The use of solar energy on Earth. Prospects for the use of solar energy on Earth

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

Today, the problem of energy consumption is quite acute - the resources of the planet are not endless, and during its existence, humanity has pretty much devastated what was given by nature. At the moment, coal and oil are being actively mined, the reserves of which are becoming smaller every day. The power of thought allowed mankind to take an incredible step into the future and use atomic energy, bringing along with this boon a huge danger to the entire environment.

The environmental issue is no less acute - the active extraction of resources and their further use adversely affects the state of the planet, changing not only the nature of soils, but even climatic conditions.

That is why special attention has always been paid to natural sources of energy, such as water or wind. Finally, after so many years of active research and development, humanity has “grown up” to the use of solar energy on Earth. It is about him that we will discuss further.

What's so attractive about this

Before moving on to specific examples, let's find out why researchers around the world are so interested in this type of energy production. Its main asset can be called inexhaustibility. Despite numerous hypotheses, the likelihood that a star like the Sun will go out in the near future is extremely small. This means that humanity has the opportunity to receive clean energy in a completely natural way.

The second undoubted advantage of using solar energy on Earth is the environmental friendliness of this option. The impact on the environment under such conditions will be zero, which in turn provides the whole world with a much brighter future than that which opens up with the constant extraction of limited underground resources.

Finally, special attention should be paid to the fact that the use of solar energy poses the least danger to humans.

Really

Now let's get to the point. The somewhat poetic name "solar energy" actually hides the conversion of radiation into electricity using specially developed technologies. This process is provided by photovoltaic cells, which humanity is extremely actively using for its own purposes, and quite successfully.

Solar radiation

It so happened historically that the noun "radiation" evokes more negative associations than positive ones in connection with those man-made disasters that the world managed to survive in its lifetime. Nevertheless, the technology of using the energy of the Sun on Earth provides for working with it.

Basically,this type of radiation is electromagnetic radiation, the range of which is between 2.8 and 3.0 microns.

So successfully used by mankind, the solar spectrum actually consists of three types of waves: ultraviolet (about 2%), about 49% are light waves and, finally, the same amount is accounted for by infrared radiation. Solar energy has a small number of other components, but their role is so insignificant that they do not have a special impact on the life of the Earth.

The amount of solar energy hitting Earth

Now that the composition of the spectrum used for the benefit of mankind has been determined, one more important feature of this resource should be noted. The use of solar energy on Earth seems very promising also because it is available in fairly large quantities at almost minimal processing costs. The total amount of energy emitted by a star is extremely high, but about 47% reaches the Earth's surface, which is equal to seven hundred quadrillion kilowatt-hours. For comparison, we note that only one kilowatt-hour can provide a ten-year operation of a light bulb with a power of one hundred watts.

The power of the Sun's radiation and the use of energy on Earth, of course, depends on a number of factors: climatic conditions, the angle of incidence of the rays on the surface, season and geographical location.

When and how much

It is easy to guess that the daily amount of solar energy falling on the surfaceEarth is constantly changing, since it directly depends on the position of the planet in relation to the Sun and the movement of the luminary itself. It has long been known that at noon the radiation is maximum, while in the morning and evening the number of rays reaching the surface is much less.

We can say with confidence that the use of solar energy will be most productive in regions as close as possible to the equatorial strip, since it is there that the difference between the highest and lowest indicators is minimal, which indicates the maximum amount of radiation reaching the surface of the planet. For example, in the desert African areas, the annual amount of radiation reaches an average of 2200 kilowatt-hours, while in Canada or, for example, Central Europe, the figures do not exceed 1000 kilowatt-hours.

Solar energy in history

If you think as broadly as possible, attempts to "tame" the great luminary that warms our planet began in ancient times during paganism, when each element was embodied by a separate deity. However, of course, then the use of solar energy was out of the question - magic reigned in the world.

The topic of using the energy of the Sun on Earth began to be actively raised only at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 20th century. A real breakthrough in science was made in 1839 by Alexander Edmond Becquerel, who managed to become the discoverer of the photovoltaic effect. The study of this topic has increased significantly, and after 44 years, Charles Fritts was able to design the first evermodule based on gold-plated selenium. This use of the energy of the Sun on Earth gave a small amount of released electricity - the total amount of production then amounted to no more than 1%. Nevertheless, for all mankind, this was a real breakthrough, opening up new horizons of science that had not even been dreamed of before.

