Balbo.Bevilacqua.Spring.Wiki.2011

__**SOLAR POWER**__ By: Michael Balbo & Joshua Bevilacqua

 Let us take a journey back in time, to an instant when there were no fossil fuels used. Let’s start with 242 years ago, at what time the first internal combustion engine powered car was successfully produced, running off of fuel such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene. Of course the rate in which cars were produced had skyrocketed by the time of the mid-twentieth century hit, and when the industrial revolution began and from that point on fossil fuels have been our main means of transportation, heat, power, lighting, and much more. However, was this the first point in time that humans had utilized the earth’s fossil fuels? The answer is undoubtedly no. Let’s continue back approximately 25-30 thousand years ago to the prehistoric era where our distant ancestors, as Neanderthals, used coal to produce fire. What I am trying to say is that fossil fuels have been used ever since man walked earth, but it was not until recently that man may have abused his privileged extent of fossil fuel use.

Before I begin to dive into the main contents of my paper, I would like to briefly introduce the fascinating history of our earth. I feel that this will add to any reader’s appreciation of our earths establishing beginning. Mother earth has evolved and experienced many various phases over the course of her existence. Looking back on earth’s history, we will find quite a few important events such as the collision between our earth, in her premature state, and another planet of that time. During this age, earth was in a liquid/gaseous state, but the surface layers had begun to harden to a semisolid condition. It was at this time that earth collided with an unfamiliar entity causing a spontaneous birth of earth’s moon. During the time of collision, the earth and the unknown body created such a strong force, creating heat at temperatures as high as 12,000 F and creating a swirl of earth rock that eventually came together to form that object that we see in the sky almost every night. This subject matter may be slightly off topic but for me, after viewing a 7 part documentary about “The Collision Theory,” I have developed an entirely new appreciation for the history of our earth.

 Fossil fuels have several strong forces that drive them towards being an issue of our atmosphere. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources resulting in our declining quantity of supply. However, this is not our major issue; we can find alternative sources of power and we will. Our major issue is that fossils fuels are being depleted from beneath the earth, at which point they are transformed into energy, subsequently producing some type of exhaust which is then placed into our atmosphere. Many different forms of air pollution surround us each and every day: Particulate matter (minuscule particles drift in the air), Smog (Mixture of gas and particles of pollutant that form a haze near the ground), Sulfur dioxide (consequence of burning fossil fuels; key element of acid rain), Nitrogen oxide (produced from exhaust in most machinery or engines), Carbon monoxide (also produced from exhaust in most machinery or engines), and many other additional forms. It is for these multiple reasons that we must drastically change our means of finding energy.

 Today, in this time period, we find ourselves in need of change, in order to prevent the accelerating incline that our atmosphere is taking. Numerous laws have been passed and people have begun to change habits and lifestyles in order to benefit our environment. But how much change is needed? How much has this use of fossil fuels affected our atmosphere? How long can we allow it to continue?

 One method of change that is taking place is the process of using the sun to produce energy, this is called solar energy. By definition, solar power is the “conversion of sunlight into electricity” directly or indirectly. Rigorous solar power systems use lenses or mirrors to focus a large are of sunlight into a small beam. Solar power was first utilized in the 1958 as a backup power source to the Vanguard I satellite. At this time it was a very contribution to our energy, if any at all but it was significant enough to spark thoughts for the future. Solar power has always been thought to be an expensive luxury and not worth the time, money and effort of installation; but, in the long run solar power will save money and is theoretically, free energy from the sun that is simply transformed from one place to another. In 2008, solar power contributed to less than 0.02% of the world’s total energy supply. How does solar energy work though? This is a very complicated process but can be simplified into basically: solar panels take the sun’s rays and transform that potential energy into kinetic energy. Essentially, there are three main ways that we can use the Sun's energy.



