Why don't we look more at solar energy for power?...?

Question

The sun puts out enough energy in a day(week), I've read both, NY Times said everyday, to supply the current power needed to power our world. Thats an infinite amount of power. We can even use that power to travel through space. Plus everybody could have their own power plant on their house, or car??!! Come on people its simple. Dark=evil=oil, Light=Heaven=sun!!
Why not... cost...??? Oil companies have billions of dollars, make them pay for it! I know it isn't that simple, but I wish it was...

Answer 1

A couple reasons.

First is cost, solar cells are not inexpensive to manufacture and are not particularly efficient (around 15% for current PV cells). PV cell output is DC (direct current), so needs an inverter to change it to AC (alternating current) for use in a home, which has losses of 20% of so in the conversion.

Second, while PV cells create no pollution once they are constructed, there is CO2 produced, lots of electricity and a substantial amount of toxic/hazardous chemicals used to manufacture them. Some estimates are that it can take over 50% of a PV cells lifespan to reach the 'breakeven' point where it has offset the energy/CO2 used to create it.

Third, a solar cell can only produce electricity while the sun is shining on it. In most areas PV cells have a capacity factor (the amount of time any type of generation actually produces it's rated output) of 15-20%. The rest of the time you need storage (batteries use toxic/hazardous chemicals as well). Backup with conventional generation means you now have redundant systems which both need to be paid for.

Why does it have to be a government/big oil consipracy? We are the ones who always complain when costs go up, why are we surprised that the companies WE buy from use the cheapest means possible to provide the products WE demand from them.

Answer 2

The amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth does exceed the entire consumption of the Earth by several magnitudes. Which is good, considering that all of the energy basically does come from the sun if you trace it back far enough (with the possible exception of nuclear power--and eventually all of that will be used as we don't have a mechanism to produce Uranium).

Solar power, at best is 30% efficient. That means to power the United States, you would have to cover an area the size of Arizona (at the least). Now I'm not sure how much energy it will take to produce solar collectors (not solar cells, they take even more energy and are much less effective), but it will be alot. Then we'll have to create a way to store enough electrical energy to run the country ALL NIGHT. I don't see that happening.

Oil companies don't "pay" for anything, a portion of their profits go to the government. If they don't make a profit, after a few years they go bankrupt. Just ask the airlines.

Finally, there is no "infinite" source of power, you can look up the amount of energy the sun transmits to the Earth's surface each day.

Answer 3

You asked, "Why don't we look more at solar energy for power?...?" That's an excellent question. The answers are diverse. Solar energy is captured in several forms. Hot air, hot water, or directly into electricity.

- Hot air and hot water (thermal solar energy) are often the relm of individual buildings and home owners. Not all buildings and homes can benefit from a thermal solar energy installation because of geography, the way the building is constructed or located, and also local building codes. Solar thermal energy is an area that can be very cost effective because the installation costs can often save more than the cost of the energy they replace. However, before these technologies become mainstream, the general public needs to be comfortable and willing to take on the projects and costs that surround installing them. That hasn't happened yet and perhaps this is really a public education issue and an initial cost issue.

- Electricity - For individuals (or for companies too) capturing solar energy directly into electricity via solar photovoltaic panels (PV panels) has been more costly than buying the energy directly from the power company and more costly than generating the power via more conventional means. This has prevented wide acceptance of PV technologies because, for most individuals, the cost is either out of reach or it simply doesn't make a good financial investment. This is starting to change because the PV manufacturing industry is growing to the point where competition, the economies of scale, and new production technologies are starting to bring down the price of a PV panel installation. Still the cost of a PV system is all up front and can be in the 10's of thousands of dollars. The next few years will be interesting in regards to acceptance and use of solar PV technologies. Recent articles in the news predict the price of PV panels to drop by 50% in the next several years. Time will tell.

Timothy D.

Answer 4

The sun puts out much more energy than is needed to supply current power.

Most people don't look into it because solar power is still way too expensive for most people. Thankfully, however, the solar cells are becoming much more efficient and are getting cheaper by the day.

By the way, why not make the government pay for it. They get the same if not more (depending on your state) money from oil than the oil companies themselves. People who make their own bio-desiel fuel are even getting prosecuted for not paying gas taxes (even though they don't buy or sell fuel, just make it for themselves).

Answer 5

Because putting nuclear reactors on Earth is going to be a lot easier than using one 150 million kilometres away that we can only get power from half the time (or less).

There is also a lot of difference between 3.26e26 W and infinity.

Note also that BP already sell solar panels (and they're a very big player in the solar power market).

Of course the problem with solar not working at night would be easy to solve if you put the solar panels in space and beamed the power down to earth with microwaves.

Answer 6

I don't understand this as well. Especially where we live here in Arizona. There are idiots who put in gas heaters for their pools for the winter, but solar panels are just about $500 more than the cost of the gas heater. So what are they thinking? They are going to pay more to use the gas heater in the winter than if they had just paid the extra amount for the solar panels.

I would love to put up solar panels to generate our regular electricity but it's cost prohibitive for us at this point, but something we want to do. There should be a better way for people to afford to change to solar, perhaps more tax credits, etc.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Cost is the major reason.

Answer 9

Personally, I think nuclear energy is the way to go.

Answer 10

because easy to get oil,67% pepole never mind about our planet