Green Energy News of the Day
Developments in Solar Energy Technology
The energy provided from sun is so strong that it can power the entire planet for one year. Surely we are clever enough to capture some of this magnificent force and use it to fuel our environment. Solar energy are divided into two categories, static or passive solar energy and dynamic or kinetic solar energy. An example of passive solar energy could be building a house so that the windows face the morning sun in cold climates. We do not know but our Earth uses the power from sun in many ways. Ours is an inherently rechargeable renewable world, provided we use our resources such as solar energy wisely.
For instance in case of shopping malls which use double paned insulated windows that allow light to enter yet keep heating or cooling locked inside. But what would happen if the sun moves away from the arc its following? Then active solar lighting can use mirrors that track with the sun’s movement and then reflect light into fiber optic cable that can carry that light into any part of our same department store. Further on, we can transfer warmth through various forms of solar energy. Like in the 1950s it was a common trend to see simple glass paned boxes filled with copper pipes which were used to help heat water for swimming pools and boilers.
Water can be heated from high temperature parabolic shaped mirrors than made possible by our simple rooftop hot boxes. If we apply this theory properly then solar power can supply 50% of the power needs for a modern factory. This method could be said is one half of the concentrated solar power used for creating electricity from sun’s radiant energy.
Solar cells which are also called photovolatic is the most common form of solar every conversion which relies upon solar volatic cells. Initially being developed in the 188o’s, these cells were used to produce a flow of electrons which were further used to create current flow. In simple words, sunlight was turned into energy. However, since the 1970s, advancements in developments have taken place due to oil shortage. Solar cells are now competitive with the wind power technology due to increase in production and its low price and like their low emissions wind counterparts are far less costly than nuclear power.
Lets consider an example of the Jumilla, Spain solar farm. Currently, high yield (15% efficiency) photovoltaic solar installations cost around 6 dollars per watt. The world’s largest solar farm sits on just 247 acres and cost about 200 million dollars to build. The gross amount of revenue annually is to exceed 20 million dollars. This means you would earn all you investment in 15 years time allowing for maintainence and labor. Only in carbon credit, the solar farm would generate over a million dollars. This is because obviously a solar farm does not require any infusion of coal of any other fossil fuel which creates energy. For some people waiting for a 15 year period might be too long. Solar and wind power speculate on the overall rise in hydrocarbon fuel costs. A coal fired power plant costs one fifth as much to build as does a solar wind farm on a per watt basis. And even factoring the cost of fuel to burn, fossil fuel power is cheaper, but for how long and at what ultimate cost. One little blip in the world’s political stability can drive the cost of fossil fuels to double. If and when that happens solar power will be a bargain.
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