In a summary and analysis of the advances in clean energy generation so far.
Hello dear friends of ecotrain. I hope you are very well and are having a very merry Christmas, to begin with I apologize for being absent in recent days. I was resting and spending time with my family, I am sure you will understand.
Today I want to talk to you about a topic that has recently made news in environmental circles, and that is the rise of power generation using sunlight. I used to view this topic with some skepticism, since the information I had about it was that it might not be the most efficient solution to the problem of generating energy in a clean and efficient way.
However, we live in a time of great changes, and sometimes those changes happen very fast, technology advances faster than ever before, and what a year ago was impossible, today can be an everyday reality. So I decided to update myself, do my own research, and present you here the results in a summarized form. But to start, we need to cover the basics.
What is solar energy and how does it work?
Solar energy is based on the premise of using the sun's rays to generate electrical energy, which can be done through different methods. The idea is not new, back in 1878 an engineer named Augustin Mouchot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Mouchot proposed the idea of making a steam engine that would use the heat brought by the sun's rays to power its boiler. This would be the first use of solar energy to produce electricity or mechanical power. And if you look at it, the sun is a tremendous source of energy, technically the sun's rays bring enough energy to the planet in 1 hour, to feed the energy needs of the entire world for 1 year ... so tremendous is the power of the sun, so it makes a lot of sense to want to harness that energy.
There are currently 2 main methods for harnessing solar energy and converting it into electricity.
Photovoltaic panels
Or solar panels, as they are commonly known. These are the ones we generally associate with power generation using the sun. The first device of this type was invented in 1954 by Bell Telephone, based on much older research of photochemical and electrochemical phenomena, summarizing it in a botched way, we can say that they work by bombarding semiconductor materials in conjunction with materials that when exposed to sunlight release electrons, concentrating these electrons energy is obtained. For more information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaics
This method is the most familiar because it is the most widespread and vice versa, that is due to the fact that it can be configured to the needs of each person, in small arrangements for a couple of electrical equipment, medium for an entire house, or huge farms to produce energy for commercial purposes.
The other method is Concentrated Solar Thermal Power.
This method makes use of hundreds, or thousands, of concave mirrors to reflect all the light to a single small point in a central structure, concentrating all the thermal energy that would go into a large section of land into a single area where a steam turbine would be located. All this energy would quickly be converted into heat, which would be transferred to a boiler that would drive the turbine, generating electricity. Such an arrangement, while more cost-effective, is only feasible in the form of large farms, which would be reserved for powering entire towns or cities.
Now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to answer the 3 cardinal questions that arise when talking about the use of solar energy as a solution to the environmental problems that exist due to the burning of fossil fuels to generate energy.
Do they really provide clean energy?
Like any good or service that requires an industrial base, solar panels or the equipment necessary for solar thermal generation leave a footprint on the environment between their manufacture, transport, installation and the end of their useful life. But while a few years ago this footprint made them an inefficient solution, today, thanks to advances in technology, the environmental footprint of solar panels is the smallest compared to all other popular power generation systems.
Currently, photovoltaic solar panels produce 30 times more energy during their life cycle than it took to manufacture them, and replenish that energy to the system in one year, they have a life expectancy of 30 years, 20 years ago it took 5 years for a solar panel to give the energy that was used to manufacture it.
Today almost 90% of the material used in the manufacture of solar panels can be recycled, and even the European Union implemented laws that make it mandatory to recycle them.
Only 0.16% of the world's surface would need to be used to power all of humanity with solar panel technology at current levels of advancement.
And finally. Solar panels, combining their entire life cycle, from their manufacture to the exhaustion of their life cycle, produce a carbon footprint, calculated in gCO2eq/kWh, which means grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilowatt generated in one hour, of 20 gCO2eq/kWh which is far less than coal which emits pollutants of 780 gCO2eq/kWh and upwards, natural gas with 488 gCO2eq/kWh and even nuclear which emits 26 gCO2eq/kWh. With technology advancing steadily, this average is expected to improve.
This means that at the moment, solar energy is the cleanest method we have for generating energy. While there may be better alternatives, such as hydrogen fusion reactors, I do not yet have data on this, as these technologies are still in the very early stages of development.
