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Kevin Violette
Julie Wright
English 1103
9 October 2012
Solar Energy: Too Good To Be True?
Imagine a world in which almost all of our electricity is produced by solar energy. There
would be little to no pollution due to carbon emissions, we would have free renewable energy,
and not to mention the cleanliness of solar energy compared to the burning of fossil fuels. This
sounds like an ideal world, right? Unfortunately that is not the world we live in. Out of all of the
energy consumed by the world, energy from the sun accounts for less than one percent of this
energy (“Make Solar Energy More Economical” 1).The main reasons for this include the low
efficiency and the high price of solar energy. The good news is that recent research has shown
that the use of nanotechnology might be a promising solution to these problems. The use of this
technology could lower costs and improve solar efficiency. However, until the use of
nanotechnology provides usable solar cells that are more efficient, solar energy will not be able
to be useful on a large-scale due to its high costs. Before I go into the main topics of my paper, I
will briefly discuss small-scale solar energy in order to show that solar energy is economically
viable in some ways. Small-scale solar energy just means the use of solar panels residentially
and in small buildings. The solar panels people use at their homes are referred to as photovoltaic
(PV) panels. The price of utilities is through the roof right now. It is said that one way of
decreasing the price of your monthly bill is to invest in solar electricity. It has been estimated
that over the span of thirty years, a solar panel can save you up to $100,000 (Bergeron 2).Thirty
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years is a long time, but if you do the math you can save about $3000 yearly. This will provide
you with clean and tax-free energy. Not to mention the government incentives for using solar
energy systems. Right now, these incentives can offset the price of converting by around 70%
(Bergeron 2). These facts make it seem obvious that using solar energy is a smart way to go for
homeowners. However, when considering the economic efficiency of something you have to
consider all social classes in our society. For the wealthy, solar energy seems like the only way
to go because the initial costs and maintenance probably will not be that big of a dent in their
wallets. Also, large homes have more flexibility in solar panel usage. They are higher up which
may reduce the amount of trees blocking their roof. Not to mention the fact that they can install
more PV panels on their roof producing more energy. In middle-class families, it really just
depends on the particular household. A family may be doing fine financially, but this does not
mean they have the extra cash to throw around and spend on an expensive new source of energy.
The initial investment is what prevents most people from affording them. As far as lower classes
go, installing PV modules is much more unlikely. There is no debating that the use of solar
energy is productive and helpful to our world, but as I have already mentioned the cost is a huge
issue in the possibility of using it. Based on what I have said so far, it is obvious that for many
homeowners converting to solar energy is just beyond reach. However, it is a very smart
investment and can be incredibly useful for a great deal of people.
Small-scale solar energy is a topic that is being talked about amongst many people today.
However, much more important is the use of solar energy on a large-scale. The amount of power
of the sun that hits our earth is 10,000 times the amount of energy we actually use (“Make Solar
Energy More Economical” 1).There are many positive things to be said about the usage of solar
energy on a more massive scale. The most common problem that is used to argue against the use
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of solar energy more widely is that it is economically inefficient. Some people believe that solar
energy is economical and are working on plans to integrate solar power into cities. Feed in tariffs
(FITs) provide producers of sustainable energy with capital to commend and encourage the use
of this energy. Half of the world’s solar PV(photovoltaic) panels are paid for by these incentives
(Ursula 3).If that much of our solar energy is paid for by FITs it seems that solar energy is
actually fairly economical. The problem with this is that the statistics are misleading. Fifty
percent of PV panels are paid for by FITs, but that is only one way of using solar energy. Of the
two main ways of using solar energy, PV panels are much less efficient than solar thermal
energy. The difference is that PV panels convert the sun’s energy into electricity directly and
solar thermal energy systems convert the sun’s energy into heat and then into electricity. The big
difference between the two is the efficiency. Solar thermal systems are estimated to be about 5070% efficient while PV systems are only 10-42% efficient (Agrawal 2). The reason PV panels
are more funded is due to the fact that storage is not much of an issue due to the fact that the
energy from the sun is converted to electricity directly. If we want to be able to supply electricity
on larger scales storage this is an issue that needs to be dealt with eventually.. Thus, it is
important that the storage of solar energy be improved in the future to maximize its
usefulness.(“Make Solar Energy More Economical” 1).
