A Bright Sunny Future: Looking to Solar Energy for a Sustainable Environment

By: Danielle Gustafson

Sieker, Bernd. Photovoltaik. 2007. Pink Dispatcher’s photostream , Germany. www.flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. Prada, Rosana. Flowers and Sun. 2006. Zanastardust’s photostream , Garden.
www.flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.

By the year 2050, the world’s population will grow to an astounding 10 billion people. (2) How, with our current concern over global warming to increase levels
availability of resources, will we be able to support all of these people when we are having issues with it already in of governmental support for new renewable
today’s world? The answers are literally right in front of us, we encounter them everyday in our lives. It’s as simple as resources (NRE).” This statement is pretty much
fire, as in the sun, air, as in the wind, and water, as in hydropower. Opposed to currently used resources, such as oil, true of all areas of the world with everyone’s
coal, and nuclear power, renewable resource’s main ingredient is free. As stated in the #2 article, “It is a well-known fact concerns. So our next task, to develop the
that eight countries have 81% of all the world’s crude oil reserves, six countries have 70% of all natural gas reserves, answer. For the sake of time, space, and
and eight countries have 89% of all coal reserves.” Another issue driving people towards renewable resources, besides keeping your interest, I’m going to focus on the
the depleting amount of fossil fuels, is the pollution concern. In the #3 article the writer says, “Due to the strong renewable resource that I believe each and every
couplings between green house gases (GHG) emissions and current patterns of energy use, one could expect growing person can a make a difference by using. This
resource is solar energy.
Background...
lounge60. Solar Panel . 1938. Very Early Green+FutureTech America? , laboratory. www.alternatehistory.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.
Going back centuries, sunlight has been used for various tasks. “It is said that in 212 BC Archimedes
used polished bronze shields to focus sunlight, trying to set fire to wooden ships from the Roman
Empire that were besieging Syracuse.” (6) Never proving to be more than a story the Greek navy, in 1973,
decided to try to recreate this fable. They ended up setting fire to a wooden boat about 50 m away. In
the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci found a new way of heating water. In order to do this, he proposed
concentrating sunlight by using concave mirrors. For many years after that, the variety of uses for sunlight
didn’t develop very far until the 19th and 20th centuries. That’s when it was brilliantly decided to try the
concave mirror theory on a more industrial scale. (6)
Savidge , Justin. Solaronepowerplant. 1993. National Renewable Energy Laboratory , Mojave Desert CA. Wikimedia
Commons. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.
Curtained by the boom of the chap fossil fuels era, solar power slowly
continued to be developed into what it is today. There are about 3
different types of solar power currently, though they all overlap in
some way. There is the previously mentioned ‘concentrating solar
power’ (CSP), solar thermal technology, and photovoltaics. The most
homeowner friendly/useful of which is the solar thermal technology,
more commonly known as solar collector panels.
 Snyder, Alex . Wayne National Forest Solar Panel Construction. N.d. Wayne National Forest’s photostream , Ohio. www.flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. Dugdale, Dave. Solar Panel Awning on Radio Station. 2009. Dave Dugdale’s photostream , radio station.
www.flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.

In Europe, the number of glazed solar collectors sold annually grew by 18% from 1994 to 1999. (2) Solar collector For example, low temperature collectors are intended to be
panels come in many shapes and sizes. First of all there are two main different categories based on what is used operated at only 5 to 30 degrees F above ambient temperature,
to cool them, air or liquid. Then, they are classified by “low temperature”, “medium temperature”, and “high medium temperature collectors at 15 to 200 degrees F above
temperature” collectors. (4) These different temperature classifications are basically straight forward in that the ambient temperature, and high temperature collectors are
temperature it is classified in is that which it will best work in. enhanced by being mounted on a sun tracking system for
optimum amounts of sun. (4)
 Ramya. Solar Panels Panelled House Roof Array. N.d. MIT Unveils Energy Nirvana, Stores Solar Energy Through Photosynthesis, Massachusetts. www.trendsupdates.com.
Web. 28 Mar. 2010.

The number of these panels sold have doubled in recent years. In Europe they have a goal of 100 million m2 of
collectors by 2010. As of 2001 the total collector area had doubled from 4.5 million m2 to 8.5 million m2. (2)
What does this mean for the individual? In the simplest way, it means you will pay less for your electricity, our
resources will begin to slow down in their depletion, and most of all YOU will have had your hand in boosting
our economy and helping to create a more sustainable environment.

US Mission. U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. 2009. US Mission Geneva’s photostream , Geneva. www.
flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.
 Photos8.com, Sam. Sun in Hand. 2009. Photos8.com’s photostream , Sky. www.flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.

By finding and marketing alternate energy sources that an everyday person can use to eliminate or cut down on
electricity bills will help the buyer re-emerge and boost the economy. So, the question becomes, is the everyday
person concerned with the economy, with the environment, and if so, are they willing to help? Are you?

Law, Keven. New Gold Dream.... 2008. law_keven’s photostream , England. www.flickr.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.
Resources

1. Badran, O., Al-Salaymeh, A., El-Tous, Y., & Abdala, W. (2009). Design and testing of an innovative solar radiation measurement device. Energy
Conversion and Management, Corrected Proof. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

2. B˙ILGEN, S., KAYGUSUZ, K., & SARI, A. (2004). Renewable Energy for a Clean and Sustainable Future. Energy Sources, 26, 1119–1129.

3. Christiansen, A. C. (2002). New renewable energy developments and the climate change issue: a case study of Norwegian politics. Energy Policy, 30(3), 235-
243. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

4. Solar heating panels and collector information. (n.d.). solar energy panels power electric and heating systems. Retrieved March 26, 2010, from http://www.
solarexpert.com/heatpanel.html

5. Williams, R. H. (2001). Addressing challenges to sustainable development with innovative energy technologies in a competitive electric industry. Energy for
Sustainable Development, 5(2), 48-73.

6. Wolff, G. (2007). Bring Me Sunshine. IET Power Engineer, 21(2), 22-25.