Solar Energy, Essay Example

Introduction

Green energy is produced energy in a way that has less negative effect to the environment; it is when power is generated with minimum pollution created as the by-product. Green energy contradicts the fossil fuels, which had been in used but was known to be harmful to the surroundings by causing global warming. There are several green energy types; these are Solar, wind Geothermal and hydro energy.According to Xianguo Li “Green energy provides an important option for meeting clean energy demands for both Industrial and non industrial applications, and consequently is a major factor in future sustainable development and world stability” (18).

Solar energy

Solar energy is one of the green energy, which is commonly used in today’s world; it involves capturing and harnessing the suns’ energy.This process can be done in three distinctive ways; Active solar water heating,which convert’s solar emission into heat that can be used or stored for future. The second way is Passive solar;designed to capture the sun’s energy for lighting and heating in buildings to reduce the need for artificial energy. The third and most used way is the solar PV panels or solar cells. This is used to convert daylight into electricity. The PV system has four main types. These are the Grid-connected PV, Grid support PV, Off-grid PV and Hybrid system (Fräs?s-Ehrfeld 116).

Grid-connected PV is the most popular solar PV system used in homes and business worldwide. An inverter will be used to concert the direct current (DC) in alternating current (AC) which can be used to run the electrical equipments normally. It can also be linked to the local electricity network to enable excess power generated be passed to the utility. This will then be imported for use during the night.  In Grid support PV, the system is connecting to the local electricity network and a back-up battery. The existence of the battery is for storage of any excess solar electricity after the battery has been fully charged. This is perfect for use in areas with unpredictable power supply. The third type of solar PV system is the Off-grid PV, this is where the systems is connected to the battery thorough a Charge controller; which stores the electricity produced and becomes the main power supply. It is mainly dependent on the grid, and uses an inverter to convert DC to AC current. Off the gridis mostly used as a repeater stations for mobile phones or rural electrification that is small solar home system (SHS) for basic electricity needs or Solar Mini grids, these are much larger than the SHS  and can be able to supply electricity to several households comfortably. The Hybrid system as the name suggests, uses a combination of two sources of power to ensure that the power supply is reliable. It can either use grid support, grid connected or even stand-alone. The two sources that can be combined can be a wind turbine, a biomass generator or a diesel generator (Fräs?s-Ehrfeld 116).

Solarenergy is categorized into two main technologies, dependent on the means of capturing, converting and distributing the energy from the sun. It can be either passive or Active.  IN Passive solar technique, it is a technique where a material that can easily transmit and circulate airis used to unable maximum capturing of energy from the sun. It is also “reduces the need for alternate resources and are generally considered demand side technologies” (115).The active solar techniques, it uses fans, Panels, and pumps to be able to convert sunlight into usable energy. They are also referred to as supply side technologies because they increase the supply of energy. According to Clarisse Fräs?s-Ehrfeld, “PV technology can be applied almost everywhere, and its potential is estimated at over 1,500 EJ per year” (116).

Solar energy has many advantages that can warrant one to consider it as a means of energy supply for the household.Their benefit isboth to the human beings and to the environment at large.  Solar energy is a renewable resource; this is because energy can only be captured during the daytime when there is sunshine, but not during the night or cloudy weather. Another advantage is that solar energy regenerates no noise.  This is crucial in some places like in hospitals, working areas where people require minimal or no noise. It also pollution free, it does not generate any gases that can pollute the environment or which is harmful for humans. This makes air clean and good for plants and animals.A solar panel cell requires minimal maintenance during its life span. According to Alternate power.org,“Thereis no moving part in a solar cell, which makes it impossible to really hurt them; solar cells tend to last a good long time with only an annual cleaning to worry about”.They are however, easy to install, this is because they do not require wires, cords to connect. However, has its disadvantages, one of the main being expensive to acquire those solar cells, another disadvantage being that energy can be harnessed only during the day, this can be a problem during cloudy and nighttime (Liu and Richard 53).

In conclusion, solar energy is good for households operations. It is important for households to use solar energy because it is cheaper and is environment friendly compared to electricity, which is expensive.It is costly in the end because even though its initial cost is expensive, it life span is long therefore, it is able to serve a household better.

Works Cited

Alternate Power.Org; Retrieved on 8 November 2012 from http://alternate-power.org/solar-power-advantages-and-disadvantages/. Web

Frass-Ehrfeld, Clarisse. “A Chance to Combat Climate Change” Energy Sources, vol.  1 (2010): 115-119. Print.

Liu, Benjamin YH, and Richard C. Jordan. “The long-term average performance of flat-plate solar energy collectors.” Solar Energy 7.2 (1963): 53-74. Print.

Xianguo, LI. “Basic Concepts and Fundamentals”. Green Energyvol.1 (2011):18. Print.