Albert Einstein himself made a significant contribution to the development of solar energy. In the modern world, the scientist's name is more often associated with his famous theory of relativity, but in fact, he was awarded the Nobel Prize precisely for studying the external photoelectric effect.

To this day, the technology of using solar energy on Earth is experiencing either rapid ups or no less rapid falls, however, this branch of knowledge is constantly updated with new facts, and we can hope that in the foreseeable future, the door to a completely new world will open before us. peace.

Nature is against us

We have already spoken about the advantages of using the energy of the Sun on Earth. Now let's pay attention to the disadvantages of this method, which, unfortunately, are no less.

Because of the direct dependence on geographic location, climatic conditions and the movement of the Sun, the production of solar energy in sufficient quantities requires huge territorial costs. The bottom line is that the larger the area of consumption and processing of solar radiation, the greater the amount of environmentally friendly energy we will receive at the output. The placement of suchhuge systems require a lot of free space, which causes certain difficulties.

Another problem regarding the use of solar energy on Earth is in direct relation to the time of day, since the generation will be zero at night, and extremely insignificant in the morning and evening.

An additional risk factor is the weather itself - abrupt changes in conditions can have an extremely negative impact on the operation of this kind of system, since they cause difficulties in debugging the required power. In a sense, situations with a sharp change in the amount of consumption and production can be dangerous.

Clean but expensive

The use of solar energy on Earth is difficult at the moment due to its high cost. The photocells necessary for the implementation of the main processes have a rather high cost. Of course, the positive aspects of using this kind of resource make it pay off, but from an economic point of view, at the moment there is no need to talk about the full payback of cash costs.

However, as the trend shows, the price of solar cells is gradually falling, so in time this problem can be completely solved.

Inconvenience of the process

Using the Sun as a source of energy is also difficult because this method of processing resources is rather laborious and inconvenient. The consumption and processing of radiation directly depend on the cleanliness of the plates, which is quite problematic to ensure. In addition, extremelyThe heating of the elements also negatively affects the process, which can only be prevented by using the most powerful cooling systems, which requires additional material costs, and considerable ones.

In addition, the plates used in solar collectors, after 30 years of active work, gradually become unusable, and the cost of solar cells was mentioned earlier.

Environmental issue

Earlier it was said that the use of this kind of resource can save humanity from quite serious problems with the environment in the future. The source of resources and the final product are truly as environmentally friendly as possible.

Nevertheless, the use of solar energy, the principle of operation of solar collectors is to use special plates with photocells, the manufacture of which requires a lot of toxic substances: lead, arsenic or potassium. Their use does not bring any harm to the environment, however, given their limited lifespan, over time, disposal of the plates can become a serious problem.

To limit the negative impact on the environment, manufacturers are gradually moving to thin-film wafers, which have a lower cost and less detrimental effect on the environment.

Methods for converting radiation into energy

Films and books about the future of mankind almost always give us approximately the same picture of this process, which, in fact,may differ significantly from reality. There are several ways to convert.

The most common is the previously described use of photocells.

As an alternative, humanity is actively using solar thermal energy, based on the heating of special surfaces, which allows heating water with the proper direction of the temperature obtained. If you simplify this process as much as possible, it can be compared with the tanks that are used for summer showers in private homes.

Another way to use radiation to generate energy is the "solar sail", which can only operate in a vacuum. This kind of system converts radiation into kinetic energy.

The problem of lack of generation at night is partially solved by solar balloon power plants, the operation of which continues due to the accumulation of released energy and the duration of the cooling process.

We and solar power

Resources of solar and wind energy on Earth are used quite actively, although we often do not notice this. Earlier, the folksy heating of water in an outdoor shower has already been mentioned. In fact, most often solar energy is used for these purposes. However, there are many other examples: in almost every lighting store you can find storage bulbs that can work without electricity even at night thanks to the energy accumulated during the day.

Installations based on photocells are actively used in all kinds of pumping stations and ventilation systems.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

One of the most important resources for humanity is solar energy, and the prospects for its use are extremely high. This industry is actively funded, expanded and improved. Now solar energy is most developed in the United States, where some regions use it as a full-fledged alternative power source. Also, power plants of this type operate in the Mojave Desert. Other countries have long headed for this type of electricity generation, which may soon solve the problem of environmental pollution.