PV Gap

Greg Said:

Potential amounts of WWS energy we can harvest?

We Answered:

Right now, solar and wind power are limited by production capacity - see the links.
Ultimate capacity is far in excess of what our civilization's energy requirements - look at the Wikipedia articles. Last link shows land area needed to supply total world energy needs from solar alone - as well as how to calculate it.

Veronica Said:

thoughts on solar energy?

We Answered:

Hey Wisconsin, let me see if I can help. If you invest properly in solar power today and take advantage of any grants and tax incentives, even if your electric rates do not go up as they are forecast too, you will get your money back over time, well within the lifetime of the equipment, and sooner if there is a rate increase in the future. There are also enviromental benefits. At one time there was an argument that a solar panel will never produce as much power as was used to manufacture it. First of all, this is not correct. The, "Embodied Energy," in a solar panel is earned back in 2 - 6 years, depending on the type panel, where the raw materials were shipped from, and how it was installed and used in the end. Most panels are warrantied to last at least 25 years, and most last much longer than that. But the argument is not important anyway. We have been living with electricity for over a century now, so it isn't going away anytime soon. The question is, "What is the best way to produce it?" If you build a panel, and put it along side a similar sized natural gas fired turbine generator for example, which earns back its embodied energy sooner? The answer is the gas turbine never does, because once you build it, ship it and install it, you now have to feed it natural gas for the rest of its life, so it keeps on digging itself a deeper and deeper embodied energy hole that it can never crawl out of. At least the panel has a chance to get even environmentally. So manufacturing and using solar panels in the end releases less pollution into our environment.

There are also mechanical and political benefits. We all know after the oil embargo of 1973, and the gulf war what it means for our country to rely on foreign oil. Wouldn't it be nice if we only shipped in 20% of our energy instead of 60% the next time something like that happens? Our home has been powered by the wind and sun for years now, but we still remain connected to the electric grid. Last year alone there were two power failures in our county that lasted about a half day each. In both cases, we were not aware of them because our solar array kept on feeding the house. It's difficult to put a price tag on something like that. Did you know that there are over 100,000 homes and businesses in the United States alone that use some level of solar power to operate their electrical devices, that's good news.

Beyond the mechanical, political and environmental benefits however, lies a less obvious benefit, the social benefit. Right now we pump oil out of the ground, and mine for coal. The process of getting those materials to market involves shipping, military escorts and other activities that use up a good portion of that energy as well as putting lives at risk. Jobs in alternative power are higher tech than jobs in coal mining, oil drilling and shipping, and there are more of them. Using more alternative power would require us to put more people to work, and increase our education base because the work involved requires certain skills. I would personally like to take all those people out of the coal mines, send them to school and put them to work building solar panels. Nobody would have to die again in one of those dark holes in the ground trying to find food for our hungry power plants. They could work on a factory floor where they would not be exposed to coal dust, radon and other toxins and dangers. Most of our solar and wind resources are spread pretty evenly over the middle half of our globe, so everyone has access. This puts people in Bogota on a more equal footing with people in Boca Raton by giving them access to electricity, heat and clean water, and the education to use the solar, wind and biomass resources that provide those things. Oil, coal and natural gas is generally piled up in a few places, such as Russia and the Middle East. This gives those countries and the richer governments that rule them more horse power in bargaining for the other resources of our planet. These are the things that wars are made of.

There are other reasons, but I think you get the picture. For us, renewable energy has become something of a hobby It will probably never save us any real money, utility power in most places is really very inexpensive, but it's a little like growing your own tomatoes. It's usually cheaper to buy them at the grocery, but lots of people go to the work and expense to maintain a garden instead. We just grow electrons in ours. If you really want to learn more about the subject, there are some great sources to look into, I will list some below. Good luck, and take care, Rudydoo

Carol Said:

science report?

We Answered:

hmm iam sending u some topics related abt solar energy
1 Energy from the Sun
2 Types of technologies
2.1 Agriculture and horticulture
2.2 Architecture and urban planning
2.3 Solar lighting
2.4 Solar thermal
2.4.1 Water heating
2.4.2 Heating, cooling and ventilation
2.4.3 Process heat
2.4.4 Cooking
2.4.5 Desalination and disinfection
2.5 Electricity generation
2.5.1 Photovoltaics
2.5.2 Concentrating solar
2.5.3 Experimental solar power
2.6 Sunshine to Petrol
2.7 Solar vehicles
2.8 Solar chemical
2.9 Solar mechanical
3 Energy storage
3.1 Thermal mass storage
3.2 Electrical storage
4 Development, deployment and economics
5 Solar energy associations
5.1 Worldwide
5.2 Europe
5.3 North America

Hector Said:

can anyone tell me how an energy efficient home works or give me any websites?

We Answered:

While a solar heated and solar electric home means you're not producing CO2 from burning natural gas or oil to heat the house, or using any electricity from the grid for lighting or other uses, you can't just go slap on solar panels and expect the house to work.

A solar house needs to be built, from the ground up, with energy efficiency in mind. That means:
- Maximizing insulation and air sealing
- Maximizing solar thermal input in cold months and minimizing it in hot months (by having large south and west facing windows with large overhangs for example)
- Minimizing the energy use of appliances and lighting within the home.

For lots of home energy saving tips see the website below

Crystal Said:

Is solar panels a good topic for a Research paper?

We Answered:

I think solar panels would be a pretty good one to do as there would be a lot of material available to be used. You could go into the history, technology, current uses, future uses, etc and there would be plenty of information available for pretty much all of those parts. So, yeah I would say that that should work pretty well for a research paper.