Renewable Alternative Energy Sources: Solar energy

With the increasing price of oil due to shrinking of oil reserve, many countries are looking into renewable alternative energy sources. They hope that the technology for tapping into renewable alternative energy sources can improve, so that they can use renewable alternative energy sources for its energy needs.


There are many renewable alternative energy sources. One of the renewable alternative energy sources is the solar energy.

Solar energy refers to the light and the heat from the sun. Solar energy is available freely to every country who wants to utilize it. Solar energy is one of the renewable alternative energy sources and the supply is unlimited. The best is that human action is not needed to ensure that the sun provides solar energy each and every day.

Solar energy does not produce air and water pollution. Solar energy is one of the cleanest renewable alternative energy sources. However, there are some negative and indirect impacts on the environment due to the current technology in tapping solar energy.

The technology of tapping into solar energy is to use photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. The photovoltaic cells uses silicon and produce waste materials. The large solar thermal farms to gather solar energy may be harmful to the desert environment and ecosystems if they are not managed properly.

Solar energy is useful even if not converted into electricity. Solar energy is used in agriculture, especially in the form of greenhouses. Greenhouses uses solar energy to enhance the growth of plants and crops. Greenhouse is one of the oldest initiatives of using solar energy. Greenhouses existed in Roman times and many modern greenhouses were built in Europe in the 16th century. Many countries recognizes that greenhouses are an important part of horticulture today.

Daylight systems is another way to maximize the energy released by the sun. Daylight systems is used to provide interior illumination to replace artificial lighting. Daylight systems include light shelf, sawtooth roofs, skylights, and light tube. Daylight systems can reduce lighting-related energy consumption by twenty-five percent if utilized correctly.

Many individuals use solar energy for water heating, space cooling, space heating and process heat generation. Some people use solar energy to distil water and make saline or brackish water potable.

The solar water disinfection method or SODIS method involves exposing water-filled plastic polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles. This is a lengthy process, since the exposure time to solar energy varies with the weather conditions. The solar water disinfection method requires a minimum of six hours to two days during days with overcast conditions. There are many people in developing countries using SODIS method for their daily water consumption.

Many calculators and gadgets use solar energy to power the equipment. Solar energy is converted into electricity using photovoltaics. Photvoltaics technology are mainly used to power small and medium-sized gadgets such as a calculator using a single solar cell. Some individuals use photovoltaics technology for home uses. They want to save money on utility bill and using solar energy for space and water heating is the most common home usage of solar energy. Meanwhile, ventilation and solar air heating is getting popular with many individuals.

There are three different methods of using solar energy. One method of using solar energy, the renewable alternative energy source, is to use and convert solar energy through the solar cells. Solar cells convert sunlight into electricity. Solar cells are known as photovoltaic or photoelectric cells.

The second method is to use solar furnace, meaning using a huge array of mirrors, to focus the Sun’s energy into a designated space. This result in high temperatures. Solar furnaces are known as “solar cookers”. The heat from the solar energy is used to cook food through the solar cooker.

While solar energy is one of the renewable alternative energy sources, there are many downsides. The downsides of solar energy make it unlikely to overtake oil as the main energy source in many countries. One downside is that tapping of solar energy is dependent on weather condition.

Many countries do not have enough hot and scorching days for solar energy to become the core energy source. The tapping of solar energy is not possible during the night hours. The high cost of setting up solar station is a barrier. At this moment, solar energy as a renewable alternative energy source, is still at infancy stage, with limited usage.