November
2009
What are some bad and some good things about Solar Power Energy?
For my science project
I need a list of good things about solar power engery and a list of bad things.
Full best answer given out!
There are various ways to convert the energy of the sun but I will address only solar cells.
Good things:
–No CO2 emissions or other chemicals
–Renewable
–Once the installation is built, it is "free"
–It generates electricity which is a flexible form of energy but …
Bad things:
– The installation must be in a sunny place
– No energy at night
– Under the solar panels, nothing grows and the space cannot be used for something else.
– Difficult to store the energy in large quantities
(example you store In July, August and you use the energy in December)
Future developments and research:
– very efficient solar panels ( currently at beat 20%)
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell#Comparison_of_energy_conversion_efficiencies
– very efficient batteries
There are various ways to convert the energy of the sun but I will address only solar cells.
Good things:
–No CO2 emissions or other chemicals
–Renewable
–Once the installation is built, it is "free"
–It generates electricity which is a flexible form of energy but …
Bad things:
– The installation must be in a sunny place
– No energy at night
– Under the solar panels, nothing grows and the space cannot be used for something else.
– Difficult to store the energy in large quantities
(example you store In July, August and you use the energy in December)
Future developments and research:
– very efficient solar panels ( currently at beat 20%)
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell#Comparison_of_energy_conversion_efficiencies
– very efficient batteries
References :
The biggest problems are scale and continuity. The sun only delivers 1,300 watts per square metre at noon in summer (less at other times) and solar panels convert only 18% of that into usable energy. To produce the power of just one small coal or gas-fired generator would require covering an entire city with solar panels, and you would still have to maintain the generator for use at night and on cloudy days. In the end, building and maintaining the panels would be costly and would pollute more than most other power sources.
References :