About solar energy
Day by day the sun supplies 15'000 times the amount of the daily energy-demand of the total global population. In less than 30 minutes the sun sends more energy to our planet than is consumed in a whole year. In the year 2004 this consumation was about 118'858'600'000'000 kWh (kiloWatthour). A gigantic solar plant in the Sahara (700 km x 700 km) could therefore provide the global demand of energy completely (stand of 2006). And by global demand of energy it’s not just meant to be the demand of electricity but the total of energy consumed by men. The sun as a source of energy is available for at least another 5 billion years, ecofriendly and abundant.
The solar energy can be used two main ways: direct and indirect. With the direct use, you need a technical device – for example solar cells (production of electricity), solar collectors (gaining of thermal energy), solar dryers, solar cookers or solar ovens (more about solar cooking on: http://www.solarcooking.org). For example, most large-scale solar installations are producing steam to activate turbines or generators for the production of electricity. Indirectly solar energy is mostly used in constructing well thermoregulated houses (for example large, south oriented windows). Biomass, hydropower and windpower are energy sources fed indirectly by the sun.
Facing the world wide climate problems and the limited availabilty of fossil energy sources, in the future solar energy must continue to supplement energy supplies. Long term speaking, there’s no alternative to solar energy!
The opportunities to use solar energy are getting better and cheaper because many countries now recognize the priority of renewable energy and have launched ambitioned support-programs. In Germany the use of solar energy is growing rapidly in part due to legislation. This law on renewable energy (Renewable Energy Sources Act) lies on the basis of producing power from renewable sources economically. It obliges the network operators, to obtain electricity from photovoltaic plants and to pay a fixed fare for it. After a stand still of several years, Switzerland will introduce a nation-wide net-metering according to the German model.
Compared to the standard sources of energy, the direct use of the sun offers some advantages. So it is independent of fossil fuels and atomic carriers of energy. It’s available exhaustlessly. Also with producing electricity and warmth, no climate harming greengas such as carbon dioxide are released. Admittedly a disadvantage is the inconstant supply of solar energy because of weather conditions, daytime changes and the seasonal dependence.
But there are in fact different solutions for the so called accumulator problem (storage of energy). A first one of these is the combination of solar energy. Another one the combined heat and power on the basis of biomass. A further one is accumulating energy in storage lakes or compressed air and a last one of course is intelligent control of supply and demand (locally and Europe-wide over a net of renewable energy). In winter, the connections of power and thermal energy supply heat and electricity, in summer the solar cells supply electricity by the lot and solar collectors supply heat for process-water. The contol of supply and demand and the accumulators help to balance short-term variations as for example day/night changes or phases of bad weather.
The efficient use of energy is of the highest priority: 40 % of today’s consumption of energy can be saved without any loss of comfort! Above that it’s the saved Kilowatt hours which are the most eco-friendly!
Some are going to think: Solar energy is good, but preferably in the Sahara rather than here in central Europe. It turns out that there are many advantages for utilizing solar energy in Central Europe. For hardly anyone lives in the desert, and there’s only the double amount of energy coming down compared to here. The potential in central Europe is enormous and by far not utilized. Theoretically, between 15 and 30 % of the demand of electricity and about 30 % of the demand of thermal energy (for example in Switzerland) could be covered by utilisation of roofs! Nice side-effect: No exhaust gas, no environment harming monoculture, no life-harming mines of uranium, no cooling- or oil-towers in the landscape, no refineries – without any further need of space. By today only 0.04 % of the Swiss use of energy and about 0.3 % of the need of warmth is produced by solar installation.
The solar energy can be used two main ways: direct and indirect. With the direct use, you need a technical device – for example solar cells (production of electricity), solar collectors (gaining of thermal energy), solar dryers, solar cookers or solar ovens (more about solar cooking on: http://www.solarcooking.org). For example, most large-scale solar installations are producing steam to activate turbines or generators for the production of electricity. Indirectly solar energy is mostly used in constructing well thermoregulated houses (for example large, south oriented windows). Biomass, hydropower and windpower are energy sources fed indirectly by the sun.
Facing the world wide climate problems and the limited availabilty of fossil energy sources, in the future solar energy must continue to supplement energy supplies. Long term speaking, there’s no alternative to solar energy!
The opportunities to use solar energy are getting better and cheaper because many countries now recognize the priority of renewable energy and have launched ambitioned support-programs. In Germany the use of solar energy is growing rapidly in part due to legislation. This law on renewable energy (Renewable Energy Sources Act) lies on the basis of producing power from renewable sources economically. It obliges the network operators, to obtain electricity from photovoltaic plants and to pay a fixed fare for it. After a stand still of several years, Switzerland will introduce a nation-wide net-metering according to the German model.
The sun as a part of a future energy system
Compared to the standard sources of energy, the direct use of the sun offers some advantages. So it is independent of fossil fuels and atomic carriers of energy. It’s available exhaustlessly. Also with producing electricity and warmth, no climate harming greengas such as carbon dioxide are released. Admittedly a disadvantage is the inconstant supply of solar energy because of weather conditions, daytime changes and the seasonal dependence.
But there are in fact different solutions for the so called accumulator problem (storage of energy). A first one of these is the combination of solar energy. Another one the combined heat and power on the basis of biomass. A further one is accumulating energy in storage lakes or compressed air and a last one of course is intelligent control of supply and demand (locally and Europe-wide over a net of renewable energy). In winter, the connections of power and thermal energy supply heat and electricity, in summer the solar cells supply electricity by the lot and solar collectors supply heat for process-water. The contol of supply and demand and the accumulators help to balance short-term variations as for example day/night changes or phases of bad weather.
The efficient use of energy is of the highest priority: 40 % of today’s consumption of energy can be saved without any loss of comfort! Above that it’s the saved Kilowatt hours which are the most eco-friendly!
Enormous potential in utilisation - also in Switzerland
Some are going to think: Solar energy is good, but preferably in the Sahara rather than here in central Europe. It turns out that there are many advantages for utilizing solar energy in Central Europe. For hardly anyone lives in the desert, and there’s only the double amount of energy coming down compared to here. The potential in central Europe is enormous and by far not utilized. Theoretically, between 15 and 30 % of the demand of electricity and about 30 % of the demand of thermal energy (for example in Switzerland) could be covered by utilisation of roofs! Nice side-effect: No exhaust gas, no environment harming monoculture, no life-harming mines of uranium, no cooling- or oil-towers in the landscape, no refineries – without any further need of space. By today only 0.04 % of the Swiss use of energy and about 0.3 % of the need of warmth is produced by solar installation.