Solar power – Energy that is most sustainable to protect our economy and environment:

Solar power – Energy that is most sustainable to protect our economy and environment:

Originally developed for energy requirement for orbiting earth satellite - Solar Power – have expanded in recent years for our domestic and industrial needs. Solar power is produced by collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity. This is done by using solar panels, which are large flat panels made up of many individual solar cells. It is most often used in remote locations, although it is becoming more popular in urban areas as well.

There is, indeed, enormous amount of advantages lies with use of solar power specially, in the context of environmental impact and self-reliance. However, a few disadvantages such as its initial cost and the effects of weather conditions, make us hesitant to proceed with full vigor. We discuss below the advantages and disadvantages of Solar Power:

Advantages -

(a) The major advantage of solar power is that no pollution is created in the process of generating electricity. Environmentally it the most Clean and Green energy. Solar Energy is clean, renewable (unlike gas, oil and coal) and sustainable, helping to protect our environment.

(b) Solar energy does not require any fuel.

(c) It does not pollute our air by releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide or mercury into the atmosphere like many traditional forms of electrical generation does.

(d) Therefore Solar Energy does not contribute to global warming, acid rain or smog. It actively contributes to the decrease of harmful green house gas emissions.

(e) There is no on-going cost for the power it generates – as solar radiation is free everywhere. Once installed, there are no recurring costs.

(f) It can be flexibly applied to a variety of stationary or portable applications. Unlike most forms of electrical generation, the panels can be made small enough to fit pocket-size electronic devices, or sufficiently large to charge an automobile battery or supply electricity to entire buildings.

(g) It offers much more self-reliance than depending upon a power utility for all electricity.

(h) It is quite economical in long run. After the initial investment has been recovered, the energy from the sun is practically free. Solar Energy systems are virtually maintenance free and will last for decades.

(i) It's not affected by the supply and demand of fuel and is therefore not subjected to the ever-increasing price of fossil fuel.

(j) By not using any fuel, Solar Energy does not contribute to the cost and problems of the recovery and transportation of fuel or the storage of radioactive waste.

(k) It's generated where it is needed. Therefore, large scale transmission cost is minimized.

(l) Solar Energy can be utilized to offset utility-supplied energy consumption. It does not only reduce your electricity bill, but will also continue to supply your home/ business with electricity in the event of a power outage.

(m) A Solar Energy system can operate entirely independently, not requiring a connection to a power or gas grid at all. Systems can therefore be installed in remote locations, making it more practical and cost-effective than the supply of utility electricity to a new site.

(n) The use of solar energy indirectly reduces health costs.

(o) They operate silently, have no moving parts, do not release offensive smells and do not require you to add any fuel.

(p) More solar panels can easily be added in the future when your family's needs grow.

(q) Solar Energy supports local job and wealth creation, fuelling local economies.

Disadvantages –

(a) The initial cost is the main disadvantage of installing a solar energy system, largely because of the high cost of the semi-conducting materials used in building solar panels.

(b) The cost of solar energy is also high compared to non-renewable utility-supplied electricity. As energy shortages are becoming more common, solar energy is becoming more price-competitive.

(c) Solar panels require quite a large area for installation to achieve a good level of efficiency.

(d) The efficiency of the system also relies on the location of the sun, although this problem can be overcome with the installation of certain components.

(e) The production of solar energy is influenced by the presence of clouds or pollution in the air. Similarly, no solar energy will be produced during nighttime although a battery backup system and/or net metering will solve this problem.

(f) As far as solar powered cars go - their slower speed might not appeal to everyone caught up in today's fast track movement.

Conclusion - Solar power technology is improving consistently over time, as people begin to understand the benefits offered by this incredible technology. As our oil reserves decline, it is important for us to turn to alternative sources for energy. Therefore, it would be better that converting some of the world's energy requirements to solar power are in the best interest of the worldwide economy and the environment. Since we all are aware of the power of the sun and the benefits we could get from it.

