Solar EnergySolar Energy

By: Terra Barton, Jacob By: Terra Barton, Jacob Droogan, Julia Koh, Xin QinDroogan, Julia Koh, Xin Qin

Alternative Energy Sources - Alternative Energy Sources - WindWind

Advantages:• Friendly to surrounding

environments – No fossil fuels being burnt

• Takes up less space then the average power station– Only occupies a few square

meters for the base– Land around the turbine can be

used for other purposes such as agriculture

• Newer technology makes extracting energy from wind more efficient

• Turbines for wind can be modified in size for the needs of the surrounding– Also can be modified based on

the population it is supporting• Combined with solar power energy,

can be a great steady source of incoming energy

• Renewable

Wind Energy’s DisadvantageWind Energy’s Disadvantage

• Unreliable– wind comes and goes at

its own rate– Sometimes the wind

can be too weak in certain regions

• Produces a lot less electricity then fossil fuel – Many turbines need to be

constructed• Expensive construction

– Potentially damages environment while building the turbines

• Amount of noise a turbine makes: similar to a small jet engine

• Some argue it mars the beauty of nature

Alternative Energy Sources Alternative Energy Sources - - Clean Coal TechnologyClean Coal Technology

• Advantages:• Does not release carbon

dioxide into the atmosphere

• Easy to dig up and produce• We can continue to use

coal as we always did for a couple hundred more years since we are putting all the carbon dioxide back into the ground

• Not as expensive of a project as wind or water power

• Coal miners can keep their jobs

Clean Coal TechnologyClean Coal Technology’s ’s DisadvantageDisadvantage

• Other forms of pollutions besides carbon dioxide will still be emitted – Selenium and arsenic for

example• Governments will be

reluctant to spend money on research into renewable technologies like solar, wind or water power

• Many scientists are still a little skeptical that clean coal is truly cleaner then regular coal, since there is a chance carbon dioxide can escape the ground and get back into the atmosphere

Alternative Energy Sources – Alternative Energy Sources – Fossil FuelFossil Fuel

• Advantages:– Good availability.– Simple process to produce

heat or electricity.– Inexpensive.– Easy to distribute around

the world.• Disadvantages:

– Most likely source of global warming, burning fossil fuels is contributed to this.

– Prices fluctuate based on the politics of region where it is coming from.

– Acid rain can be produced because of fossil fuel.

– Nonrenewable source.

Alternative Energy Sources - Alternative Energy Sources - Geothermal energyGeothermal energy

• Advantages:– It is globally sustainable.– Geothermal energy is safer then fossil fuels.– It’s a “base-load” energy source.– The power plants take up very little room.

Geothermal energyGeothermal energy’s ’s DisadvantagesDisadvantages

• Disadvantages:– Greenhouse gas emissions

and toxic chemical emissions.

– Hot water from geothermal sources has traces of dangerous elements (mercury, boron, arsenic, antimony)

– Localized depletion (geothermal sites eventually will lose heat and water)

– Cause geological instability, causing seismic events to take place.

– Expensive, drilling to tap the resource alone accounts for over half of the costs to erect a geothermal energy site.

Alternative Energy Sources Alternative Energy Sources – Hydro Power– Hydro Power

• Advantages:– Electricity can be produced at

a constant rate.– If electricity is not needed, the

sluice gates can be shut, stopping electricity generation.

– The water can be saved for use another time when electricity demand is high.

– Designed to last many decades.

– The lake that forms behind the dam can be used for water sports and leisure / pleasure activities.

– The lake's water can be used for irrigation purposes.

– When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do not produce green house gases.

Hydro Power’s DisadvantagesHydro Power’s Disadvantages• Dams are extremely expensive

to build and must be built to a very high standard.

• They must operate for many decades to become profitable.

• The flooding of large areas of land can destroy the natural environment

• People living in villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out.

• The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. – Hoover Dam in the USA

triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed the earth’s surface at its location.

• In the past old dams have been known to be breached (the dam gives under the weight of water in the lake)

• Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one country usually means that the water supply from the same river in the following country is out of their control. – This can lead to serious

problems between neighboring countries.

• Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. – Aswan Dam in Egypt has

altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to damage of many of its ancient monuments as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from ‘rising damp’ caused by the changing water table level.

Alternative Energy Sources – Alternative Energy Sources – Nuclear EnergyNuclear Energy

• Advantages:– Does not require a lot of space.– Nuclear is the most

concentrated form of energy by far.

– Clean, does not pollute in same ways fossil fuel does (read more about this in disadvantages.)

• Disadvantages:– Fission meltdowns, very very

deadly, See Chernobyl for example.

– Produces radiation which is harmful to human health.

• Potentially can kill people.– These nuclear reactors will only

last for 40 to 50 years.– Contrary to popular belief,

nuclear energy is NOT a renewable energy source.

Solar EnergySolar Energy• Definition: radiant light and

heat from the sun that is used and transformed into different types of energy.

