How expensive is solar energy to produce?
What does a solar energy power plant look like and how do they work?
What are the hidden costs to society and the world? ( pollution, etc)
How expensive is solar energy to produce?
What does a solar energy power plant look like and how do they work?
What are the hidden costs to society and the world? ( pollution, etc)
Solar energy is free – the world is bathed in enough energy each day to power the entire power needs of the entire history of our civilization several times over.
The problem is converting this energy from light and heat into a useful form.
Solar power solutions take two basic forms: Light and Heat.
Heat based systems are pretty simple. I mean, just hold out your hand on a sunny day, and you’ll feel warmth from the sun, right? One proposed idea for a solar heat plant would be to focus the sun’s energy onto a series of tubing, which would superheat a liquid inside. This liquid would then be turned to steam inside the plant where the pressurized steam would turn turbines, producing electricity. Traditional power plants using nuclear or fossil fuels use this same method of using steam to produce electricity.
The other method uses solar panels. These are special plates of silicon that produce electricity when exposed to sunlight. The problem is, you need a lot of panels to produce a significant amount of power. However, solar panels can still operate even if it’s cloudy out, as they use different portions of the light spectrum, as opposed to the heat-based systems above which require clear sunny skies. Producing solar panels also produces some very toxic pollution which must be properly disposed of and stored, lest it damage the surrounding environment.
Both types of solar systems are not very efficient – meaning the amount of energy we get out of them is very small compared to the amount of energy they receive from the sun. This means solar plants require large areas of land. And then there’s the problem of what do you do when the sun goes down? Some people have suggested batteries, but our technology just can’t produce an affordable system where the solar plant would produce enough power to not only meet our needs during the day, but also charge enough batteries to meet our needs during the night as well. Solar can be used to help reduce our use of power plants that use fossil fuels but isn’t going to be a complete replacement – at least not for quite some time.
Solar energy is free. It does not cost humans anything to produce. What costs is turning the sunlight into usable energy. The costs are variable so I cannot give you the price. And the hidden costs are not know to me.
I use solar energy. It cost me lots to set up. It has just doubled because of a maintenance problem. If it works fine, it should be great, but if it doesn’t, then you are going to get a dreadful pain in your wallet.
You do not produce solar energy; it is free from the sun. However it can be converted to electricity using solar panels. If you check a picture of a satellite or the space station in orbit, you will see large solar panels to produce electricity to run the machines.
One environmental problem could be the disposal of old and derelict panels.
I came accross a new, proven and tested home made wind power system and solar power system which eliminates our electricity bills. It was written by a Renewable energy enthusiasts Michael Harvey the diy called Earth4energy. You can get your copy to save energy and help environment while eliminating your power bills. Get it from here:
http://How-To-Build-Cheap-Solar-Energy.info