Development of Solar Energy Usage - Essay Example

Solar Energy Where Solar Energy Is Used. Solar energy is used all over the world to power buildings, devices,and all types of electrical machinery. However, not every region globally is fit for setting up solar stations or heat collectors. The part of the world with the greatest potential of solar energy is essentially between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer (Wheeland 2014). Figure 1: The global solar radiation distribution, or insolation, as of 2013 by Meteonorm (Wheeland 2014). Currently, the biggest user of solar energy is Germany, which has installed solar PV (photovoltaic) stations that generated 32,411 MW in 2013 (Wheeland 2014). Germany added new PV structures capable of generating 7.6 GW in 2012. Solar panels alone in this country produced nearly 23 TW hours of power in 2012. This amount of energy is outstanding in comparison to other EU members or advanced economies, although it merely makes up for 3% of country’s overall power usage. Germany is working towards generating 66 GW of solar energy by the year 2030 by ensuring a yearly growth rate of 2.5 to 3.5 GW (Wheeland 2014). Even though Germany does not have extensive solar energy potential, it remarkably subsidizes its power systems. These subsidies guarantee their competence of the solar energy generated and used by the country. Germany has a strong input tariff structure comprised of small and large-scale solar PV frameworks capable of distributing surplus power generation to the utility network for revenue (Wheeland 2014). Italy was the second biggest generator and user of solar energy during the same year with an output of 16,361 MW. The United States came number four with an output of 7777 MW with 6200 MW of this output originating from the country’s solar PV industry. This output is a growth of 51% and 34% from 2013, which the suburban and utility sectors led in respectively (Wheeland 2014). This output is poised to increase by 20 GW by 2018. Twenty gigawatts of America’s solar energy output runs over 4 million average homes. By 2014, almost 645,000 American houses and enterprises were using solar energy because of previous year’s more than 195,000 solar power installations (Wheeland 2014). The usage of solar energy in the United States is an outcome of the growth of leasing electricity generated by solar stations. How Solar Energy Works. A commercial solar PV or cell can explain how solar energy works. Figure 2: A simple commercial solar system (Swanson 13) 1. Sunlight strikes the high volume solar panel during the day. PV cells within the solar panel convert the sunlight into DC (direct current) power then convey it to the inverter (Swanson 14). 2. The inverter is a device that converts DC into AC (alternating current), otherwise known as “conditioning” the electricity (Swanson 14). The inverter then conveys it to a gauge or electrical panel. 3. The gauge has two key functions. First, the gauge automatically conveys any surplus power generated by the solar panel to the utility company. The gauge operates in reverse for this function to measure the amount of power needed. Second, the gauge also powers the solar station itself along with any other electrical equipment. For the gauge to perform these two functions, it has to convey the electricity to the utility gauge and grid (Swanson 16). 4. & 5. Utility electricity is provided immediately during the day and night after leaving the utility gauge and entering their utility grid. AC electricity at this point is high-quality power since the chances of power fluxes are lowered significantly (Swanson 22). The Amount of Energy Produced. The amount of energy generated by a solar panel or station is dependent on the quantity of sunlight striking the panel, its size, and the efficiency of the PV cells inside. An ordinary solar panel can generate up to 200 Watts although there are slight variations on this amount of electricity (Bube 211). Some panels generate 200 W while others as much as 230 W. An ordinary installation might have a range of nearly 5 kWh, which is equivalent to 25 solar panels (Bube 231). Figure 3: The quantity of energy a 1 kW grid links to a solar PV framework can generate daily (Bube 241). DISCUSSION Advantages of Solar Energy. Solar energy is sustainable and indeterminately renewable. Solar energy is environmentally friendly during consumption, which makes it a sustainable source of power. Solar energy is pollution-free although solar panels and other related machinery are made in plans that release pollutants into the environment. Solar energy is also indeterminately renewable because the sun is estimated to burn out after 5 billion years. In contrast, many study findings protect a lifespan of 3 to 4 decades for the world’s current oil reserves (Miller and Spoolman 412). A second advantage is that solar energy is primarily free excluding the cost of setting up panels and other equipment necessary for converting sunlight into AC power or heat water. A third advantage of solar energy is the low cost of maintenance. Solar panels and equipment become very dependable after installation and optimization. This equipment actively generates electricity in a mere several millimeters and free of mechanical parts that wear off. Fourth, solar energy requires skylights for domestic usage that can lower power expenditure necessary for lighting rooms significantly within the average house in the course of the day (Miller and Spoolman 412). A fifth advantage of solar energy is solar energy is feasible in remote areas where spreading the main power grid is costly. Solar energy is also feasible and effective for inbuilt functions in common daily devices such as calculators and other low energy utilization appliances (Miller and Spoolman 413). Disadvantages of Solar Energy. The main disadvantage of solar energy is its nighttime inaccessibility. In addition, sunlight cannot be harvested on a cloudy day, even though the solar panel can still generate electricity. Power output is optimal when the solar collector directly faces the sun, which means that sunlight collectors in fixed positions will experience a decrease in power output when the sun is not at the best angle. Examples of such fixed positions are building rooftops. Solar farms make up for this disadvantage by setting up collectors on towers that can track sunlight and always keep the solar collectors at the best angles all through the day (Miller and Spoolman 413). A second disadvantage of solar energy is the inefficient conversion of sunlight by solar PV cells. The most efficient and modern solar PV cells can only convert slightly over 20% of the collected sunlight to AC power. The cost of these solar cells is relatively costly to make, which makes up the third disadvantage of solar energy (Miller and Spoolman 413). Another significant disadvantage is the inability of some energy to match the overall power outputs of conventional sources of energy. Solar farms and panels are becoming iniquitous today but cannot collectively reach or surpass the electricity output of energy sources such as hydroelectric power and fossil fuels. A fifth disadvantage is the requirement of large tracts of land for setting up solar farms to maximize the collection of sunlight. If electricity is to be generated and used in one region, then solar panels have to be organized collectively on a large piece of land (Miller and Spoolman 413). The Future Of Solar Energy. The EU projects a 12% increase in solar energy demand by the year 2020. Currently, the EU is progressing on a previously set goal of reaching a 20% demand for renewable and sustainable energy by 2020 (Doig 2014). In the United States, the globe’s biggest energy market, California, would have its demands met by the current worldwide global PV solar power sector by 2030. A report by the EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) projected solar energy could meet as much as 12% of demands of EU power demand by 2020 through fundamental developments in supervisory conditions (Doig 2014). Works Cited Bube, Richard. Fundamentals Of Solar Cells: Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion. Los Angeles: Elsevier, 2012. Doig, Will. Five Reasons Solar Will Power the Future. 2014. Next City. Web. 15 May. 2015. Miller, Gillian, and Scott Spoolman. Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions. New York: Cengage Learning. Swanson, Jennifer. How Solar Energy Works. New York: Childs World, 2011. Wheeland, Matthew. Top 10 Countries Using Solar Power. 2014. Pure Energies. Web. 15 May. 2015. Read More