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Understanding Solar Energy: Benefits, Uses, and Environmental Impact

This article explores solar energy, the radiant light and heat from the sun, and its applications. Solar energy can be converted to thermal energy for heating water, spaces, and pools, or transformed into electricity via photovoltaic cells and solar power plants. While it offers free and unlimited supplies with no direct pollution, the initial setup costs may reach $20,000. The article discusses current uses of solar energy in transportation and lighting, along with environmental impacts and costs, highlighting its role as a renewable energy source in a fossil fuel-dominated world.

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Understanding Solar Energy: Benefits, Uses, and Environmental Impact

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  1. Solar Energy Andrew Ellis, Samantha Lamoreux, Aimee Sitch, Samantha Shreckengast

  2. What Solar Energy is and how it is Used • The radiant light and heat from the sun • Can be converted to thermal energy or heat • Heat water, for use in homes, buildings, and swimming pools • Heats spaces inside greenhouses, homes, and other buildings • Solar energy can be converted into electricity by two ways • Photovoltaic (PV devices) or “solar cells”- change sunlight directly into electricity • Solar Power Plants- Indirectly generate electricity when heat from solar thermal collectors is used to heat a fluid which produces steam that is used to power generator

  3. Current Use • Transportation Signaling • Lighthouses • Road traffic warning signals • PV Panels • Solar Cars • Heating • Generate Electricity • Lighting Homes (Indoors and Outdoors) • Dry Clothes

  4. Environmental Impacts • Free • Supplies are unlimited • Produces no air or water pollution • Does have some indirect impacts on the environment • Manufacturing the photovoltaic cells used to convert sunlight into electricity consumes silicon and produces some waste products.

  5. Environmental and Social Costs • Sunlight itself is free • Initial setup of solar panels is costly • Approx. $20,000 • Approx. $10-$12 per wattused

  6. Is Solar Energy Accepted Today? • Yes, there are many solar energy techniques used today • However, fossil fuels are still cheaper and easier to use

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