afgs

Jeremy Trifilo
Mr. Lasch
English 12
3 March 2010
        Technology has improve greatly over the years. With these improvements
comes opportunity costs. These costs are a damaged ozone layer, air pollution, water
contamination, and the destruction of rain forest("Dorling"). These problems are becoming
worse each day and that's why people need to act now and start using Solar Energy.
Since solar energy is non-renewable , free of cost , and environment safe it is the best
alternative to the non-renewable expensive fossil fuels. Solar energy can also make you
money when you are producing more then your using.("Naff 79").
        "Solar energy is a term that usually means the direct use of sunlight to produce
heat or electric power. The sun's energy is plentiful, but it is thinly distributed over a large
area and must be collected and concentrated to produce usable power. As a result, solar
energy is a more expensive power source than fossil fuels for most applications. Solar
technology is improving  rapidly, though. Someday, it may provide a clean and abundant
source of power".("Harvey")
        Cogen states that "the Greeks were the first to use solar energy". These
Greeks were facing shortages of home-heating fuel, they learned how to build houses and
used these houses to capture the passive warming from the sun.Cogen also says that "in
the nineteenth century the first steps toward solar generation were taken". French
physicist Edmund becqueral discovered that certain materials would produce electricity
when they were exposed to sunlight"("Naff 16").The discoveries of photovoltaic effect
lead to further development in them and scientists were left with photovoltaic cells which
converts sunlight into electricity("Naff 16").
        "According to Ms. Becca Schwartz, a sales and operations manager of
BASE Technologies, installing a PV solar energy system causes little disruption to your
home because apart from a metre and switch, which can be installed which can be
installed by your main fuse box".("Wanja")
        "The Greeks wrote the first account of solar energy in the fourth century B.C.
when low fuel supplies from the Middle East occurred"("Naff 17"). The Greeks were able
to figure out the best ways to build their houses so that they could get the most sunlight
out of them. The Greeks houses were built so that heat came from the south, and cool air
came from the north, along with eaves as a roof("Naff 17"). Archimedes used solar
energy by reflecting sunlight the the sails of the Roman ships("Naff 17").
        Romans and Greeks both built glasshouses which were used to grow
vegetables. These glasshouses could be altered to only let in a certain amount of solar
heat in. "Other earlier civilizations such as the Chinese, Anasazi and Pueblo used solar
energy for heating, water evaporation, and many other function"("Naff 18").
        "Antoine-Cesar Becquerel observed that shining light on an electrode
submerged in a conductive solution would create an electric current"("Naff 18"). "Edmond
becquerel found that certain material would produce a small amount of an electric current
when it was exposed to a light"("Naff 18").This effect found by Edmond lasted for three
quarters of the a century until selenium PV cells were converting up to 2% efficiency. By
1941 a silicon cell was created which allowed sunlight to enter and trap the solar
heat("Naff 18"). In 1954 the Czechoslovakia process was put into development and ended
up making an crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell which reached up to 4% efficiency("Naff
19").
        "Improved solar cells become a good source of electricity for satellites". "It
can be cheaper to use PV cells in locations were building long power lines is cost
prohibitive". "It is likely to be many years before solar energy will full replace fossil
fuels. Scientists are always experimenting with solar cells to find the perfect solution".("Naff
20")
        "During the first years after the discovery of silicon solar cell, its prohibitive
cost kept it out of the electrical power market." Technical advances allowed for the
silicon solar cells to gradually increase their efficiency. "In 1956 a one-watt cell plant cost
$300 per watt while a commercial power plant cost 50 cents a watt".("Naff 31")
        The following are statistics for Ongoing solar mission. NASA, California institute
of Technology Samples the solar wind, particles emitted during solar flares, and high
energy galactic particles. ESA includes 2 pair of two satellites that study the solar wind
and its interaction with earth. Samplex studies earths aurora. SOHO is an solar
observatory studying the Sun's internal structure, heating of its extensive outer atmosphere
and the origin of the solar wind. TRACE studies the connection between the Sun's
magnetic fields and heating of its corona.("Weldan")
        "Technology education needs to be altered so that students can learn about
renewable energy sources. The students should also be well aware of what the
non-renewable energy sources are doing do our environment and when these sources will
no longer exist. When new advances on more sustainable and renewable approaches for
energy are made educators need to address students to these new
alternatives".("Daugherty & Carter")
        "The Renewable Energy Technology curriculum is an extensive set of high
school courses that provide students with a set of scientific, technological, social, and
workplace skills related to renewable energy." "Students in the program apply learned
principles toward the completion of breadth of the renewable energy technology
field".("Daugherty & Carter")
        "Eighty five per cent of Ugandans do not have access to electricity while
others are living in anticipation with hope that the next power project will cover their
homes, according to reports". "Most companies and home owners have turned to solar
energy, which is cheaper and environmentally friendly".("Wanja")
        "Botswana solar power station, Morupule is a coal-fired operation" and are
planning to develop the countries first solar power station. If the project is a success
Botswana will work on more projects. Solar power is perfect for Botswana because
they have an abundant supply of solar energy.("Mguni")
        "Lewis, a chemist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, is on
a mission to get policymakers to face the need for sources of clean energy. He points out
that humans today collectively consume the equivalent of a steady 13 terawatts
(TW)--that's 13 trillion watts--of power".("Naff 59)
        "Schieren, representing a team from the New York Institute of Technology
and the U.S Merchant Marine academy, explains that their home uses photovoltaic panels
to convert sunlight into electricity which powers the home when the sun is shining".(Naff
88")
        "Allen Barnett, chief executive officer of AstroPower, a fast growing
producer of solar cells and solar electric power systems for residential applications, says
that the PV industry is growing 25 to 30 percent a year. AstroPower's capacity is growing
faster to keep up with demand".(Naff 76)
        "Experts planned to power rural parts of the developing world--where the
majority live-- according to the western model: build centralized generating plants and by
networks of wires transmit the electricity to consumers.".(Naff 36)
        "Kohn states that the wealth of potentially new technologies makes this "an
excellent time to put a lot of emphasis on solar energy research," If there isn't enough
research progress by 2020, then there is essentially no way to have large amounts of
clean-energy technology in place by 2050".("Naff 65)
         "The issue of cost may be solar energy's biggest hurdle. Lewis noted that
electricity derived from photovoltaic typically costs $0.25 to $0.50 per kilowatt-hou r.
By contrast, wind power costs $0.05 to $0.07, natural gas costs $0.025 to $0.05, and
coal $0.01 to $0.04".(Naff 63)