• Most abundant source of renewable energy on the planet

• Production of solar energy uses heat engines and photovoltaic

• The most common way of collecting solar energy is by use of solar panels

• energy storage methods: – paraffin wax – glaubers salt

• salts are good – low cost – high specific heat levels

and – can deliver the right

temperature heat to conventional heating systems

Advantages/ DisadvantagesAdvantages/ Disadvantages• Advantages

– Long lasting – Can be used anywhere – Silent and non polluting – Solar cells can be added

when there is demand for more energy

– Sunlight that reaches the earth everyday is 200,000 times the total electrical energy generated everyday

– Solar power production is growing rapidly

– It is a secure type of energy• Disadvantages

– High initial cost – Takes a lot of solar panels

to be efficient initially – Can only generate during

the day– Cost about twice of what

fossil fuels do

Facts about Solar PowerFacts about Solar Power

• passive or active solar: – Active; photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors – Passive; buildings pointed to the sun, spaces within buildings

with rooms that circulate air, and building with materials that have a favorable thermal mass

• Solar wind and biomass are the top consumed type of energies from humans

• Biomass could lead solar in terms of consumption, but it is a cause of global warming and is bad for agriculture

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmWrGPKcMNM

ApplicationsApplications• Houses:

– solar lighting, heating and ventilation systems

– pumps fans and windows • Use natural solar lighting when

building • Hybrid solar lighting: faces

mirrors track the sun throughout the day and use optical fibers to distribute it

• Water heating: china and Cyprus have the most amount of solar thermal water heaters

• Farming: – greenhouses turn solar energy to

hear • Photovoltaic cells: collect

photons and release electrons as energy

• Made of silicon– as small as a calculator and as

large as pods in desert • parabolic discs

Solar Energy in Daily LifeSolar Energy in Daily Life

• Water heating system (Schematic diagram )

• Basic Theory: Collect the solar radiation, transfer it to heat energy and apply in our daily life.

• As the solar panel collect the heat from the solar and transfer it to the water inside the pipe, the water is heated and outflow from the other pipe.

• Then, we may use the hot water in the showers, warming machine.

Solar Energy for Industrial Solar Energy for Industrial ApplicationsApplications

• Basic Theory of Solar power plant – (1). Sunlight → Heat →

Electricity: transfer the heat from the solar thermal collector to working medium steam, then the steam gas turbine engine drive the electric generator to generate electricity.

– (2) Sunlight → Electricity: Due to the photovoltaic effect, we may trans the light to electric energy directly.

• The Electricity may be used for microwave, TV, radio, telemetry, radio telephones and industrial production.

BibliographyBibliography• Wind Energy:

http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com/articles/advantages_and_disadvantages_of_wind_energy.html

• Fossil Fuels: http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/fossil/advant.html

• Clean Coal Technology: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_the_disadvantages_of_using_clean_coal_technology

• Geothermal: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_using_geothermal_energy

• Hydropower: http://www.technologystudent.com/energy1/hydr2.htm• Nuclear Energy:

http://gvctemp18.virtualclassroom.org/Nenergy/adva.htm• http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/solarcells.htm • http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/24339788.html?si=5• Movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmWrGPKcMNM

Bibliography - PicturesBibliography - Pictures• Reach for sun: http://toolguy.com/solar-powered.jp• wind energy: http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007-2-15/wind_turbine.jpg• cleancoal: http://saferenvironment.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/cleancoal.jpg• clean-coal: http://www.inkcinct.com.au/web/cartoons/2007/2007-119-clean-

coal.jpg• Schematic diagram: http://saferenvironment.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/solar-

power-%E2%80%93-sustainable-green-energy-to-protect-our-economy-and-environment/

• Geothermal Energy: http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/geowells.jpeg• Fossil Fuels:

http://www.globalwarmingimages.net/gallery/category_images/fossil_fuel.jpg• wind energy2: http://cdn.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/d741c03c-

09e5-48e2-8b62-05ae85ffc63d/5359811a-5863-4e70-a91a-37d3f2c3b2dd/Image/31d231be57781b93a6cb4a9f760b0773.jpg

• geothermal-power-plant: http://www.treehugger.com/geothermal-power-plant-i01.jpg

• hydro power plant: http://www.emt-india.net/process/power_plants/img/hydro2.gif

• HydropowerLiujiaxiaGorge: http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/RiverImages/HydropowerLiujiaxiaGorge.jpg

• nuclear power: http://www.oncor.com/images/knowledgecollege/h20.jpg• nuclear energy:

http://nl.toonpool.com/user/1223/files/nuclear_energy_149645.jpg• Dish_Stirling_Systems_of_SBP_in_Spain:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Dish_Stirling_Systems_of_SBP_in_Spain.JPG

Bibliography – Pictures2Bibliography – Pictures2

• Solar_two: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Solar_two.jpg

• Solar_Evaporation_Ponds%2C_Atacama_Desert: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Solar_Evaporation_Ponds%2C_Atacama_Desert.jpg

• Array1: http://www.southernviewenergy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Array1.jpg

• solar_power_molten_salt: http://greenernews.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/solar_power_molten_salt.jpg