The Sun is responsible not only for life on Earth, but also for the renewable energy sources humanity now seeks to harvest. For example, plants use sunlight to grow, and humans can convert plants to biofuels. In similar connections, all forms of renewable energy are directly influenced by the Sun, meaning that the Sun transfers all the enormous amounts of energy seen in renewable energy sources like geothermal and wind power. Given the already enormous power of those sources, the Sun likely transfers much more power to the Earth, and this conclusion has likely led to the development and expansion of solar energy. For those familiar with my post on Plug-in Hybrids, though, solar energy is generally harvested through photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic cells, though, are usually composed of silicon, but the silicon must be 99.9999% pure. The extreme purity required probably contributed to a main challenge solar energy faces - its cost. In addition to the price of solar energy, however, the speed of integrating solar technology, the environmental limits to solar energy, and the impact solar energy use will have on the industry are also drawbacks to the power source. As an illustration, for any location on the Earth, solar energy is only available for twelve hours per day. Because of this limited window for energy collection, businesses will need to adapt to the lack of power during the night. Also, if solar power is adapted too slowly, businesses may choose to burn fossil fuels or use other sources of energy. Additionally, not all solar energy can be realistically harvested, since stealing too much power from the environment could have an impact on plants and alter the Earth's climate.
To avoid this harmful effect, humanity will need to find more efficient methods of collecting solar energy, but scientists may have already invented new technology that can achieve this goal. The company SiOnyx has developed "Black Silicon," which is silicon that has been exposed incredibly briefly to a laser pulse in the presence of foreign material. The resulting silicon can absorb much more of the energy in sunlight than regular silicon. Chemists at the Ohio State University have also developed a hybrid material, composed of electrically conductive plastic and metals, that can absorb the entire spectrum of visible light, which could also allow solar panels to become much more efficient. Currently, humanity can implement solar technology, but with these advancements, society may want to hold back on that conversion, but that approach may indirectly damage the Earth.
2 comments:
Tommy,
I agree that solar energy could be a powerful source of energy if it weren't for the difficulty of capturing it. Like you said the sun is not available at all hours of the day and so at night different methods must be used unless scientists can devise a way to both harness and conserve the suns energy for later use. It seems scientists have already found new materials such as "black silicone" to harness the suns energy but how efficient are these materials and would they ever be enough to provide enough energy for businesses and homes to run on? Perhaps because of the harmful effects to the environment, solar energy should only be partially implemented to solve the energy crisis, especially if there are other less harmful and more beneficial methods are invented.
Caitlin,
Black Silicon is certainly more efficient than regular silicon, but I do not know the actual value of black silicon's efficiency. Secondly, just to clarify, solar energy can only harm the environment when the solar panels absorb the solar energy that plants normally absorb for growth. Of course, given the twelve hour limit for solar energy collection, other energy sources may be needed during the night.
Tommy
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