Various Methods of Electricity Production - Term Paper Example

The pattern of production remains the same for almost all the forms of electricity production. One of the major sources of electricity production which is not environmentally friendly is through coal power plants. (1) Solar and Wind power have low environmental impact, low cost involved and this can be a viable option in rural areas. Solar, hydro and nuclear power are the best options for industrial and rural areas. The start up costs is marginally higher than the traditional methods but the long term benefits are better. (2) The Earth’s resources are not depleted if electricity is produced from the sunlight as solar energy is a renewable source of energy.

There are 2 ways of producing solar energy from the sun: photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies. (3) 30% of the photon energy that comes in contact with the AE resource is being converted into energy in a photovoltaic cell. Silicon will be formed with the help of poly crystalline and the photovoltaic cells. Chemical reactions release electrons when they get in contact with PV cell is in contact with the sunlight. The current produced by these cells are placed in a module which helps in producing huge quantity of power for residential houses and industries.

This source of electricity production has higher manufacturing costs in producing solar energy but in the recent times, the construction of photovoltaic has been made cheaper. (3) Another traditional way of producing electricity is to use reflectors and concentrate the sunlight to heat gaseous hydrogen, helium, oil to produce pressurized steam which helps in rotating the turbine and producing electricity. Many residential houses have these central receiver systems with mirrors that reflect sunlight on a large place filled with the fluid which helps in producing energy. (3) Nelson (2001) emphasises that the organic compounds used in the solar cells can be made out of inorganic compounds which will