Briefly discuss environmental impacts and economics of solar energy

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Solar energy is one of the fastest growing and diverse sources of alternative energy.
Photovoltaic cells are rapidly increasing in production and deployment while at the same time the production costs are falling. Germany is leading the way with its "100,000 Rooftops" solar panels program that has already exceeded its goal. Some solar projects use mirrors to concentrate solar power for large-scale electricity production. Two such large arrays are in the planning stage, one in the U.S. Mojave desert and another in the Sahara Desert being constructed by Germany. One of the low-key but highly effective solar sources is "passive solar systems". Passive solar takes advantage of the heat-retaining qualities of building materials to gain, radiate, or reflect heat. Using these physical properties as design components, buildings can be heated or cooled and provided with a source of solar-heated water. Although the United States is a leader in the production of solar photocells, only a tiny fraction of the research and development budget goes to solar and other renewable energies. The economic and policy leadership belongs mainly to European Union nations, especially Germany. The environmental impacts are clearly less severe than using fossil fuels or nuclear power. No emissions are directly produced by solar technology. The carbon footprint for solar technology is very low in comparison; it is not zero because some fossil fuels must still be used in the manufacture and installation of solar systems. Because the collection areas needed for home and especially for large solar collection systems are very large, large amounts of space are required, but when weighed against the damage from greenhouse gases, acid precipitation and landscape alteration from mining and drilling activities that are associated with fossil fuels, the impacts are much, much less. Finally, the long-term economic prospects are very bright. The costs of manufacturing solar technology are rapidly dropping with continuing research and development, and soon solar systems will be as affordable as fossil fuels.