Solar Energy and the Environment
3 min read · Energy Atlas Editorial
The solar farm produces electricity without noise or pollutants. The negative impact is the high energetic and financial costs of solar cell production.
Environmental Impact of Solar Power Plants
The environmental impact of electricity generation is an important consideration. Humanity needs increasing amounts of energy while also protecting the environment and using natural resources responsibly. Solar energy is a renewable energy source with relatively low environmental impacts, particularly during operation.
A photovoltaic farm generates electricity without fuel combustion and produces no direct air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions during operation. Its environmental impacts occur mainly during the manufacture of solar panels and other components, construction of the plant and management of equipment at the end of its service life. Large ground-mounted installations can also occupy considerable areas of land and affect local habitats. Despite these impacts, the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of photovoltaic electricity are much lower than those of electricity generated from fossil fuels.
Many solar thermal power plants use a conventional Rankine cycle similar to that employed in fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants, but obtain the heat required for steam generation from concentrated solar radiation. Mirrors concentrate sunlight onto an absorber, where it heats a working fluid. Because no fuel is burnt to produce this heat, the plant generates electricity without direct combustion-related air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions.
"The relatively low environmental impact and virtually inexhaustible nature of its energy source are among the principal advantages of solar energy."
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Articles
Solar Rays Energy
Solar energy comes from the Sun, where fusion reactions take place. Solar radiation falls on Earth. Part is reflected into space, the rest is absorbed.
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Ways to Use Solar Heat
Solar rays can heat greenhouses or water in thermal collectors. The energy from the parabolic trough collector can drive machinery or produce electricity.
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Solar Collectors
Solar thermal collectors can use air or water (flat-plate collectors) as a heat transfer medium. Vacuum insulation is used in evacuated tube collectors.
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Solar Concentrators
A parabolic dish collector concentrates sun rays into one focal point. A temperature of up to 700°C could be reached and used by the Stirling engine.
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Central Tower Solar Power Plants
In the central tower solar power plant, flat mirrors, heliostats, concentrate sun rays on the top of the tower where heat-transfer medium is heated.
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Solar Farms
A parabolic trough collector is a parabolic mirror concentrating sun rays onto a tube with heat-transfer medium. Collectors are connected to large farms.
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The Largest Solar Power Plants
The largest thermal solar power plant is the parabolic trough collector type farm SEGS in the Mohave Desert, USA, with 354 MW of installed capacity.
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The Energy Use of the Photovoltaic Effect
When a photon with an energy of up to 1.12 eV hits a semiconductor, an electron is released. This photovoltaic effect is used in solar panels.
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Photovoltaic Farms
Photovoltaic farms produce electricity from sunlight in many solar panels. The largest photovoltaic farm is Montalto di Castro, Italy (84.2 MW output).
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Solar Energy and Solar Power Systems Summary
The energy coming from the Sun is vital for life on Earth and can be used in various ways for electricity and heat production.
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