Solar power technologies pros and cons

Need to structure solar energy technologies. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Solar power technologies pros and cons

Controversy over alternative energy  (part 3)

Solar and renewable energy, Chinese business

  The Sun is at the origin of most of all the energy sources on Earth except for nuclear energy and deep geothermal energy. Solar energy comes from nuclear fusion at the centre of the Sun, the energy spreads in the Solar system and the Universe in the form of an electromagnetic radiation, photons, and infrared radiation. A fraction of the electromagnetic energy from the Sun is coming true the atmosphere, which absorb a part of it and reach the surface of the Earth.

  The conversion of light in electricity called photo-voltaic effect was discovered by the French physicist Edmond Becquerel in 1839, but we'll have to wait a hundred years before scientists deepen and exploit this phenomenon of physics. It's the space exploration and NASA that will really make solar energy progress. The space industry will invest a lot of funds in the development of solar panels. Solar panels are the only non-nuclear way of powering satellites with energy, moreover, solar energy is a constant source of energy in orbit. 

  While President Trump promises to put American coal miners back to work, China is moving the opposite direction. China's betting big on renewable energy. It commits in January to invest $367 billion in renewable power generation: solar, wind, hydro and nuclear by 2020. The investment will create 10 million jobs in the sector. Beijing is investing hundreds of billions of dollars and creating millions of jobs in clean power. China currently boasts 3,5 million jobs in clean energy, by far the most in the world, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. 

  China has built vast solar and wind farms, helping fuel the growth of major industries that sell their products around the world. It's 2,5 million people working in the solar power sector alone in China, compared with 260,000 people in the U.S. China produce 63% of the world production of solar photostatic (PV) and it has emerged as the world's largest manufacturer of 2015. Solar power in the People's Republic of China is one of the biggest industries in China. Chinese solar panels production reportedly quadrupled between 2009 and 2011 to surpass the entire global demand. The flood of Chinese panels was one of the reasons why world prize crashed by 80% between 2008 and 2013. As a result, The United States and EU accused China of dumping its solar panels in Europe at below the cost-prizes. 

  The country has become a major manufacturer and exporter of renewable energy technology, supplying two-thirds of the world's solar panels. China has also a strong grip on wind power. It produces nearly half of the world's wind turbines at a rate of about two every hour.

  

There are two large families of short-cycle solar energy to distinguish:

• thermal solar energy, the use of radiation heat of the Sun and also CSP concentrating solar power system by using mirrors or lenses of a large area into small a small one

• PV photo-voltaic energy, the use of radiation itself to produce electricity

 Solar energy received at a point of the globe depends on:

• solar energy sent by the Sun and arriving in the immediate vicinity of the Earth (decadal, seasonal, and punctual fluctuations of the Sun)
• cloudiness (clouds, fog, etc.) which varies enormously from one place to another
• latitude, season, and time, which affect the height of the Sun and therefore on the energy received per unit area, as well as on cloudiness as a function of the local climate

 As a renewable energy source, the part of the world finale consumption's production of electricity of photo-voltaic solar panels was estimated to be 1,2% in 2015. Solar energy from solar panels has multiples advantages: it's a renewable and inexhaustible energy source because it's coming from the rays of the Sun. It's a clean energy source because its respects nature and the environment. It's reliable, installation is easy to use, the cost of operation is low and maintenance is reduced.