Solar Panels - Pros and Cons
Dawn Hurley
Dr. Jeff Smith
Speech 101
10 May 2013 Solar Panels John Burroughs an American Naturalist in 1916 once said “The Fuel on Earth will be exhausted in a thousand years or more, and its mineral wealth but man will find substitutes for these in the winds, the waves and heat and so forth.” Have you ever thought of what would happen to civilization once we begin to exhaust one of our precious and efficient source of energy, Oil? Luckily Scientists have been researching the answer to this question for years and have turned their attention to another source, the sun, which in return has turned our attention to Solar Panels and its effectiveness for our homes and income.
To gain a better understanding of how Solar Panels can be useful for our homes lets take a min to understand how they work based on research done by the David H. Koch Fund of Science in 2013. Solar panels capture sunlight and convert it into electricity using Photovoltaic (PV) cells; these cells can power anything from calculators to cars. The bulk of the cells are made up of two layers of silicone and where they meet is where the key action takes place. The cells also have metal strips that conduct the flow of electrons through wires in the house where it powers electrical devices. The Electrons in the cell also flow back out of the house and return to the cell through metal backing in order to make a closed circuit. Finally, the cells have antireflective coating that ensures that the particles of sunlight needed to generate solar power are absorbed by the silicone layers and not reflected away.
Now that we have an idea of how solar panels operate, why not go green and find efficient ways to conserve our earth. Solar panels for the home are extremely reliable with no moving parts, which means you don’t need to replace anything and it can generate 1000’s of hours of electricity with little or no maintenance. Keep in mind, solar energy is renewable and you never have to
Dr. Jeff Smith
Speech 101
10 May 2013 Solar Panels John Burroughs an American Naturalist in 1916 once said “The Fuel on Earth will be exhausted in a thousand years or more, and its mineral wealth but man will find substitutes for these in the winds, the waves and heat and so forth.” Have you ever thought of what would happen to civilization once we begin to exhaust one of our precious and efficient source of energy, Oil? Luckily Scientists have been researching the answer to this question for years and have turned their attention to another source, the sun, which in return has turned our attention to Solar Panels and its effectiveness for our homes and income.
To gain a better understanding of how Solar Panels can be useful for our homes lets take a min to understand how they work based on research done by the David H. Koch Fund of Science in 2013. Solar panels capture sunlight and convert it into electricity using Photovoltaic (PV) cells; these cells can power anything from calculators to cars. The bulk of the cells are made up of two layers of silicone and where they meet is where the key action takes place. The cells also have metal strips that conduct the flow of electrons through wires in the house where it powers electrical devices. The Electrons in the cell also flow back out of the house and return to the cell through metal backing in order to make a closed circuit. Finally, the cells have antireflective coating that ensures that the particles of sunlight needed to generate solar power are absorbed by the silicone layers and not reflected away.
Now that we have an idea of how solar panels operate, why not go green and find efficient ways to conserve our earth. Solar panels for the home are extremely reliable with no moving parts, which means you don’t need to replace anything and it can generate 1000’s of hours of electricity with little or no maintenance. Keep in mind, solar energy is renewable and you never have to