Solar Energy

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Continuing on our discussion about alternative energy sources, BetterTrades’ researchers have found a sector within the energy industry that is making major headway as new technologies and uses are discovered daily, and that is Solar Energy.

The use of the sun for energy has been around since ancient times. As a renewable resource, solar power can be classified two ways, either passive or active, depending on the process in which they capture the sun’s radiation, convert the energy and thus disperse the sunlight.

Active solar power, with the use of various technologies, is a technique that includes the usage of photovoltaic panels, fans, and motors to convert the incoming sunlight into useful outputs. Active technologies increase the supply of energy, as power is stored in solar cells and generators for later use.

As for passive solar power, it is here that the direct usage of the sun’s radiation is not used. Here, it comes down to more of an eco-friendly use of solar power, with the key being the design and positioning of a building or home in contrast to the sun’s position in order to generate a more favorable thermal outlay, which would create a better circulation of air throughout the structure.

Mentioned above in the use of active solar power, a photovoltaic (PV) panel, also known as a solar cell, is used to convert direct sunlight into a direct current using the photoelectric effect. The photoelectric effect is the absorption of energy from radiation and emitting electrons to be used as a power source.

The first major application for the photovoltaic cell can be traced back to 1958, when the U.S. placed solar panels on the Vanguard I satellite. In its use, the satellite relied on solar power once the original chemical battery was exhausted. The satellite continued to send back information for another year after that, solely on the use of solar power.

However, during those times, the price of researching and constructing the panels were extremely costly. It was not until the mid-1970s, with oil crisis and trade embargoes, that the country began to increase their production of PV panels. At the beginning of the research process, the price to produce one watt of power using a PV panel was nearly $100 in the early ‘70s. By the mid-1980s, that price had reduced to about $7 per watt produced.

The shift in PV development and production shifted from the U.S. to other overseas countries, as the U.S. was handcuffed by cuts in funding and the discontinuation of tax credits for R&D associated with the Energy Tax Act of 1978.

Leading the way, Germany has now become the largest country in the world for the production of PV panels. Between 2000 and 2007, the country has been able to increase their PV capacity from 100 megawatts to nearly 4,200 megawatts per year.

As for the U.S., with increases in oil and gas prices since the turn of the new millennium, the U.S., on average, has increased PV production 40% per year since 2000. By the end of 2007, the U.S. was able to produce nearly 11 gigawatts of solar energy.

In a report from the chairman of the Photovoltaic Energy Development and Research Institute in Paris, Daniel Lincot stated that PV panels are 85 times more efficient in generating power than growing corn for the use of ethanol. Lincot also went on to add that with the use of PV panels in the Southwest portion of the U.S., that the country could produce enough energy to sustain all of the electrical needs for those throughout the nation.

The use of solar energy has many different applications. It can be used in agriculture and horticulture, along with direct lighting within homes and office buildings. Many use it today for the use of heating and cooling their homes, while researches are looking for additional venues to use solar power, such as water treatment plants, stimulating chemical reactions, solar vehicles and the list goes on and on.

With an abundant supply of solar energy, solar power has the potential to reduce the world’s needs of fossil allowing us, as a consumer and a nation, to cut ties with the big oil companies.