Passive and Active Solar Energy and Problems of Energy Consumption - Term Paper Example

Passive and Active Solar Energy and problems of Energy Consumption Name: Institute: Instructor: Date: Introduction Solar energy as discussed in this essay relates to energy from the sun. Solar energy can easily be converted to do useful work hence saving on expenses. Solar energy is characterized into two types when it is being used. There is active solar energy and the passive solar energy. Active solar energy technologies consist of solar capturing devices that capture the suns energy. The device can then be used to store or transfer the heat energy in water or air. With active solar technologies, there is usually a constantly moving part hence the name active (Afgan, 2002, p. 749). On the other hand, passive solar technologies use the suns energy without active mechanical systems. They capture and convert sunlight into useful heat that can then be used for various purposes (Zegers, 2006, p. 497). Passive solar energy works efficiently without human assistance or mechanical assistance. Solar energy is mostly used o warm buildings, to warm fluids or it is transferred into some more important use. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of active and passive solar energy (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 68). Advantages of passive solar energy Passive solar energy has a lot of advantages. It saves on the costs of using energy. Passive energy can do all kinds of work that can be done using electricity or any other energy provider (Afgan, 2002, p. 753). This saves on the costs of paying for such energy providers, as passive energy does not require any equipment to provide the required energy. Passive energy is simply captured using strategically placed windows, doors, roofs and any other surface that can be suitable in directing sunrays in the direction that can enable use or capture (Lam, 2006, p. 746). According to a recent research, using passive solar energy can reduce a family’s’ costs per month by about 10%. This is actually a good amount of money to save per month. Using this, families are able to survive hard economic times without struggles. It also saves money, as the initial designs of structures used to trap the solar energy do not need replacement or quick repairs (Georgilakis, 2009, p.70). Considering the design of a house and the structure of its windows and doors nothing more is actually needed in terms of repairs or modifications to enable energy capturing (Lam, 2006, p. 749). Another advantage is that it needs no equipment for energy capture. Energy is captured using windows, doors and design features of a house or an activity plant. Buying such equipment for energy capture can also be expensive (Afgan, 2002, p. 747). Absence of any equipment in the process of trapping the sun’s energy is also beneficial as it saves on space consumption in one’s room (Lam, 2006, p. 755). Lack of any equipment also saves one from the expected noise from such equipment. Passive energy use is also an advantage, as it does not need modification or repainting of one’s house or roof. All these make it suitable to use passive solar energy as a method of trapping the sun’s light and heat. Using passive energy also saves on the use of fossil fuels hence saving them. Fossil power sources such as coal and gasoline are actually low in supply and can easily get out of supply if not well preserved (Lam, 2006, p. 760). It is, therefore, a good idea to always preserve fossil fuels. It is also very advantageous to use passive form of solar energy, as it does not have adverse effects to the environment. It does not have any harmful fumes, pollutants and emissions being released into the atmosphere hence conserving the environment. Using passive solar energy saves reduce the levels of greenhouse gases in the ozone layer (Zegers, 2006, p. 502). Reducing on these levels enables reduce the levels of global warning. It also helps to keep the air clean and clear free from smog and other harmful pollutants. The above points are the advantages of passive solar energy. Disadvantages of passive solar energy On the contrary, passive solar energy has also its disadvantages. One of the most dissatisfying disadvantages of passive solar energy is reliability. Passive solar energy is not reliable. Passive solar energy only depends on sunny weather (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 67). Although modern designs try to maximize on any little ray found around, poor weather can make your house to be so cold. Winter seasons are the worst as your house may turn into a very cold place. Another disadvantage is that, it depends on the location or the region one is in. Not all regions have the same experience of sunshine suitable to form a suitable amount of heat. People in the northern region have very short-lived periods of enjoying solar energy (Afgan, 2002, p. 740). The installations in such cold areas is also expensive as one needs to make sure that the material used does not allow the gained heat to radiate back into the atmosphere. In the southern areas, long hours of strong sunlight can overheat your home making it uncomfortable to stay in. To add to these, a poorly designed passive solar system can really increase the costs of running the cooling hence consuming the entire amount saved from using passive solar energy (Lam, 2006), p. 759). The cost used when making and designing a house to capture passive energy is also so high. Choosing the right windowpanes and putting them at the right position is very important. There can also be need to redesign your room so that it can have heat absorbent materials and to replace interior or exterior walls so as to get the desired effect (Lam, 2006, p.761). The above form the disadvantages of passive solar energy. Advantages of active solar energy Active solar energy as a source of energy has many advantages. One of the main advantages of using active solar energy is that there is no use of fuel. Active solar energy uses energy from the sun (Zegers, 2006, p. 500). This is an advantage that cuts on the costs associated with fuelling. Although the initial capital of active solar heating equipment is high, the period used in enjoying the services of active solar heating is good enough to enable savings that can even surpass the cost. It is therefore an advantage (Afgan, 2002, p. 746). Another advantage of active solar energy is that it is self-contained. Active solar energy can be used to supply power for use for quite a good duration of time. It can hence be a great saviour in times of disaster or prolonged cold weather. It can make a house to be completely independent, as it will have its own supply of power even if the other houses are facing problems of power supply from the national grid (Lam, 2006, p.762). Active solar energy also has the advantage that it does not have any emissions to the atmosphere. Release of harmful gases to the atmosphere causes many human related diseases and therefore needs to be minimized. Harmful gases have caused many diseases to human including colds, asthma, coughing and many respiratory related infections (Lam, 2006, p. 756). The harmful gases also have adverse effects to the ozone layer, which helps in filtering the sun’s rays to avoid skin cancer. Release of more such gases into the atmosphere puts all people at risk of getting skin cancer. Depletion