Solar is the Solution By Lee Stopak

The World as we Know It Currently 85% of the worlds energy use comes from fossil fuels and natural gas. Not only are we running out of fossil fuels, they are also changing the global environment for the worse

Alternatives? Wind Geothermal Water Biomass Solar

Worldwide Energy Consumption We're going to need new energy sources to provide for all 200,000 plus terawatt hours of energy that we will consume. How are we doing to provide for this? We could do this two ways: o Non-renewable energy sources o Renewable energy sources

Solar vs. Fossil Fuels The sun provides 350,000,000 terawatt hours per year. Compared with non-renewable energy sources, the sun provides 32.4 times more energy per year than ALL non- renewable resources combined. However, solar energy accounts for only.5% of worldwide energy, and solar photovoltaic energy a meager.04%. Total Global Non-renewable Energy Resources (Terawatt hours*) Coal 6,000,000 Natural Gas 1,500,000 Uranium 235 1,500,000 Oil 1,000,000 Tar Sands 800,000 Total: 10,800,000

Solar Energy The Sun is by far the most abundant renewable energy source as well Annual Global RENEWABLE Energy Resources (in Terawatt hours*) Direct Solar Radiation 350,000,000 Wind 200,000 Ocean/Thermal 100,000 Biofuels 50,000 Geothermal 10,000 Tidal/Wave 5,000

How can we Capture Solar Light? Sunlight can be captured by photovoltaic cells They convert sunlight into electrical current CPV is often used

Solar Power Plants

What About Cloudy Days and Night Time? Just like plants, power plants can convert sunlight into energy and store it for future use. Using salt to store the Sun's heat, the plant can operate without sunlight. Nanotechnology in solar panels

Drawbacks Unpredictable environmental effects from immense amounts of land space used for solar panels Inefficiency - the best useable solar panels today are only 40% efficient Panels must always be facing the sun, which requires a mechanical orientation system must also be built Costly

Within the Community Cheaper to install PV panels on individual rooftops than it is to manufacture a central power plant. Urban planning Using greenhouses for agriculture and horticulture Incorporating daylighting techniques into architecture Solar thermal for heating, cooling and water distillation

To Sum Up Solar energy is a completely renewable source Solar cells are perfectly quiet. There is no noise associated with them compared to oil extractors which are very noisy There is no pollution Very little maintenance, no moving parts There is only a one time cost of personal solar panels Easy installation It's only going to improve

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