PV Gap

Herman Said:

How is solar energy used?

We Answered:

Hi Sarah - That is great that you are considering solar power. The previous answers do a good job of covering the main uses of solar power - heat or electricity. Using a renewable energy technology like solar thermal or solar electric (photovoltaic) means that we use less polluting fossil fuels to produce the energy that we consume. Despite the widespread availability of solar power for residential, commercial and utility scale projects, less than 1% of all of our electricity in the US is generated from solar power!

If you plan to seriously investigate solar power for your home or business, the first step is to look at ways to reduce your consumption. Solar energy is clean, but we should still be fully aware of what we consume. In many cases solar power is an investment for environmental reasons and not strictly economic reasons.

Good luck!
Kristen

Victoria Said:

What are the advantages & disadvanges of nuclear & solar?

We Answered:

That is a very complicated question, but I will try to give a concise answer.

Advantages of nuclear:

Does not make CO2 in it's operation. Fuel is very energy dense and it only takes a small mass of it to fuel the plant. Years of fuel can be stored on site, unlike fossil plants. They have an excellent safety record compared to other forms of centralized power generation.

Disadvantages:

Public fear makes them difficult to site. The waste, although compact volumetrically, is extremely hazardous, and it is a difficult political problem how to deal with it. In case of accident (like Chernobyl, although that is exceedingly unlikely in the West), loss of life could potentially be very great.

Solar advantages:

Solar energy uses the light from the Sun, therefore does not require fuel. PV panels can be placed anywhere where there is light, and they make electricity. Solar thermal needs to be in a sunny place (like a desert). Solar does not make CO2 in it's operation.

Solar disadvantages:

The sun doesn't shine all the time, so solar requires a means of electrical storage if round-the-clock power is desired. PV manufacture is polluting, and energy intensive, and is constrained by raw material availability, particularly for the new thin film panels. Solar thermal only works in hot, sunny areas, requiring long transmission lines to get power where it is used. Sunlight, although very plentiful, is a diffuse source of energy. Large areas would have to be devoted to solar power, unlike other central forms of power.

If you Google solar, and nuclear power, you'll get info on how they work. I'm trying to keep this concise.

DK