Solar cells are the first that will be addressed. Also called photoelectric cells, solar cells convert light directly into electricity. In a sunlit climate, you can generate enough power to run a 100W light bulb from merely one square meter of solar panel. Originally this was developed in order to provide electricity for satellites, but in modern day, many of us own calculators powered by solar cells. Secondly, solar water heating is where heat from the Sun is used to warm the water that is in glass panels that are located on the roof of the building. For home owners, this means you don't need to use so much gas or electricity to heat your water at home. Internally, water is pumped through the pipes that are in the panel. These pipes are painted black; this is to help the pipes get hotter when the Sun beams on them. The water is pumped in at the bottom so that convection assists the stream of hot water out of the top. This helps your central heating system, and lowers your fuel bills. On the other hand, with the basic type of panel, you must drain the water out to stop the panels from freezing in the winter. Some manufacturers have systems that do this automatically. Solar water heating is without doubt advisable in places like California and Florida where you get sunshine year round. Another type is the theromomax type panels. These panels are made out of a set of glass tubes that each contain a metal colored plate to assist in absorbing energy such as IR to UV rays, even when rays are weak, they still give a substantial output. Air is removed from the glass tubes to reduce heat loss. Up the back of the metal plate is a heat pipe that contains a liquid that transfers heat very quickly to the top of the glass tube. A water pipe runs across the top of the entire mechanism and picks up the heat from the tubes. Solar Furnaces are another type and are used through a huge array of mirrors to concentrate the Sun's energy into a small space and produce very high temperatures, thus creating a large amount of energy. Solar furnaces are essentially big “solar cookers".

At the moment, solar power does not make up much of the worlds energy resource bank, but it is a growing contribution. Solar power has many advantages and disadvantages that I will speak of later in the paper. These benefits can all be compared to our current main sources of energy. The central reason that solar energy is so hard to shape into our main source is because it is so expensive to initially set up. I will explain further into these details later in my paper, but for now I will tell you that solar power is a very creative, profitable source of energy but at the moment is known to be somewhat unrealistic. It could certainly contribute to the problems of our present condition of power, as I will explain soon in my paper. As far as expanding onto a larger scale, we may ask ourselves, what would it take? Well, again, as I will declare later in my paper, it could take a long time, and will take a great sum of money to accomplish something that would be substantial enough to compensate for our current depression of fossil fuels. Critics are greatly undecided on their opinion of solar power. Two of the biggest criticisms of solar energy are the question of its efficiency the high cost that I spoke of earlier. The efficiency of currently can reach about 20%, meaning that of the UV light that strikes the panels, only about 20% of the energy is converted to usable electricity. Fossil-fuel burning power plants don’t do much better. Only about 35% of the energy in coal or gas makes it onto the power grid, the remaining 65% is wasted. As I said earlier, scientists have admitted that we’ve used the most we can from coal and gas, but this is not the case with solar energy. Like I said, solar energy is free, and we more or less have an endless supply until the sun burns out, which will not be for a very long time. As solar power is expensive, we must also consider that there are many factors that go into a true comparison that a lot of people simply do not think about. While researching for this paper, I came across a funny quote that caught my attention as merely a cartoon’s opinion, yet it was true. Homer Simpson said in one episode of //The Simpson’s//, “And Lord, we are especially thankful for nuclear power, the cleanest, safest energy source there is. Except for solar, which is just a pipe dream.” This statement is not 100% true but it is funny to think about because it is looked at as a dream to have a world solely relied on solar power. But, in my opinion, I can certainly imagine a world 20 years from now, that produces more than 70% of its energy from solar power, but this is my own, personal, mental figure.

 At this time, we would like to include a few quotes from a number of significant people. Jimmy Carter once said “Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.” There is no better time to address solar power than now; we must start sooner than later. Margareta Wolf addresses that “The use of solar energy offers huge potential for natural resource and climate protection and for the expansion of renewable energies on the road to a future-oriented energy supply.” Samuel Bodman addresses that “As the technology for solar cells gets better and better, this form of clean, renewable energy will find more applications that take up less space and produce more electricity, to meet the energy needs of our homes, schools and businesses.” Ralph Nader has said that “The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.” This is a rough statement, because the oil industry is not pushing for solar power to not come through. Dana Rohrabacher says that she thinks that we must “take positive steps toward space solar-power systems. We need to move in a step-by-step manner. It's a real possibility to have a great new energy source for mankind.” Mrs. Hillary Clinton has said that “Clearly, we need more incentives to quickly increase the use of wind and solar power; they will cut costs, increase our energy independence and our national security and reduce the consequences of global warming.” These are all very interesting outlooks on solar power and help us realize that people are keeping this alternative source of power in mind. We know that solar power is not just something being overlooked at the moment.



