The Development of Solar Energy and Its Usage

Abstract

The world faces the problem of chemicals polluting our air in energy being wasted all the time. There is hundreds of ways to save the earth but solar is the most reliable and it's everywhere. Solar has varieties to what you could get more energy in. Including panels, shingles or even to produce money over time you could have a whole solar farm. Although it is a small portion of the world the actually uses solar we need to get the word out there and make it known to fight climate change. Panels are a very common yet pricy materials to produce with up to a couple dollars per watt. Most customers just want power but they need to understand where they get it from.

Solar energy has had a great impact on the energy world. Solar energy will forever be a reasonable way to fuel our everyday needs for power. We need to start leading away from nuclear and other high pollution energy and start using solar energy that is better for the environment. Throughout, learning about solar energy we should know that this is a historical way of gaining energy that we use it today. Solar energy is the most convenient and you’re able to make your money back using solar. Today is a perfect time to learn and start investing in your future

History

Solar was been used for thousands of years doing work, cooking food and keeping warm throughout the night. Solar wasn’t fully into operation until 1839 when Alexandre Edmond Becquerel started working on a new idea called a solar panel. He noticed how someone objects get electrical current from the sun. Alexandre had students who also made a way into helping the panels start. William Grylls Adams which was one of his students found selenium made electricity when open to the sunlight. Three men named D.M. Chapin, C.S. Fuller, and G.L. Pearson found cells that turned light into electricity called Photovoltaic cells, and they were not cheap to produce. About 20 dollars per watt in 1970 and before then in 1960s it was costing 300 dollars per watt. After all these wars that have happened and the how much oil and fuel we used throughout them other energys like solar sky rocketed getting a large boost in the industry.

Ancient uses

In Northern Africa and part of Central America is where solar got its first beginnings. These people have used techniques to harness the suns energy into either drying clay or many other projects for thousands of years. Greeks considered the helpfulness of the sun a God named Helios. The Greek ArchiText believe in using the son’s power to be a great way of building faster. Important buildings in Greece would be facing the sun or with a lot more room for the sun so they could build faster. The Athenians adopted this where are you building into their own architectural designs. Glass was very big in Roman solar building that they even created baths with glass so that way the water would heat up faster. Because the glass or other materials is a good conductor but not so much to bathe in. Romans discovered the “solar heat trap” to trap hot air and was able to reach over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. This was extremely helpful throughout the harsh winters the northern area of Rome faced. With the Romans making glass with solar heating the Chinese Empires adopted this way into battle for causing fires to enemy’s and making fires when people were cold.

Modern Uses

By installing solar panels in your backyard, roof, or even car you’ll also make your money back. Many homes today rely on solar to power their home throughout power outages or a natural disaster. People every day or constantly effected by these events so if you can’t get energy from your provider if there’s light in the sky you can power your whole home. The if you are cold and there’s no way the energy provider is coming you can power your heater in your car or house. If you are hungry you can power the stove to eat some nice thanksgiving food. Many benefits come from having solar such as knowing you support renewable energy, less bills for electricity, and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance. I’m the end a great way to start going green. (Source: John Perlin, Let It Shine/ The 6000 Year Story of Solar Energy, 2013).

New Technology

Every day you can find something new on amazon that has no outlet to be plugged into but a solar panel as the way to be charged. Different types of panels are coming to the market to make it easier to install, better looking, and space efficient. Over the years the price of solar has gone down tremendously per watt and its 99% less than it was in the 1970s. This new technology has made solar glass and is starting to get cheaper to buy. These make it unnoticeable and efficient so if you were using it has a window it would also power your house, it’s a win both ways! Everyday people complain on the installment fee of the solar panels and it’s about 10-30 percent more to have someone come over and do it for you. But with new cuts in 2019 with price you’ll make your money back within a couple years just for all the panels with extra money around to buy something else.

Solar Roofing

Many companies have Solar Panels but recently within the last year a new way of solar has been around the market called solar roofing. With big name brands such as Tesla having an interest in these a lot of hype or excitement has surrounded this subject. Similar to getting solar panels you must have a permit and a licensed engineer to come and look at your property before you have an installment of that new roofing. These processes can be costly with prices ranging up to twenty-five thousand dollars for a full installation. A lot of controversy has come that it's just miniatures solar panels doing less work for a higher price but that's not necessarily true. Yes, it may be pricey but you’re able to get sixty watt per panel or solar shingle which is high efficiency.

Solar Panel

Every month a new breakthrough happens with solar cell either it's a higher efficiency or a price cut. Recently a new material called tandem perovskite solar cell is being created for to get you more for your money. From tandem perovskite solar cell in 2006 being a 3 percent increase in efficiency to a 24 percent increase in efficiency in 2019 is an incredibly big deal. But before tandem perovskite can go commercial it started with a corrosive liquid that powered and eroded the cell. But since that was in 2006 and with less than a four percent in efficiency using different materials and substances has made the increase as large as it was. Now tandem perovskite solar cell can’t handle much moisture or long time in the hot sun. Lead continues to have a lot of problems within the Solar community so taking a lot of lead out takes out majority of problems because of leads high melting point its able to get hot and burn components around it. With new solutions to all problems the market could see this new cell come into play in 2020.

Solar Farms

Considering Solar Farming is a new way to start a renewable energy business making money would take time. Sources would consider it great way to make extra money since you could make around thirty-thousand per acre every year but you’d make your money back but it would take time just like other businesses. North Carolina is one of the top places to have solar farming due to a lot of clear stretches of land through the state. If considering this, a warning that there will be a lot of competition since it’s becoming rather large and people can see it growing fast. Producing one megawatt of power you could get from three acres.

How It Works

Solar Energy comes from the many ways to get panel’s shingles or what not I mentioned earlier. But solar energy comes from capturing the suns energy and making it into usable energy to power our homes. Every day millions of photons come to earth waiting to be harnessed for us to be able to power the earth for years from just one day. When the sun hits the solar panel the electrons work by going in a circle or creating a circuit. With the correct coming from the electrons are working to create a circuit. They go into an inverter to put the energy from the photons. Then the inverter takes the direct current in turns it into current. This process takes time but you can put where ever you need energy the most you connect the inverter to.

The Suns Photons

The Suns photons can take one million years just to get out of the sun. But as soon as the photons reached the end of the sun they go into space at about six-hundred seventy million miles an hour and can reach earth in about eight minutes. Just about anything with mass can absorb photons from anything producing them. Before you start to feel warm going outside the atmosphere absorbs most of the Photons that could be harmful and while the sun is directly above the earth there's a thinner layer of the atmosphere the photons have to travel and that's why it's warmer at noon then at the setting. Intensity of the photons that the atmosphere mainly controls is also much thinner at noon then settings.

Conclusion

The Solar Energy department is continuing to grow every day and with it the love for renewables too. The Everlasting need for power can always be attained by ourselves with Solar panels in our backyards and with power shingles on our roofs. As populations globally grows we have power all around us waiting for us to be put on a solar panel for power. These make our lives easier than having factories everywhere polluting.