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| Fig. 1: Photovoltaic system with 19 Megawatts peak near Thüngen, Bavaria. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
As global warming and air pollution are on the rise, the need for renewable energy is greater than ever. People and animals are getting serious diseases due to rising environmental pollution. Cancer, the second leading cause of death around the world, is on the rise due to the decrease in air quality. Air, water, and land pollution also affects animals and plants, disturbing the natural balance and creating a downward spiral. Rising pollution levels and global warming threatens humanity's future.
Solar energy is one of the most promising types of renewable energies. Flood points out that solar energy has so much potential that it could satisfy the world's energy needs completely very easily. [1] After adjusting for the part of the sun's energy that is reflected back to space and also energy losses, the total energy that earth captures from the sun comes out to 3.8 × 1024 J/yr. [1] The energy needs of civilization in 2017 were 5.2 × 1020 J/yr. The total world energy obtained from solar photovoltaic plants in 2017 was 1.59 × 1018 joules/y. [2]
Solar panels (see Fig. 1) deliver energy in the following way: Sunlight is converted to direct current electricity by photovoltaic cells. Direct current electricity is turned into alternating current electricity with the help of an inverter. [1]
Solar energy has the potential to provide the world's energy needs in a way that does not harm the environment and does not cause global warming. [3] Solar energy has so much potential that the entire fossil fuel reserves of the earth is less than the solar energy that earth receives in 20 days. [4] Solar energy costs have been decreasing very rapidly, so that it is now starting to compete economically with other types of energy sources. Solar PV (grid connected) capacity grew 60% between 2000 and 2004. [5]
Considering how hard it is to find and go to earth-like planets, with atmospheres and climates suitable for humans, we should treat our world very gently. Even if we were to find Earth-like planets suitable for our survival in the future, when we will go to those planets we would still need to implement good renewable energy policies there. In other words, without renewable and clean energy humanity would eventually destroy all the future Earth-like planets too, not just Earth itself.
Imagine a world in which there is no air pollution, a world in which we do not face dangerous levels of global warming. It is possible to reach this dream world with renewable energies, especially solar energy. Even though currently renewable energies provide a small portion of the world's energy budget compared to other types of energies, the growth rate of renewables exceeds those of coal, nuclear or oil. Renewable energies will surpass nuclear energy in a few years if their large growth rate continues.
Direct tax expenditure, low interest loan programs, promotional regulation, and federally supported research and development activities are four main policy instruments that can be employed by governments to increase solar energy. [6] Direct tax expenditures help to decrease solar energy investors' liability. Low interest loan programs are federally subsidized loans that make purchasing solar homes and other solar energy devices and their implementation more affordable for people. [6] Promotional regulation includes governments' support to increase people's trust in solar products and helping solar energy to compete better in the market. [6] Federally supported research and development activities include government research centers and collaboration with private firms to make more developments in research and development in solar energy to increase efficiency, decrease costs and improve implementation. [6]
Another important way to increase solar energy around the world is integrating photovoltaic (PV) solar home systems to households. Wilkins states that there are several ways to increase solar energy around the world by increasing the solar home systems. [7] The first is to invest more in research and development to decrease the cost of solar home systems for households. [7] The costs can be further reduced by streamlining installation methods. Photovoltaic costs would benefit especially from the streamlining of production and installation procedures. The cost of solar energy has decreased by 20% every two years, as the production capabilities for solar panels increased globally. [8]
The use of project finance methods, available credits, and microfinance schemes can be provided governments to increase investments of solar projects both by public and private companies. [7] Solar energy practices are generally implemented at more developed parts of the world. This creates a lot of possibilities if we can also implement solar energy practices at less developed parts of the world. One way to implement solar energy practices at less developed areas is that developing local skills by providing technical education to implement solar panels to the less developed areas. [7]
I think that, in addition to building more solar plants, integrating solar energy into daily life is key to increasing solar energy around the world. Two important ways of achieving this integration would be (1) increasing the number of buildings like houses, offices with solar panels and (2) integrating solar panels into highways and roads. Sharna and Harinarayana state that constructing a roof structure above national highways could generate solar energy without the additional cost of land for photovoltaic solar panels. [9]
I also think that governments should provide monetary or other rewards to households who are willing to implement solar panels to their homes. Governments could also provide subsidies and incentives for companies to invest in solar energy. It is very important that governments help to level playing fields for solar energy production - since otherwise it is very hard for solar energy to compete with low oil prices and other types of energies. Governments can provide further tax incentives, grants, and tax exemptions to stimulate the market for increasing solar energy investments. [8] Another important part of increasing solar energy is educating the public about the importance of solar energy and installing solar panels to their homes.
Solar energy has the potential to transform our lives and help humanity. Solar energy's growth rate and the total amount of solar energy potentially available show that it has the potential to provide the entire world's energy need in a clean and sustainable way. However, it is important to implement strategies that can realize this potential.
© Cansu Lerzan Arslan. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] M. Flood, Solar prospects: The Potential for Renewable Energy (Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1983), pp. 44-45, 46-69.
[2] "BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018 - Renewable Energy," British Petroleum, June 2018.
[3] B. F. Nagy, The Clean Energy Age: A Guide to Beating Climate Change (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), p. 4.
[4] Solar Energy for Development (Kluwer, 1979), p. 34.
[5] D. Assmann, ed., Renewable Energy: A Global Review of Technologies, Policies and Markets (Routledge, 2006), p. 18.
[6] D. Rich et al., eds., The Solar Energy Transition: Implementation and Policy Implications, 1st Ed. (Westview Press, 1983), pp. 51-53.
[7] G. Wilkins, Gill. Technology Transfer for Renewable Energy (Earthscan Ltd., 2003), pp 162-163.
[8] J. Leggett, ed., The Solar Century (Profile Books Ltd., 2009), pp. 71-142.
[9] P. Sharma and H. Harinarayana, "Solar Energy Generation Potential Along National Highways," Int. J. Energy Environ. Eng. 4, 16 (2013).
