Inventory

Solar Energy and the effect in the society

Finding new ways to produce energy is one of the most important goals for engineering and scientists. Solar energy, basically, is the new trend to solve this problem, because there are many universities researching this method of producing energy. This system consists of photovoltaic cells that convert the sunlight to direct current electricity. This direct current is converted to alternating current that can be used in all the home appliances.

The impact of this new source of energy is extremely huge. Solar energy is completely renewable because we can have access to the sun as long as it is alive, according to NASA our sun will be alive for at least six billion years, that will give us all those years to keep using the energy from the sun. Other sources of energy like nuclear or fossil fuels are not renewable because all of them will run out of sources or will not be replenished in our lifetimes or even in many lifetimes. Extracting the energy from this abundant natural source that is the sun, can give to the world the opportunity to keep using all of the electric appliances without be harming the planet Earth, or without having the preoccupation about pollution and wastes.

If a family, for example, decides to put in their house new solar panels it can represent significant savings in the monthly budget in comparison to other sources of having electricity. The costs associated with the implementation of this systems, however, can be very expensive but the benefits for the family and for the world on a global scale are uncountable. To implement solar energy is necessary to spend money not only on the panels but also with ways to storage this energy. Certain solar cells require materials that are rare in nature, especially for thin-film solar cells that are based on either cadmium telluride or copper indium gallium selenide. Those materials are difficult to find and also expensive. Also, solar energy requires space to put the solar panels. There are many types of research that are studying ways to absorb more energy in smaller photovoltaics cells. Researches about it are very important because people of our century tend to move to big cities instead of stay in the countryside. This phenomenon can cause a huge problem if we were just using the solar energy once we would not have space enough to absorb the necessary amount of energy from the sun.

Another positive effect of having solar energy implemented is its low maintenance because solar panels usually only require cleaning a couple of times a year. Serious solar manufactures ship 20 or 25-year warranties with their solar panels. Also, who decides to use and implement this source of energy receives financial support from the government. In some cases, the price of a residential photovoltaic system can be cut more than 50%, depending on the country and their laws. For example, the United States government offers a 30% tax credit with no upper limit.

In a global scale, the number one in producing solar energy is Germany. In this country, 6.2% of the electricity comes from the sun, that is a huge number for an ecological way of having electrical energy. Other sources can be more representative than that but their damage to the environment is huge. The burning of fossil fuels for energy remains the world’s number one source of carbon dioxide emissions while solar energy is recognized as being zero emissions of this gas.

Socially, is well seen the one who has more preoccupation with the environment, so the family who decides do have a greenhouse has more respect in the society. Having solar panel in a house has become a synonym of status. The family who lives in a greenhouse receives more attention from the society, once they apparently have the preoccupation with the environment. However, it is not true because usually what they want is to receive attention and have the status of having a greenhouse and be living there. Our society is based on who has more and who can show off more. It is a shame for us to know that instead of having the preoccupation about the future of the planet, the environment and ways to do not waste, the society is just worried about to receive attention from the local or national newspaper or TV show for an accomplishment that should have social and environmental preoccupations.

Solar panels can reflect in the economy of the country. To produce energy, we have to extract from the nature gas, oil, plutonium and other sources that are inexhaustible. Sometimes the country does not have enough of those sources, so they buy all of it from other countries that are rich in that specific material. Adopting solar power on a world scale can destabilize many countries that export those materials. Economically countries that are rich in natural sources like Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and many others could break of not having more buyers to the product that they sell. For the country that buys it is a good thing because they will start to produce their own energy, however, the country that sells the natural sources is not good because what they sell the most will not have a market for that anymore.

Another problem is that concentrating solar thermal plants require water for cooling.  Those plants that use wet-recirculating technology with cooling towers withdraw between 600 and 650 gallons of water per megawatt-hour of electricity produced. It is possible to use the dry-cooling technology, but it not worth it because it has an expensive price and low efficiency.

In actual scenario, the photovoltaic cells are on the roof of the house/building or there are in some locations that are used only for the absorption of the solar energy and they are designed just to produce electricity. Those spaces, nowadays, cause a huge impact on the environment because in areas designed for the production of solar electricity it is necessary to have a huge land clear of everything. Space has to be free of fauna and flora because it can interfere with the collection of solar power.

As we can see all the types of alternative ways of having energy, especially the ones that care more about the environment are very new and most of them are expensive. If it is not expensive, or damage the Earth and a large scale or is not very efficient. A lot of studies are happening around the world about solar energy and ways to improve its efficiency. We need to find ways to absorb more of the energy of the sun with less land being used.        

        

http://energyinformative.org/solar-energy-pros-and-cons/#associated-with-pollution

http://pureenergies.com/us/blog/top-10-countries-using-solar-power/

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/positive-negative-effects-solar-energy-79619.html

http://www.solarcity.com/commercial/how-does-solar-energy-work

How whales change climate

From this video about how whales can chance climate we can absorb and have the notion about many things about our environment. In the past the human being had destroyed all that was needed to produce more, to have energy and to satisfy they own needs. Unfortunately, nowadays we are paying for what they have done with the planet Earth. We do not just have to find sustainable ways to produce, transport, have energy and extract materials from nature, but also, we have to find ways to solve the damage that our ancestors did with the Earth.