Solar Energy

Starting with the basics, solar power, like any other fuel source, has its advantages and disadvantages. The obvious advantage is that the sun provides an unlimited resource. There is more than enough solar energy to sustain the Earth’s energy demands. Specifically, every hour, the sun delivers as much energy to the Earth as the entire population uses in a year. Also, solar power is clean and safe. However, the sun only shines in certain places at certain times. Thus, for solar power to be used as a primary source of power, it must be coupled with an alternative or a means must be found for reserving the power for rainy days. Furthermore, the startup costs of utilizing solar power deter people from using this resource. It is expensive to create the solar panels and solar cells which intercept the sun’s rays.

For solar panels to work, photons from the sun must strike the electrons within the solar panel and turn them into conduction electrons. This allows the electrons to carry an electrical charge. The electrical charge is extracted through the semi-conductive materials in the solar panel.

Recently, some intriguing advances have been made in solar energy. At TU Delft (a Dutch University), they discovered that amorphous silicon provides an alternative to crystalline silicon. Crystalline silicon is an expensive material that is used in most solar cells. When made with amorphous silicon, the solar cells can be produced at a fraction of the thickness and consequently at a fraction of the cost. Still, the process of making the solar cells (regardless of the type of silicon) is slow and contributes to the cost. Because of this, Michael Wank (PhD supervisor of TU Delft) examined an alternative production technique. This advances are exciting news when it comes to making solar cells affordable.

Unfortunately, I found that although the US was once the world’s leading producer of solar cells, we have fallen behind in production and now rank 5th. We are also lagging in solar installation. This is mainly because other countries have become devoted to the solar energy cause by enforcing stringent renewable energy requirements. Ironically, Japan and Germany, the highest ranking countries in installation, receive significantly less sunshine than the United States. By enforcing higher restrictions for global warming, the United States can be a competitive part of the solar energy market.

This post is based on the following sources:

http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=23052&s_src=ggad&gclid=CMvl54bwgagCFYS8KgodpGINqQ

http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com/articles/how_solar_power_works.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110317102557.htm