Is it cost efficient? Will it be accessible to all?
This is another area where recent technological advances and economies of scale have made something that was once a curiosity a viable solution to problems in many parts of the world. Think about the following example, if 20 years ago someone had said that everyone would have computers with cameras and other electrical devices in their pockets, which would be much more powerful and efficient than what any nation had at that time, we would have obviously called him crazy... and yet here are smartphones....
Something like that has happened with solar panels, from 2000 to 2019 alone, the price of solar panels had dropped 96%, and in the last 2 years that pattern has continued and increased exponentially. This coupled with the modularity of the system means that this could be a solution to bring energy to remote areas or areas with scarce local energy resources.
/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source#:~:text=Global%20levelized%20cost%20of%20generation%20(US%24%20per%20MWh)In the grand scheme of things, calculating the total cost of each megawatt per hour produced by the different existing technologies, solar has the lowest long term cost, solar energy has a value of 39 dollars per megawatt, the lowest on the market today, to see a comparative table go here https://en.wikipedia.org
Not for nothing in recent years has solar energy surpassed all others in metrics of new installed generating capacity, it's better business, and if good is business that's win-win for its massification. https://ieefa.org/global-solar-installations-to-hit-191gw-in-2021-bnef/#:~:text=PV%20Tech%3A,into%202022%2C%20BloombergNEF%20has%20said.
Whether it is a solution to environmental problems?
The problem of climate change is very complex, to the point that there are still several interactions between human activities and the environment that we do not understand very well, the problems are not only the emission of greenhouse gases, the disposal of waste, deforestation, overexploitation of marine resources, are all problems that can not be solved only with clean energy, and are problems that threaten the entire planet, but solar panels can be an excellent interim solution to the issue of power generation, burning fossil fuels to generate electricity is one of the biggest pollutants in the world, So generating energy in a clean way solves a big problem, if we add to this the emergence of other technologies such as more economical and effective electric cars and offshore wind power generation, could greatly cut the emission of greenhouse gases, and clean and renewable energy can help the progress of technologies such as meat manufactured in laboratories, which would put a stop to the growing impact of livestock, so while solar panels are not the solution to everything, used in conjunction with other advances if they can be of great help to help combat climate change.
Conclusions.
When I started this research, I did it with some skepticism, but when I finished it, I have been convinced that solar panel technology really is a technology that promises a lot for the world, and the truth is that having your own energy generation at home seems to me a very libertarian idea.
Recommended Bibliographic Reference
[1] global solar installations to hit 191gw in 2021 bnef
[2] solar
[3]Solar energy
How much solar power do you have in your country?
Are you ready to invest some of your Hive earnings in Solar power?
Solar energy is not commonly used in my country.
And of course! I am willing to invest in that with pleasure.
I have been investing with Trine for 2 years now.
https://trine.com/just-invested/171277
thanks for sharing this great information!
Thanks to this community for letting me live here.
Intersting read. I've always been skeptical from the full-life cycle of components perspective (same happens to wind turbine blades). One issue I didn't see in your article is that not every country is capable of producing solar energy year long and transporting that stored energy is also costly. Take Brazil for example: we have a massive hidroelectric potential, but most of that energy is stored in rivers in the middle of nowhere, where building power plants is just way too expensive. So it all boils down to cost. As you said, as the technology evolves, costs tent to go down.
Anyways. Our family business is converting to solar, since the energy bill is higher than a loan to convert the building to solar. In the mean time, it's just not financially worthy to convert our house (if the energy bill keeps on inflating it might be worth soon).
Thank you very much for your opinion and point of view.
You are certainly right too.
Very interesting article. One of those that deserve to be highlighted and recognized. I hope you continue in this line and give us a future article on the energy generated from hydrogen reactors. Today I think it is the most sustainable way to generate energy, because it is the one that leaves less footprint on the planet. And like you, I think that every gesture counts to leave a better world for our future generations.
I invite you to take a look at a German project about an upcoming hydrogen car, the Safe Light Regional Vehicle. German cars are pioneers in the automotive world. If we combine this with the fact that, at least in Europe, they are also among those who apply more policies on sustainability and that after Merkel the green party has come to power; the future may come from the hands of the Germans.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)