of ozone layer, which is caused by the harmful gases, can also cause an increase in global warming (Zegers, 2006, p. 497). These are all threats to human life. It is, therefore, advisable for all humans to focus on using harmless modes of fuelling like active solar energy (Lam, 2006, p. 754). Active solar energy has the advantage of having very low maintenance. Once the solar panels have been bought and installed, it is very simple to maintain them and ensure continuity of their service. This is because they do not have any running parts that can easily undergo tear and wear (Lam, 2006, p. 769). From the above discussion, it is evident that active solar energy has many advantages. Disadvantages of active solar energy On the contrary, active solar energy has also its disadvantages. The main disadvantage of this type of energy source is high initial costs of buying equipment. Buying solar panels and the accompanying equipment necessary for capturing and storing energy is very expensive (Afgan, 2002, p. 752). This high initial cost discourages practice of active solar energy usage in many places. Another disadvantage of active solar energy is that the installation and implantation of the solar panels requires big spaces, which may not be available (Zegers, 2006, p. 499). Solar panels that are enough to give good power output need to be wide enough and need to be located where they can get enough sunshine. This makes them to be placed mostly on top of roofs. This practice may not be good as they can easily be stolen or destroyed by a landing object (Lam, 2006, p. 755). Solar panels are also easily affected by rain, dust, and wind. This may be a big factor and may affect their effectiveness in giving the required output (Afgan, 2002, p. 750). These factors can also destroy them hence bringing extra costs of replacing them. This can make the whole process very expensive (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 66). Another disadvantage of active solar energy the energy produced is only in DC form. This makes it to be converted into AC first before it can be used comfortably. During the conversion, there is a power loss of about 10%, which is a big loss to the users (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 65). The above narration forms the disadvantages of active solar energy. Analysis and evaluation of the most efficient system of solar energy From the above analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of both passive and active solar energy, it is evident that active solar energy is a better souse of solar energy than passive energy (Afgan, 2002, p. 749). This is so because active solar energy has a good number of advantages as compared to passive solar energy. Considering that there are changes in weather from time to time, active solar energy is good as the energy harnessed during good times can be stored for use during poor weather. This is a factor that cannot be implemented in passive solar energy. This is so because passive energy is instantaneous (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 70). Once there is no sunshine then it cannot work out correctly. Passive energy also has no means by which the energy can be harnessed for storage. Active solar energy is also very flexible as it can be used in your home without necessarily having to change the design of the house. One only needs to have the solar panels, which can be put anywhere, and energy is tapped for use (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 69). On the other hand, for passive energy to work at your home, you need to orient your windows, door and any other feature necessary in capturing the energy in such a way that it will capture the rays. In such a case, it may require restructuring of the house. This is expensive and ambiguous. Active solar energy has also an advantage such that the energy captured can easily be connected such that it can be shared by a number of people. Active energy can serve a good number of houses provided the solar panels for capturing the heat are big enough and are at strategic positions such that there is maximum capture of heat (Afgan, 2002, p. 745). Active solar energy can also be used to run a good number of things as compared to passive energy (Georgilakis, 2009), p. 66). Energy produced by active solar program can be converted into AC, which has a good number of uses at home. It can be used to light a house, to watch television, to run a fan and to do any other work that requires electricity. Active solar energy can also be used for commercial and serious economic businesses. The energy got from the system can be used to run important machineries like in hospitals when there is no power from the main gridline (Afgan, 2002, p. 755). This gives a big relief to the management instead of looking for fuel to run a generator. In this case, passive energy cannot be harnessed to give such services. It is, therefore, not a good method of harnessing the sun’s energy for use. Active energy can easily be shared by more than one person. This makes it possible even to sale that energy. This can be a good source of income. On the other side, passive energy cannot be shared hence cannot be used as a source of income (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 67). Active solar energy is also portable (Afgan, 2002, p. 755). One can easily carry the solar panels together with him and he can set up the system anywhere for tapping the sun’s heat. This make it very convenient as it is not a permanent source of electricity at one place. This shows that it can easily be leased for some duration of time in exchange for money. This also generates income. On the other side, passive energy once prepared for taping at a place, one cannot shift with the system to move at another place. It is a permanent thing. Active solar energy is therefore the best (Georgilakis, 2009, p. 70). Conclusion In conclusion, it can be seen that active solar energy is the best solar energy to use in homes as compared to passive solar energy. This is because it has many advantages compared to passive energy. It can easily be stored for future use. It is can be converted into DC current for use by many other electrical appliances at home. It is also easier to tap as compared to passive energy. It is advisable that all people take the idea of tapping the sun’s energy for use in different ways at the homestead. This will help preserve our environment. It will also reduce the instances of people having respiratory diseases due to bad gases in the environment. Solar energy actually needs to be tapped for use and all people are supposed to know how to use it. References Afgan, N. (2002). Multi-criteria assessment of new and renewable energy power plants . Energy, 27 (8), 739–755. Georgilakis, P. (2009). Reliability and economic evaluation of small autonomous power systems containing only renewable energy sources. Renewable Energy, 34 (1), 65–70. Lam JC, Y. L. (2006). Development of passive design zones in China using bioclimatic approach. Energy Convers Manage , 47(6), 746-762. Mendonca P, B. L. (2007). Sustainable housing with mixedweight strategy. Building Environ, 42:3432-3443. Miller W, B. L. (2012). Anatomy of a sub-tropical positive energy home. Solar Energy, 86,231-241. Zegers, P. (2006). Fuel cell commercialization:the key to a hydrogen economy. Journal of Power Sources , 154 (2), 497–502. Read More