Solar energy? Can people use ..?

Question

Can people use solar energy all the time? How can we solve this problem?

Answer 1

No, "people" can not use solar energy all the time. "People" obviously is inclusive of those who happen to live in the extreme southern or northern hemisphere where during the winter months the sun will not rise for months. There are no batteries that will store enough electricity for these months of darkness. So no, solar power can not be used by all "people" at all times.

Answer 2

There's no "standard nuclear reactor", but if we take a 1 GW nuclear plant, it can generate about 8 terawatt-hours/year. A 200 watt solar panel can generate about 1 kilowatt- hour/day, or 365 kwh/year, so that's about 21 million 200 watt solar panels. However, the power output from the nuclear plant is controllable by the operators, where solar panels only operate at full output for a few hours/day (on clear days - less if there's cloud). Therefore, to compare the two, you have to factor in some kind of energy storage or backup which will increase the cost of the solar installation (perhaps by a factor of two or more). Despite claims of solar being cheaper than coal now, when one compares apples to apples (i. e. total energy produced, and controllability) solar is still several times more expensive than coal, and about twice as expensive as nuclear even in the U. S. A gram of U-235 can make usable energy equal to three metric tons of coal. Solar energy production has no hazardous by-products, but manufacture of the panels can involve some very hazardous materials like fluorine (for silicon panels) or cadmium (for CdTe panels). This is part of the reason panel manufacture has gone to Asia - they have fewer environmental regulations and it's easier to dispose of the byproducts of production. DK

Answer 3

The way the use it now. They use and store the solar energy during the day and they spend what they stored at night

Answer 4

Yes, by converting into electricity and storing, solar energy can indirectly be made available all the time. It is expensive right now. That is the main disadvantage. Nuclear is another option to minimise global warming.

Answer 5

no but during the day photonic/solar cells works in respond to light there are usually excess energy which is stored to to a capacitor in the circuit prior to doing work...

Answer 6

of course you can use all the time, just float it to space so the sun is shining on it 24/7. what problem, if its oil running out, well theres many energies available, just top heads can decide which one to use.

Answer 7

not all the day, and we can solve this problem by for example a batteries which can save this energy for night usage