar Same as Wind, it is free and a natural recourse. In the sun-belt places in the world, solar, is making its way to the top of the energy sources industry. There is massive energy projects that nations have chosen to venture in, including a project for the world’s largest solar farm at 7,000 acres, and it is able to meet the electricity power demand for 675,000 homes. Legislation is being enacted to encourage production of alternative energy by giving energy production a quota system among the available sources. The future development and research of renewable energy is a complexity of politics, technology and economics. Coal’s is importance to many economies and electricity generation may decline due to the concerns about its pollutions and the growth of alternative energy types in terms of cost deduction, technology advancement, and government support. The need for renewable energy has never been as strong and it’s still growing. However, alternative energy development is still experiencing its growing pains, by which it means the dominance of coal energy generation will still last for some years. We take the energy we use for granted, not realizing that since the majority of the energy we use comes from non-renewable sources we consistently pollute our air and water; in doing so we pollute ourselves. With that being said, there are ways in which we can contribute personally to energy conservation and a more eco-friendly society especially solar energy which is ever so readily available. Some of the most convenient ways to conserve energy include: turning off lights when not in use, replacing traditional light bulbs with fluorescent ones, turning off power supply/unplugging electronics not being used, and regularly replacing home air conditioning filters. Additionally, ways to conserve energy include using alternative means of transportation and recycling. Government efforts at the local, city, and state levels have way towards implementing greater ways to conserve energy such as effective mass transit systems and transitioning reliance onto renewable energy sources is an ideal broader vision that each of us can contribute towards (Chiras 58). The trend to maximize using solar energy in the current age of technology is comforting. It has partly been fueled by the realization that most energy sources are unsustainable and event those sustainable cannot reach all requirements. The task forces and research teams have made Information and communication a focal point and it has leading innovations that use solar energy. It greatly contributes to the economics and sparing usage of energy. Solar powered gadgets and devices are some of the brilliant innovations by scientists today. Solar powered mobile phones, street lights, and recently solar powered notebooks. It brings out the element of convenience and usability while at the same time conserving energy source and maximizing the benefits. Solar energy has been found to reach in many remote places and setting up mini power stations in these locations has helped shape the energy supply needs of the economy. Clearly energy conservation is not a one person job. However, just an individual doing their part has potential to influence big change. I believe that we have a duty to do our parts: in our capacities as individuals and as a community. In being more mindful of our actions, and more respectful of our choices, we have potential to influence local and national change thus offering great hope for an energy sustainable future. In summary, solar energy has been used gradually slower as compared to its significant superiorities on both economic and environmental issues. It may be merely a matter of time before solar power becomes a major energy and benefits our society as a whole (Thorne, Wilson and Ackerly 204). Works Cited Beggs, Clive. Energy: Management, supply and conservation. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. Print. Berstein, Mark. The public benefit of energy efficiency for Massachusetts. California: Rand Corporation, 2002. Print. Bishop, Amanda. Energy conservation: Saving our world. New York: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books, 2008. Print. Bradford, Travis. Solar revolution: The economic transformation of the global energy industry. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2008. Print. Chiras, Dan, Mick Sagrillo and Ian Woofenden. Power from the wind: Achieving Energy independence. Courtenay: New Society Publishers, 2009. Print. Chiras, Dan. Power from the sun: A practical guide to solar electricity. Courtenay: New Society Publishers, 2009. Print. Ehringer, H, G Hoyaux and Pilavachi. Energy conservation in industry, combustion, heat recovery and rankine cycle machines. Chicago: Springer, 2010. Print. Thorne, Jennifer, Alex Wilson and Katie Ackerly. Consumer guide to home energy savings. Courtenay: New Society Publishers, 2003. Print William, Kemp. The Renewable energy handbook: A Guide to rural energy independence, off grid and sustainable living. Tamworth: Aztext Press, 2006. Print. Read More