1 David Hudson PWS 150 16 January 2014 Solar Energy An Environmentally Friendly Option

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution America has become highly dependent upon fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy sources. Dependence on such resources has had a very negative impact on the environment which surrounds us. Some of these impacts include air pollution, global warming, and climate change; just to name a few. Over the past few decades researchers and environmentalists have put alternative energy sources as a top priority and such sources has become more available. Solar energy, wind power, biofuels, nuclear energy, and hydropower are all available energy sources that minimize pollution and negative effects on the environment. As seen in the chart below renewable energy is the least used source of energy in the USA, which is not ideal at all when speaking in terms of environmental protection. Solar energy is a reliable source of energy and has the potential to replace many of the environmentally damaging sources we currently use as a society.

So what is solar energy and why do we need it? Solar energy is radiant energy emitted from the sun that can be converted to usable electricity for our daily needs. It is a clean source of energy that can be harvested daily from the suns radiation. The sun is a powerful source of energy and gives off more energy than any other source we have on earth. It has been reported that all the energy stored in Earth's reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine. Outside Earth's atmosphere, the sun's energy contains about 1,300 watts per square meter. The many uses of sunlight or solar energy are heating, lighting and cooling homes and other buildings, generating electricity, water heating, and a variety of other uses. Solar energy is a secure, reliable, inexhaustible, and safe resource of energy. With a continually increasing population that is predicted to double in the next 50 years we are going to need to find alternate sources of energy. According to the research of Zekai (Zekai, 2004) the energy demand growth is linked to population growth and individual development achievements. The demand and production of energy on world scale are certain to increase in the foreseeable future. This means that if we are going to maintain sufficient energy and keep our pollution under control we are certainly going to need to use renewable sources such as solar energy. The process by which electricity is produced through solar energy is actually quite simple. Photovoltaic panels are usually the panels that you may see on a rooftop or in another common setting photo means sunlight and voltaic means electricity. These panels are able to convert sunlight into electricity. These photovoltaic panels produce electricity through a process called the photoelectric effect, which essentially means that when light is shined on certain metal surfaces that electrons are produced. Each panel is made up of many individual solar cells that convert sunlight into usable energy. Within each cell there

are two layers of materials called silicon that react when exposed to sun. The top layer of the silicon is treated so that the atoms within are unstable and there are too many electrons; therefore the top layer wants to get rid of one of the electrons while the bottom layer is lacking electrons and wants more. When the sun hits the solar cells the electrons are transferred and electricity is produced. The electricity that is produced from solar panels is Direct Current and the electricity that is used in our homes is Alternating Current. Therefore the last step of the process is for the energy to be converted through an inverter from DC to AC. A major concern for the future use of solar energy is the ability to store and use the energy during cloudy days or times without much sunlight. According to Zahedi (Zahedi, 2011) using energy storage in connection with solar power systems is widely recognized as a reasonable solution to compensate this weakness at both small scale and large scale. A few of these options include battery storage; pumped hydro storage; thermal energy storage; compressed air energy storage; energy storage using flow batteries; electrolyzer and fuel cell; flywheel energy storage; superconducting magnetic energy storage; super-capacitors. The process by which electricity is produced through solar panels is a simple process that is highly environmentally friendly. A few decades ago, solar energy was a concept that seemed unreasonable and unaffordable to most people; but with advantages in science and technology, solar energy is made very possible. As the demand for energy continues to increase and our supply of fossil fuels continues to decrease we have seen a raise in the cost of energy. Solar energy is an economically wise investment. According to Francescato, the price of solar has been plummeting, around 30% in the past two years. It is believed that solar energy will become as cheap as any other source of energy within the next 15 years. As seen in the chart below

the price of a solar system has steadily decreased while its popularity has continued to rise. Currently the average American pays around 110 dollars for a monthly electricity bill. According to statistics the average American would be able to save anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars a month by switching to solar energy. The cost of generating fossils should also be taken into account meaning externalities or hidden costs such as illness and environmental impact. It is estimated that it costs 120 billion dollars annually to cope with these impacts. There are also many benefits that individuals and businesses can receive as a result of using solar energy. Many state governments as well as the national government offer incentive programs for the use of renewable resources. One of those is called Net Metering this is basically where credits are added to your electric bill as solar panels collect excess energy. Some areas offer Solar Rebate Programs which off payment or rebate to the solar energy user based on their system size. Federal and state governments also apply tax credits that allow the price of your solar system to be reduced from your taxes. There is a lot of money to be saved by going green and switching to solar energy!

By replacing our current sources of energy with solar energy we will be eliminating the use of many fossil fuels that can harm the environment and replacing them with clean, renewable energy. According to Singer burning coal for energy is quite a dirty process.

When fossil fuels are burned carbon dioxide is released and trapped in the atmosphere which is a leading cause of global warming. According to Singer (Singer, 2012) the air that surrounds us is made up of 80% nitrogen and when fossil fuels are burned that nitrogen is combusted which released nitrogen oxides. These nitrogen oxides along with sulfur produce sulfuric and nitric acid which then leads to acid rain that is harmful to forests and other forms of life. On the other hand there are many benefits to the environment that come from using solar energy. One of those is to reduce air pollution energy produced from solar energy has no impact on the air quality. The climate is also unaffected by solar energy; as discussed earlier when fossil fuels are burned combustion takes place which has a negative impact on the climate. With solar energy no combustion takes place and therefore the climate is not impacted in any way. This paper has given a brief overview of the benefits the can come from solar energy. Solar energy has great potential in our country to become a main provider of energy. Overall it has been determined that there are clearly better options apart from using fossil fuels to provide us with the energy we need to sustain our daily activities. One of these options is the use of solar energy. We have an essentially unlimited, clean, renewable energy source in the sun and for us to not take advantage of it is a grave error. We are polluting this wonderful planet as we continue to use resources that are not renewable. As we move forward by implementing solar energy we will not only save our resources but we will save our future planet. Solar energy is a reliable source of energy and has the potential to replace many of the environmentally damaging sources we currently use as a society.

Works Cited Ahmad Zahedi, 2011, Maximizing solar PV energy penetration using energy storage technology, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Volume 15, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 866870 Zekai en, 2004, Solar energy in progress and future research trends, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science Volume 30, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 367 416 Rosana Francescato, 2013, The Truth about Solar, http://theenergycollective.com/rosana-francescato/202511/truth-about-solar Jess Jiang, The Price of Electricity in your State, http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/10/27/141766341/the-price-of-electricityin-your-state Clifford Singer, 2013, Environmental Effects of Burning Fossil Fuels, http://courses.engr.illinois.edu/npre201/coursematerial/environmental_effects/lect ure19.html Brandon Barker, 2013, Solar: The Solution to Americas Energy and Economic Crisis http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/22/solar-solution-americas-energy-economic-crisis/ http://1bog.org/blog/infographic-how-much-does-solar-cost/ http://ucsusa.org