Is Solar Power a Viable Alternative Form of Energy?
Solar energy is definitiely a solution to our energy problems and will be a major factor in being able to reduce the pollution of both air and water caused by fosil fuel dependence. it is no suprise that large oil companies like BP and ARCO have invested in solar energy research. The advances made in high tech production of photo-voltaic solar cells and other applications is bringing down the cost of solar energy useage. Some companies are now leasing solar panel systems to homes and businesses at no up-front cost. The monthly lease rate is less than the previous electric bills from conventional power providers.
There are advances being made in solar thermionics: the direct conversion of solar heat to electricity. Such a system would employ an industrial grade of diamond dust. Each particle of diamond would be only a few microns large. A thin layer of this diamond dust, doped with a minute amount of lithium, would be coated onto a the inside of an evacuated cell and serve as a cathode. At the other end would be the anode. As the surface is heated by solar energy, current flows.
Other direct heating applications such as hot water, space heating can be achieved both actively and passively. Solar energy can both heat and cool your home or business. Water desalinization and reclamation of waste water is all possible using the free energy being provided by the sun. There will be more and more uses found for solar energy as the demand to veer away from fossil fuel dependence increases.
Solar power as an alternative form of energy has only popular and affordable recently. This popularity is largely due to the worries about the availability of oil and natural gas. The use of coal is still controversial in some ways, and oil, which is widely used, fluctuates in price and availability. Suppliers of oil and natural gas are often worried about the possibility of disruption in the oil supplies. People look to buy solar power more every day. Solar Energy is a Renewable Energy Source People look to buy solar power because this is a renewable source of energy. The sun will supply this energy in a steady stream that will last for a very long time. Solar energy is attractive because this source of energy is not dependent on oil fields thousands of miles away where geographic and political conflicts affect the supply. One large supply of the oil in the world is in Nigeria where the volatility of the politics around those oil fields is a definite worry. Other sources of oil are in
