Humans use energy in every daily activities, from cooking, turning on the light, to driving, and to operating a factory. At the moment, the major sources of energy are from petroleum and natural gas. However, with the recent trend in the energy crisis and global warming, there is an increasing need to develop a more sustainable way to accommodate the energy usage. The sun, being a scorching sphere that releases a massive amount of the energy to the Earth’s surface each day for the last billions of years and for another billions of years more, is one the most promising solutions. The development of solar energy is a global effort involving many different fields within the scientific world, such as chemistry, physics, and different types of
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The first one is the PV system, which is the traditional solar panels commonly found on the rooftop of many residential buildings. The PV system got its name from the PV effect, which convert light, or photon, to electricity, or voltage. This system consisted of panels of photovoltaic cells that are made of semi-conductor materials such as silicon, solar inverters to convert DC current, mounting structures, and cables. When a sun ray hits the panel, lose electrons in the semi-conductor element flow around the network, generating electricity. More modern panels incorporate computer-controlled solar trackers that allow panels to tilt toward the direction where there is a highest radiation. Some systems also include a power storage to store electricity for later use when the sun is out. The PV system is most suitable for smaller scale operations: residential/commercial building, satellites, or small devices. Additionally, it is the solar power system that contributed the most to the power grid (Photovoltaic …show more content…
First of all, the operation and manufacture of solar power system, both PV and CSP, are quite expensive compare to the cost of natural gas and oil, which discourages investments. Second of all, the efficiency of the solar panel and receivers is relatively low; even the high end panels can only harvest about 30% of the sun’s total energy on Earth (Hamilton). Lastly, despites being reliable in the long run (since the sun will continue to burn for the next hundreds of centuries), it is not very reliable in the short term since without a decent power storage system, solar energy can’t deliver electricity at night or on cloudy/rainy days when there is no sun. Additionally, storage batteries are an extra cost to the already expensive system and certain batteries are not very “green”. However, these problems open up job opportunities for people like mechanical
The first one is the PV system, which is the traditional solar panels commonly found on the rooftop of many residential buildings. The PV system got its name from the PV effect, which convert light, or photon, to electricity, or voltage. This system consisted of panels of photovoltaic cells that are made of semi-conductor materials such as silicon, solar inverters to convert DC current, mounting structures, and cables. When a sun ray hits the panel, lose electrons in the semi-conductor element flow around the network, generating electricity. More modern panels incorporate computer-controlled solar trackers that allow panels to tilt toward the direction where there is a highest radiation. Some systems also include a power storage to store electricity for later use when the sun is out. The PV system is most suitable for smaller scale operations: residential/commercial building, satellites, or small devices. Additionally, it is the solar power system that contributed the most to the power grid (Photovoltaic …show more content…
First of all, the operation and manufacture of solar power system, both PV and CSP, are quite expensive compare to the cost of natural gas and oil, which discourages investments. Second of all, the efficiency of the solar panel and receivers is relatively low; even the high end panels can only harvest about 30% of the sun’s total energy on Earth (Hamilton). Lastly, despites being reliable in the long run (since the sun will continue to burn for the next hundreds of centuries), it is not very reliable in the short term since without a decent power storage system, solar energy can’t deliver electricity at night or on cloudy/rainy days when there is no sun. Additionally, storage batteries are an extra cost to the already expensive system and certain batteries are not very “green”. However, these problems open up job opportunities for people like mechanical