Would using solar power help decrease global warming?

Question

From one is stated is that global warming is caused by the energy of the sun, being trapped in atmosphered...etc. But if all homes start using solar houses/energy for their homes, would that help decrease the heat/energy that would been trapped in atmosphere causing global warming?

Answer 1

firstly, that reasoning isn't entirely correct. maybe if we covered the entire world with solar panels it would help, but remember that the sun is hitting the entire world, and the rays are being trapped by CO2.

the reason why people say solar panels may help global warming is that if people use that instead, then they will use less fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, etc. which cause the greenhouse effect.

however, i don't see this becoming a really plausible solution simply because of the fact that solar panels do not provide much energy, and are fairly expensive to install. The only way we can really slow down global warming is if we cut down our emissions by a large amount, which would require us to find another massive source of energy elsewhere. the only energy souce right now which can supply that much energy is nuclear energy, which would help global warming because nuclear energy is one of the cleanest and safest sources of energy, but the main problem is nuclear waste disposal, along with significant political roadblocks

Answer 2

I don't think that it helps decrease the heat/energy that would been trapped in atmosphere causing global warming because it would be the same. It is easy for sunlight/heat to get into the atmosphere but it is harder to get out due to the main culprit, CO2 in the air which is TRAPPING the heat. The thing is that when our homes rely on solar, it doesn't use, or little, electricity for the power station that consumes gas emmiting CO2. Therefore, it is a benefit, slowing down global warming.

Let's get a little off topic here. I know that environmentalists like Al Gore, Barbra Streisand, and others are declared as "hypocrites" because they own big houses that use more energy than the common man's home. I have two responses:
1. Hopefully, they don't leave the lights on when not in use.
2. If they haven't done so already, they should get buy solar panels to install on their roofs, which they should be able to afford.
I'm saying this because if they want MORE SUPPORT for their cause they have to keep away from the adage, "Do what I say, not what I do."

Answer 3

Basically the carbon dioxide - CO2 and water vapour in the atmosphere reduce the re-radiation of heat gained from the Sun back into space. Heat radiation from the Sun includes radiation at short infra-red wavelengths, because the Sun is very hot. This warms the ground, the seas and objects on the ground which radiate in all directions, including back into space. But the temperature of the ground, seas etc is not very high. That means the infra-red radiation that they emit is richer in longer wavelengths. CO2 and water vapour happen to be good absorbers at these longer wavelengths and trap some of the heat. If you reduce the amount of CO2 you reduce the amount of heat trapped.

Solar electric power systems convert some of radiation that would otherwise just warm the ground into electricity. Using that electricity produces heat too, but at different locations. Since the net CO2 production of such systems is low compared to coal and oil fired power stations, over time the CO2 content of the atmosphere should be reduced.

Since some of the biggest domestic energy users are hot water services, replacing electric, oil or gas hot water systems with solar systems is something that home owners in most parts of the world can do right now. Solar hot water systems have been around for 50 or more years and are pretty good now. They generally cost more than an electric system but the electricity bill savings pay back the extra cost in a few years.

Answer 4

Using solar heating or to make electricity would decrease global warming because it would decrease the use of fossil fuels. Any alternate fels would help. If the air is clearer, the heat from the sun radiates back out into space.

Answer 5

we can use the heat of global warming to generate power, but I don't think this power will ever be significant. Here is how it works: You have a large mass, say iron. It heats up all day. Now, at night time, you have something that looks like a reflector telescope. It radiates the heat in to space, which is a nice, constant 2.7 degrees K. You heat a transfer fluid, such as nitrogen, from teh hot iron to the telescope/radiator. somewhere in between, install a turbine or piston, and extract energy as usual. This may not be very efficient, and I doubt it would ever produce a significant amount of energy, but it can be done.

Answer 6

Excellent question. It most certainly would help decrease global warming and I would venture to say that we will see a lot more of this form of energy in the coming years as we struggle to get control of our planet again. Here is another idea - Change light bulbs. A California lawmaker has proposed banning incandescent light bulbs, the kind in most homes, because they are inefficient. In the future, LED bulbs could become the norm, recent discoveries suggest. There are a lot of ideas and we should be looking at all of them.

Answer 7

Solar Panels are only about 5% efficient at most, at the present time. in a few years, thought, they might come up with something more efficient. Until they reach 80% efficient, they won't be much help for global warming.

Answer 8

The benefit of the use of solar energy is not that of absorption of the sun's rays.
energy from the rays is converted to electricity. When the electricity is used, it creates heat again.

The benefit comes from using the sun as the source of power, instead of fossil fuels.

Those who say use of solar panels is not beneficial are wrong. I used to heat my home with natural gas. Now I heat it with energy from a photovoltaic solar system.

The economic benefit to me is marginal, but the benefit to society is significant.

As manufacturing technology improves, the economic benefits will increase.

Answer 9

Most of the so called green house gases are missing so how can it trap anything. CO2 a very large absorbed by the plants . the Methane is a light gas and the numbers of how much is there cannot be verified . It is not there .

Answer 10

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