PV Gap

Ralph Said:

Give ten things that you believe would make a perfect society?

We Answered:

Education, the rest will fall into place.

Judith Said:

how did science contribute to the development of solar energy is our society?

We Answered:

Only science can help in developing use of Solar Energy by making easy to use products. Car body with solar energy cells, cellular phones with Solar energy cells, whole of internet can be enegized by solar. But as they killed the electric cars becaues the top gas sellerers were worried of loosing business, solar energy is curbed by the business men.

Brandon Said:

Solar Energy/Power question?

We Answered:

Solar panels reduce the footprint because they create energy that otherwise would be created by unsustainable resources. Solar energy is the best type of energy because the sun is the source of most energy on Earth. It is better than getting energy from lower trophic levels. One solar panel does not do much, but when enough people do it, entire coal plants can be taken off the grid. This reduces the amount of pollution created. This the footprint of the human race is made "less deep". This helps make a country sustainable because eventually the footprint is made so that nature can erase the footprint, instead of humans constantly making it deeper.


Solar power is the most abundant fuel available. Solar power is essential for a sustainable lifestyle. Using only a fraction of that power can solve all of our energy needs! It is the fastest growing market, with an increase of 48% a year since 2002. Once a solar panel is installed, you don't really have to worry about it much. Also, there is the potential to make money from the power company. When you use less than the solar panel produces, then the extra energy is put back into the grid. Make money from the power company? Why doesn't everyone do this? Well, solar power, although abundant, is the most expensive way to produce electricity. Oil, on the other hand, is cheap. Because there is relatively low demand for it, solar power does not grow to it's full potential; therefore, the panels stay as an expensive luxury, when it could slash the electricity bill.
The one problem with wind and solar power is their unpredictability. There might not be any wind on hot days when one might want to use an air conditioner. Also, it's never daytime 24/7. This is why power companies are reluctant to switch to these clean alternatives. They don't want the headache of predicting the weather, when they could just fire up a coal plant on a summer day. A way around this is to import electricity from the Mid-West (for wind power) to cities. Unfortunately, this type of infrastructure does not exist yet. A battery, although, works for most people to solve this problem. It captures the energy and stores it for use later on. It's like getting free batteries for your house. Why not use the energy from a windy night to power the lights for a couple days? Or why not sell the electricity created while your away on vacation to the power company. On a hot day, the power company is willing to pay extra for electricity. Batteries are important for people that have, or are thinking about getting, solar or wind power.
found a great way to start using solar and wind power, while keeping costs down. I recommend taking a look at this: http://tiny.cc/newbattery . This website also teaches how to make and buy the ever so important battery cheaply.


Another option is to build your own solar panels or wind turbine. It really only takes some initiative. Most people dismiss this option because it seems like only the scientists and engineers can build these seemingly magical sources of energy. A little research reveals that all wind turbines are just spinning magnets with wire around them. The concept is elementary. As for solar panels, purchasing the silicon mixture (the blue metal) and attaching it to the other components is still cheaper than buying one already done, but like I said, it takes some initiative. http://tiny.cc/solarandwind

Another solar power option, is a solar water heater. It is a great way that is not complicated at all. It is simple: the heater uses the sun's power to heat the water, with no gas or coal. Like the solar panels and wind turbine, a solar water heater can also be built for a lower cost. http://dwarfurl.com/c1222

Gertrude Said:

What Are All The Energy Systems Used In Society, And How Do They Produce Energy?

We Answered:

Nuclear, Coal, Natural Gas, and Geothermal operate under the same principles: Boil water, generate steam, drive a turbine, produce electricity.

Hydro-drive a turbine.
Wind-drive a turbine.

Solar--Two types, electro-voltaic conversion of sunlight to energy or focus the energy into a collector and boil water to generate steam to drive a turbine.

There are different types of nuclear reactors based on cooling-water cooled, sodium/metal cooled, molten salt and gas cooled reactors. Then there are different types of reactors on how they generate heat--fissile and decay.

Jeanette Said:

How science developed the solar energy?..10points.........?

We Answered:

Scientists of the Commission-financed project FULLSPECTRUM have developed photovoltaic (PV) multi-junction (MJ) solar cells which are able to convert 39.7% of the energy of sun light into electricity. This is the highest percentage ever reached in Europe, according to researchers after their final workshop today in El Escorial, Spain.

The main barrier to large-scale deployment of PV systems is the high production cost of electricity, due to the significant capital investment costs. Research is engaged to reduce manufacturing costs and to raise the efficiency of the cells. Today conventional PV cells made of silicon are converting only a fraction of the solar light spectrum around 17%.

FULLSPECTRUM's multi-junction solar cells are able to catch more sun light energy due to their composition of different materials, including gallium, phosphorus, indium and germanium. These multi-junction solar cells are expensive and have only been used for applications in space. However, the cost can be considerably reduced by arranging them in special panels which include lenses that focus a large amount of solar energy onto the cells. These concentrators can reach far above 1000 times the natural solar power flux and have also been the object of the project research.

FULLSPECTRUM is an integrated project involving 19 European public and industrial research centres from seven EU Member States, as well as Russia and Switzerland. It is coordinated by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Instituto de Energía Solar and started in November 2003 with an overall budget of € 14,7 Million of with the European Commission financed € 8.4 Million.

Background

The European Commission has spent more than € 105 Million in research on photovoltaic energy since the start of Framework Programme 6 in 2002. Many of the projects are trying to get production costs of silicon solar cells down.

Energy research is constituent of the European Union Energy and Climate Package. One of its ambitious targets for 2020 is to increase by up to 20% the level of renewable energy in the EU's overall final energy consumption. To reach this goal the European Commission started the Strategic Energy Technology (SET)-Plan.

The Solar Europe Industrial Initiative as part of the SET-Plan has recently elevated its target for the participation of photovoltaics in the European electricity demand by 2020 from 3% to 12%. This can be translated into installing from 350 up to 400 GW P (Gigawatt of peak capacity) in photovoltaics, corresponding to an average growth of ~40% per year from today's situation.

Back in 2006, the total installed capacity of PV systems in the EU was 3,4 GW P , representing approximately 0,5% of the total EU electrical capacity. The electricity generated by PV was approximately 2,5 TWh (Terawatthour), or 0,1% of the demand. The annual installations of PV systems in 2006 in the EU reached 1250 Megawatt.

Other more:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200…