Essay Example on Unleashing the Potential of Solar Energy: A History of Innovation

Introduction

Crude oil, coal, and natural gas have been in use for centuries as the sources of energy for both domestic and commercial purposes. They are considered to be the world's most reusable sources of energy. They have massive strides, and they have had technological innovations as well as the promotion of sustainable energy (Rohm et al., 2019). However, the relevance of solar energy has been underestimated since the 19th century and specifically since 1839. The fact that coal, crude oil, and natural gas contribute a lot to the factors that deteriorate the ozone layer has prompted the United Nations to call upon nations to adopt Solar energy. The approach is seen by most nations that offer subsidies for firms and individuals who acquire solar panels accessories for harnessing power from the sun (Rohm et al., 2019). The primary purpose is to reduce the adverse effects caused by crude oil and natural gas sources of energy despite their massive advantage in affordability and reliability in lighting homes, fueling vehicles, and running industrial plants.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Background History

Harnessing solar energy was first reported in the 19th century in ancient Egypt. Black tile-lined pools were used to collect energy from sun rays and pass them into the waters to keep palaces warm at night (Bradler, Fischer, Pohn, Wallner & Lang, 2017). The black tile-lined pools heated water above them. In that manner, harnessing energy from sunlight into electrical energy was discovered by a French physicist in 1839 named Alexandra Edmund Becquerel. According to Hoang (2017), the approach was associated with the concept of the photovoltaic effect.

Effect of Solar Energy on People's Business

UN emphasized on adoption of solar energy as a green form of energy to solve the discrepancies resulted from the extraction of crude oil, burning of fossils, and usage of natural gas as the primary forms of energy (Hoang, 2017). It is considered to be the best alternative energy naturally derived from the sun. Solar energy comes with multiple pros than cons. Currently, solar energy is still considered to be a way of producing relatively lower voltage energy. The capacity of the energy to be harnessed depends on the apparatus used, the size of the solar panels, and the capability of the reservoirs.

Besides, people and businesses complain about the cost of adopting solar energy. First, the harnessing of solar energy involves the usage of solar panels and storage systems like batteries. The initial cost is exceptionally high (Bradler et al., 2017). After incurring the initial cost, the maintenance of solar energy is less costly. However, there are multiple pros regarding the form of energy. Solar energy is capable of serving all the purposes of the primary forms of energy. It can be used to run machines and for domestic purposes (Rohm et al., 2019). For that matter, solar energy fills the gap that can be created by doing away with other forms of energy that are hazardous and pause effects on the environment and the ozone layer. Businesses that need to operate in countries that champion for going green are capable of structuring out their firms and competing fairly with the existing ones if the host countries offer subsidies.

Solar Energy as an Important Trend for Society, Education, as well as the Workplace

Solar energy solves the challenge of installing power stations in hilly and remote areas. Most areas that lack energy have proved the fact that solar energy is also capable of providing relevant energy that is needed for domestic and commercial use (Rohm et al., 2019). For instance, solar energy can be used in distilling water in areas that are usually affected by a lack of clean water as well as powering set lights to enhance internet connection speed. More importantly, solar energy is the most decent form of energy that is free from environmental effects. It is only associated with one disadvantage that can be resulted from the installation process in industries and other economic sectors.

Solar energy adoption will progressively yield positive results in the future. Once power plants are fully installed, there will be less disruption to animal habit (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). Besides, there will be less air pollution, noise disturbances due to large turbines, and no wastes will be dumped into water sources. In the long run, a healthy environment will prevail. Businesses will have no problem ensuring that they are environmentally friendly in case they are experiencing the challenge of pollutions arising from the massive practices done by huge machinery that depend on natural gas as a form of energy.

Global Environmental Implications

Animal habitats are vital in preserving the existence of animal species. Perhaps, technology compliments each other. Then, construction of solar power plants might require excavations to be done, which contribute to environmental pollution, disturbance to animal habit, displacing water sources, or even destroying animal habitats (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). For that reason, there is no point in life where environmental pollution can be minimized completely. Notably, the installation of camo plants requires the cooperation of other technology, transforming the land to construct thermal plants, and displacing animal habitats to pave the way for the construction of solar panels.

There are potential environmental impacts resulted from solar power installation. They include loss of habitat, use of hazardous materials, improper land use, what are you and pollution of the environment due to the relevance of using other means of technology to install the panels or concentrating solar panel plants (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). Therefore, the global implication is associated with the scale of the systems to be installed with the area that is supposed to be used to concentrate thermal plants concerning the environmental issues resulted from the technological aspects that complement the process.

Concerns about the degradation and habitat loss is a global issue, especially in regions where animal habitat should be secured. The installation of solar panels in such areas proves that a problem is created to solve another problem (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). In this scenario, an environmental issue is addressed by creating another global problem associated with animal habitats and land use. Therefore, the adoption of solar energy also pauses negative impacts on the environment, businesses, society, people, and businesses (Bradler et al., 2018). The call for tax relief on solar installation appliances as required by the UN is a heartwarming aspect for both businesses, companies, and domestic energy users (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). Until recently, relevant information proves that solar energy systems are only affordable by the fanatical and wealthy (Bradler et al., 2018). For that reason, the adoption of solar energy is campaigned by offering tax relief for a person's transforming from traditional to solar systems. Installation costs are significantly reduced to promote the massive adoption of solar energy. Nations will save the cost of producing electricity from crude oil, natural gas, and fossil fuels, which accounts for billions of dollars.

References

Bradler, P. R., Fischer, J., Pohn, B., Wallner, G. M., & Lang, R. W. (2017). Effect of stabilizers on the failure behavior of glass fiber reinforced polyamides for mounting and framing of solar energy applications. Energy Procedia, 119, 828-834.

Hoang, S. (2017). The Environmental History of Solar Photovoltaic Cells.

Rohm, H., Leonhard, T., Schulz, A. D., Wagner, S., Hoffmann, M. J., & Colsmann, A. (2019). Ferroelectric Properties of Perovskite Thin Films and Their Implications for Solar Energy Conversion. Advanced Materials, 31(26), 1806661.

Union of Concerned Scientists. (2013). Environmental Impacts of Solar Power. Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved 10 April 2020, from https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-solar-power.