Should we all be using Solar Energy?

The Technology Context - Solar Energy

1. Describe the project background, objectives and current status.
Solar energy has been in use since the start of the 20th century but only in the last few decades has its potential, for domestic and commercial use, been discovered. In the last 50 years the development of solar energy technology has come along way starting in the early 1950’s with the first research in Photovoltaic Cells and further research has been continued through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. We now have the ability to implement houses that are almost completely self sufficient through the use of solar energy. [1]

The development of solar technology is important, as we need to find a safe and environment friendly alternative to our current methods of producing power, it would cut pollution from power plants and cars and really help to prevent any more damage to the earth. The technology we have now is already four times as effective as it was only years ago but we are still along way from being able to implement the technology globally or even nationwide because the technology is still very expensive. There are projects involving solar energy being done all over the world here in the U.K, Germany, Africa and India to name just a few and they are becoming more and more common.

2. Describe the primary sustainable technology objective or issue.
The aim of solar power is to provide a sustainable and constant source of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels that are rapidly running out. Currently the large majority of our electricity is generated from burning what are called fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are mined from the earth and are in a limited supply and that supply will soon run out if we continue to use them at the rate we are currently. However, there are many alternatives to using fossil fuels and one of them is the use of solar energy from the sun. The sun produces almost enough energy to power our entire planet for 500,000 years – every second![2] Solar energy is free so why not use it? Well one of the primary reasons is the cost of the technology.

To create usable electricity from solar energy you need to use what are called Photovoltaic Cells these convert the light directly into electricity but they are still very expensive to produce. The more research and funding that go into this type of technology the cheaper and easier to produce it will become and eventually solar technology could be used to power almost anything.

3. Analyse the possible technical alternatives and consequences regarding that objective or issue.
With the introduction and national implementation of solar technology there are also disadvantages and/or consequences to consider.
Imagine a country where every house in every street was equipped with solar panel technology, currently we gain our power from power plants that are connected to the national grid, everyone would be providing their own power. But what if one household consumes more power annually than another? It could simply be a case of them needing more panels or PV cells… But say one month that household uses more power than they can produce with their own facilities, there would have to be some kind of system for them to acquire back-up power. Who would pay for the back-up system? I imagine there would have be a national or regional grid/s that store electricity from the houses that produce an excess and would then, possibly, be awarded ‘credits’ depending how much they gave that would entitle them to tap from the grid when they needed it.

With everyone becoming self-sufficient there wouldn’t be a need for our current power stations which means they would have to close, the workers in the plants would lose their jobs and possibly wont have any other career to transfer into so an increase in unemployment would also be very likely. Equal to solar energy there are other methods of free sustainable power, such as Wind Power and Tidal Power that produce electricity from the natural forces of wind and water, but even these sources gain their energy from the sun and in some cases aren’t practical or implement able.

4. Discuss the potential political and financial effects of the project.
Financially the switch to solar power technology, I believe, would be like an investment – the initial cost to buy the equipment would be quite high compared to your usual payments but over time, possibly up to 20 years, it would almost certainly pay for itself by the amount it cuts from your quarterly or annual spending on electricity and heating bills. There would also have to be maintenance costs for the panels and cells to make sure they are working efficiently or to fix them if they are broken, much like if you have gas central heating.

Although the technology is still very expensive it’s not too early to make the switch as the government in some countries already have a program in place to promote solar power, here in the U.K and Germany, they can grant you bursaries and give you funding to help with the initial set-up of your home. It is even possible to profit from the switch, if you generate more electricity than you are consuming, say you go on holiday for 2-3 weeks or more, you can sell the extra electricity you make to the power grid. None of this could run smoothly without there being appropriate rules and guidelines, the government would have set various law defining the personal use the technology as there would likely be ways of abusing the technology or the system it runs on for malicious use or gain.

5. Discuss the potential effects that this project may have for sustainable development from a national or global perspective.
If the development of solar power advances and becomes widely used domestically and/or commercially I believe it would create a huge boost for the development of other types of sustainable technology or power. Solar energy is one of the most popular and well-known methods of sustainable power, it’s become a “house hold name” and could likely act as very good advertisement for sustainable technology as a whole, and with the increase of its use I imagine there would be a huge boost in the development and funding for other sustainable technology projects currently struggling to advance.

Conclusion
The benefits of solar energy as a source of sustainable power are great, it’s free, it’ll never run out and it’s safe to use. It is, however, still in an early stage of development and it’s estimated we wont see it’s widespread use for another 30 years. If you feel you want to switch to solar power and you have the ability to, there are companies able to provide you with the equipment to do so and you may even be able to get government aid in doing so. But I believe if more people start showing a genuine interest in its development and use we could be seeing solar powered appliances sooner than we think.

References

[1]http://www.a-z.co.uk/a_brief_history_of_solar_energy_167.htm

[2]http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/09/05/how_much_energy_does_the_sun_produce/