Other than providing energy to cities, there are other ways that solar energy could be
utilized on more substantial levels than we are currently using it. Recently, it has been
considered if solar energy could be used in power plants to produce the energy needed to capture
emitted CO2. Carbon dioxide capture is a way of lessening the severity of climate change and
also to increase effectiveness of energy conversion (Hailong 1).This means that not only can
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solar power be used as an alternative to burning fossil fuels to lessen carbon emissions but it can
also be used in other ways that help reduce carbon emissions. Power from the sun has the
potential to meet the thermal needs of chemical absorption to capture and recycle carbon dioxide
(Hailong 2). This method could be immensely beneficial to our environment and sounds like a
fantastic idea. The problem is once again the economics of the situation. It was determined that
this method would not be cost efficient. The costs of electricity, costs of CO2 avoidance, and the
total capital requirement would all be increased if solar energy was used to capture CO2 rather
than conventional methods of doing this (Hailong 3). Once again, it becomes obvious that the
cost of solar energy is what is holding people back from implementing it in more considerable
sizes.
Up until now it may seem as if all I care about proving is that solar energy is
uneconomical. However, I care enough about this topic to want this issue to be changed. Many
scientists and engineers all over the world are working day and night to improve the cost and
efficiency of solar technology. One promising development being worked on is the use of
nanotechnology to improve the efficiency and cost. Nanotechnology is exactly what it sounds
like. It is the development of technology on a molecular scale. An idea being worked on in the
field of solar energy is creating solar-cells with thin films that are developed by
nanotechnologists. By developing solar cells on such a small-scale we can reduce manufacturing
costs by creating cells through lower temperature processes as opposed to the traditional high
temperature processes (“Nanotechnology in Solar Cells” 1). Reducing costs would be a huge step
forward in our journey to better uses of alternative energy. Although solar energy is quite
expensive now, this may not be the case in the future if scientists continue to research into
nanotechnology. Several times I have mentioned that the efficiency of solar is not as high as we
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would like it to be. Nanotechnology could potentially be the solution to this issue as well. The
use of elements lead and selenium to create nanocrystals could theoretically reach efficiencies of
60% (“Make Solar Energy More Economical” 1). This is a huge improvement compared to the
average of about 14% efficiency in a typical PV module (Guo 2). If we can continue to research
and develop nanotechnologies that benefit solar technology our use of the sun for energy just
might become viable on a large-scale. In order to do this, we need more money invested into this
technology and more scientists researching it. Of the few ideas proposed to make solar energy
both more efficient and inexpensive, nanotechnology projects the most positive outcomes for our
future.
Based on all of the research done into the field of solar energy, it is obvious the many
uses and benefits it can provide our world. Eventually, we are going to have to start primarily
using sustainable sources of energy and solar energy may very likely be the one we use.
Hopefully, we are approaching this goal more rapidly as we go into the future.. Solar energy still
has issues involving storage, efficiency, and cost. If it is not obvious by now, the cost of
production and the efficiency of solar cells are the grand problems of using solar energy on
large-scales. Right now, solar energy is not developed enough or economically sensible enough
to be used to supply energy to the masses. Until some major breakthroughs in nanotechnology
occur that lower the price of using solar energy the world is going to continue to use fossil fuels
as its primary source of energy.
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Works Cited
Agrawal, R, and DS Mallapragada. "Chemical Engineering In A Solar Energy-Driven
Sustainable Future." Aiche Journal 56.11 (n.d.): 2762-2768. Science Citation Index. Web.
23 Sept. 2012.
Bergeron, David, and Krystal Book. "Is Solar Technology Just Too Expensive?" KNXV. N.p., 07
Nov. 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2012.
Guo, Ying, Alan L. Porter, and Lu Huang. "NANOTECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED THIN-FILM
SOLAR CELLS:." (n.d.): n. pag. Thevantagepoint.com. Web. 9 Oct. 2012
Hailong, Li, Yan Jinyue, and Campana Pietro E. "Feasibility Of Integrating Solar Energy Into A
Power Plant With Amine-Based Chemical Absorption For CO2 Capture." International
Journal Of Greenhouse Gas Control 9.(n.d.): 272-280. ScienceDirect. Web. 23 Sept.
2012.
"Make Solar Energy Economical." Engineering Challenges. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012.
"Nanotechnology in Solar Cells." Understandingnano.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2012.
Ursula Eicker, et al. "Large Scale Integration Of Photovoltaics In Cities." Applied Energy
93.(2012): 413-421. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Sept. 2012.
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