Solar Power – Development in new technology making it economically competitive:

Solar Power – Development in new technology making it economically competitive:

We all know that solar power is excellently exciting. Just lay down a sheet or a panel exposing sun and every day, for the life of the device, you get free power. There are no fuel costs, no running or maintenance cost. It is a renewable resource, meaning no end of raw material. Therefore, we do not have to worry about the sun ever going away. Although the sun may disappear behind a few clouds for a few minutes, disappear completely at night, or for hours during the winter, we can always expect it to come back in full force. Apart, solar power is non-polluting. Unlike oil, solar power does not emit any greenhouse gases or carcinogens into the air. Solar power is good for the environment and make our atmosphere clean. Solar power is silent powered also, i.e., no noise pollution.

There are so many advantages of solar power that it is amazing that it is not yet more common. Perhaps the main reason for this is that at the onset, solar power can be expensive. Unfortunately, the size of the initial investment keeps the cost of solar generated power higher than the cost of coal. At this juncture it is worth noting that, if you take into account the environmental costs of burning coal, solar power is already slightly more economically sound. But we're not taxing carbon (yet) so we've got to make solar power cheaper. Of course, solar cells are not cheap. However, technology for this is improving, and it will continue to improve as the cost of other forms of power increase. There are few of the finest examples that are working to bring solar power to grid parity. Some of these useful technologies are briefed below:

1. The most expensive part of a traditional photovoltaic array is the silicon wafers. To solve this cost problem (and also the problem of the environmentally wasteful process of creating the silicon crystals) several people are concentrating the sunlight thousands of times onto an extremely small solar panel. They decrease the amount of solar material needed by thousands of times, and produce just as much power.

Technologies collectively known as concentrating photovoltaic are starting to enjoy their day in the sun, thanks to advances in solar cells, which absorb light and convert it into electricity, and the mirror- or lens-based concentrator systems that focus light on them. The technology could soon make solar power as cheap as electricity from the grid. The idea of concentrating sunlight to reduce the size of solar cells - and therefore to cut costs -has been around for decades. The result is solar power that is nearly as cheap (if not as cheap) as coal.

The thinking behind concentrated solar power is simple. Because energy from the sun, although abundant, is diffuse, generating one gigawatt of power (the size of a typical utility-scale plant) using traditional photovoltaic requires a four-square-mile area of silicon. A concentrator system would replace most of the silicon with plastic or glass lenses or metal reflectors, requiring only as much semiconductor material as it would take to cover an area of much smaller in size. Moreover, because of decrease in the amount of semiconductor needed makes it affordable to use much more efficient types of solar cells. The total footprint of such plant, including the reflectors or lenses, would be only two to two-and-a-half square miles.

The big problem of this technology is very hot piece of silicon. You have to keep the silicon cool, even with sunlight magnified 2000 times on it. Otherwise the silicon will melt, and it's all over. Scientists are working prototypes already and are hoping to go commercial in the coming years.

2. Another solution to the problem of limited and expensive crystalline silicon is to just not use it. This is why there are so many solar startups right now working on solar technology using non-crystalline silicon or other thin-film solutions. Many have already broken out of the lab and into manufacturing. One of the leading technologies, not using expensive crystalline silicon is ‘Nano-solar’ prints. Nano-solar prints it's mixture of several elements in precise proportions onto a metal film. The production is fast, simple and cheap, at least for now. Some fear that shortages in indium will bring a halt to nano-solar's cheap printing days. Though scientists make some efficiency sacrifices when compared to crystalline silicon, they are so much cheaper to produce that they might soon even beat coal in cost per watt.

The advantages of ‘Nano-solar’ prints are, they are super cheap, ultra-adaptable solar panels that can be printed on the side of pretty much anything, promising solar power anywhere you want it. At the present condition, they still slide under coal's $2.1-a-watt energy cost, though they're not mass produced at the scale needed to bring it to the 30-cents-a-watt level.