One major advantage of solar energy is that it will save you money. As I have said, after the initial investment has been recovered, the energy from the sun is practically free. Another advantage is that solar power is environmentally friendly. Solar energy is clean and convenient helping to protect our environment. It has many benefits that gas, oil and coal do not. It does not pollute our air by releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide or mercury into the atmosphere, and for that reason it does not contribute to global warming, acid rain or smog, as mentioned earlier. It can also be generated in almost any area; sunlight hits generally almost every natural spot on the earth’s crust, so it makes it hard to find an area where solar energy is not available. Solar energy also eliminates the need to pay the fees that many other sources of energy must consider. Solar power is also, as I have made apparent, an independent source of energy where you do not need to consider outside input and do not need to account for much else information. It is used to take the place of utility-supplied energy spending. 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. A Solar Energy system can operate wholly alone, leaving out the necessity for an outside source of power. Organization can then be set up in isolated sites, making it more practical and cost-effective than the supply of utility electricity to a new site. The use of Solar Energy reduces our reliance on foreign and central sources of energy, influenced by natural disasters or global events and so contributes to a maintainable future. Solar Energy supports local job and wealth creation, fuelling local economies. Solar power also requires very low upholding support. Solar energy systems are considered to be practically maintenance free and long-lasting. Once installed, there are no frequent or reoccurring costs unlike many other power sources today. They operate silently, have no moving parts, do not release offensive smells and do not require you to add any fuel. More solar panels can easily be added in the future, say if a family’s needs grow.



With advantages come disadvantages, logically. The initial cost is the main difficulty of installing a solar energy system. It is comparably high with non-renewable utility-supplied electricity. As energy shortages are becoming more common, solar energy is becoming more price-competitive. Solar panels also require quite a large region for putting in place a system to achieve a good level of effectiveness. The production of solar energy is, unfortunately, influenced by the presence of clouds or pollution in the air. Similarly, solar energy will not be produced during nighttime although a battery backup system and/or net metering will solve this problem.

 So let’s look back on the return of solar power and the drawbacks of solar power. As I stated previously, solar power is somewhat unattractive because it is initially costly, it can be unreliable if you are not in a very sunny environment (but nowadays, this is nothing to worry about), and lastly, energy is not generated at night therefore during that time energy will always be lost, but this is something that should not be very worried about. On the other hand, its free, it’s easy in sunny environments, and very useful in low power use. Solarbuzz claimed that in 2009 that nearly 2 billion people live every day without access to electricity. Solar power is and will always be renewable because the sun will continue to shine for years to come, so why not take advantage of it? Especially when the potentially energy is right here, and is not being consumed.

 Solar energy is starting to be introduced into homes, schools, large businesses, buildings, street lights, small machinery, and many domestic devices. Here at our school, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, I noticed that we have solar powered lamp posts, and I have even seen a cadet with a backpack that generates solar power energy. Again, solar energy is expensive to harness, therefore it is still yet to be seen as often as it should be but once our country leaves our current recession, I can guarantee that we will see much more of the solar powered systems that I have spoke of.

 Writing this paper has been surprisingly amusing, entertaining, and interesting. I have enjoyed learning about alternative sources of energy and appreciate the push of this paper which has given me the opportunity to study of my choice of alternative energy. So for that, I thank you for your guidance in opening my eyes to the troubles of our earth's current state of natural supply. In closing, I took pleasure in writing this paper and after my research I have concluded that if I were to change how it is used I would attempt to make it more affordable. Solar power is a very useful, profitable source of energy and should certainly be utilized in the next half century. I have truthfully enjoyed this assignment and feel that my knowledge for the subject has certainly expanded after writing this paper. In final, I have enjoyed your class this semester and have benefited from your method of teaching. I appreciate all of your time, effort and help this semester.

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