3. While the first two options provide the most efficient path to solar electricity, but converting photons directly into electrons, a less efficient, though simpler, option might turn out to be the real cost-effective. Simply by focusing hundreds or even thousands of mirrors onto a single point, scientists are hoping to create the kind of heat necessary to run a coal fired power plant, but without use of coal. The heat would boil water which would then be used to turn turbines. In other words, it is nothing but, concentrated thermal solar power, which concentrates the heat from the sun to power turbines or sterling engines.

The advantage of such a system is converting the existing steam turbines being produced for traditional power plants, and the rest of the technology just involves shiny objects and concrete. The problems however, are these things too hot to handle. The material holding the boiler has to be able to withstand the extreme heat that these installations can produce. That kind of material, that won't melt or degrade under such extreme heat, can be quite expensive.

Renewable energy is green energy:

Renewable energy is green energy:

Renewable energy is the energy which is made from resources that Mother Nature replaces, such as wind, water and sunshine. Renewable energy is also called “clean energy” or “green power” because it doesn’t pollute the air or the water. In fact, wind, water and sunshine are the cleanest and most abundant sources of energy we have.

However, these abundant and natural sources of renewable energy have few shortcomings, such as unlike natural gas and coal, we can’t store up wind and sunshine to use whenever we need to make more electricity. If the wind doesn’t blow or the sun hides behind clouds, there wouldn’t be enough power for everyone. Another reason why we prefer fossil fuels like coal and natural gas over natural sources of energy is because they’re cheaper. It costs more money to make electricity from wind, and most people aren’t willing to pay more on their monthly utility bills.

The prominent sources of renewable energy are: (i) Wind power, (ii) Biomass energy, (iii) Hydro power, (iv) Solar power, (v) Geothermal energy.

(i) Wind Power - Here a wind turbine is used to make electricity. Using the wind to create electricity has been around for a long time. When the wind turns the blades of a windmill, it spins a turbine inside a small generator to produce electricity, just like a big coal power plant. To make enough electricity to serve lots of people, power companies build "wind farms" with dozens of huge wind turbines. Wind farms are built in flat, open areas where the wind blows at least 14 miles per hour.

(ii) Biomass Energy - Biomass energy uses natural materials like trees and plants to make electricity. It can also mean waste products like trash. Biomass means "natural material." When biomass energy is burned, it releases heat – just like the wood logs in your campfire. Some of the common material used includes: (a) Leftover wood from sawmills. (b) Leftover paper and wood waste from paper mills. (c) Corn stalks, corn cobs and seed corn from farms. (d) Paper and cardboard that can’t be recycled in other ways. (e) Fast-growing crops and trees etc.

The philosophy behind biomass energy includes:

* Growing energy crops,

* Turning garbage into energy,

* Cow power or power from animal waste.

(iii) Hydro Power - A hydro power plant uses river water to make electricity. In fact, people have used water power for more than 2,000 years. In modern day, people built dams to control the power of the big mountain rivers. Workers can change the amount of water flowing through the dam depending on the weather and how much electricity people need.

(iv) Solar Power - “Solar” is the Latin word for “sun” – and it’s a powerful source of energy. In fact, the sunlight that shines on the Earth in just one hour could meet world energy demand for an entire year. We can use solar power in two different ways: (a) as a heat source, and (b) as an energy source.

Today we use solar collectors for heating water and air in our homes. We can also use solar energy to make electricity. The process is called photovoltaics. It’s difficult and expensive to make a lot of electricity using photovoltaics – the panels cost a lot, and a lot of open land is needed.

(v) Geothermal Energy - The hot lava from a volcano and the hot steam from a geyser both come from underground heat - and we can use that same type of heat in our homes. The system pumps a liquid through the pipes to absorb the heat and brings it back indoors. A device called a "heat exchanger" takes the heat from the liquid and uses it to heat the air inside the home. A geothermal system can cool your house during the summer, too! It just works in reverse, absorbing the heat from the air inside your home and moves it back into the earth. A geothermal heater is also very energy-efficient. Almost none of the energy used is wasted, so it helps keep heating bills very low during the winter.