4th Submission, Solar Energy in Foreign Countries

As we have previously seen, solar energy has become a very familiar source of energy in the US. However, other countries still do not know its benefits and why they should develop it and try their citizens to get to use this clean and cheap energy. As a developed country, we should help others understand the benefits. Some of them are:

• Solar energy does not pollute. Not contamining means that green house effect gases will not be released to the atmosphere. This is a very important factor since one of our goals is to help the Earth.


• Solar energy is available. During the summer the sun shines more hours so we can produce more energy than in winters. However, electricity is usually produced during the day and then stored to be used at night. We know that solar energy cannot be used 24 hours a day, hence 10 hours of light will help produce some electricity. This will for sure reduce the use of other sources of power.


• Solar energy can be used for many different things. Electrycity is one of the most known uses. But there are other uses like using the sun power to warm our houses by just opening the blinds. Also we can use the heat from the sun to cook. It can sound funny, but in developing countries using the sun instead of old kinds of heating systems can reduce the risk of fired and bad gases being inhaled.


• Also, solar energy can be used in cloudy days. Most people think the opposite.

Due to these benefits most countries are trying to develope Solar energies. I am now going to talk how they are developing it in Europe.European countries are global leaders in the development of the application of renewable energies. However, the only countries that could meet the goals imposed by the Kyoto Protocol would be Germany and the United Kindgdom.

There are very strict policies in Europe that actually determined and set objectives for promoting economic growth respecting the environment. One good example is the Maastricht Treaty. Another one is the Amsterdam Treaty.

The European Union has many goals and they are looking forwar to getting a clean environment. They agreed in 2007 that 20% of the bloc's energy should be generated from renewable fuels. Also, by 2020 the carbon dioxide emissions should be reduced considerable.

The starting point was the creating of the PV-NET, "a network that gathers representatives from all the sectors of the research and development community concerned with the photovoltaic solar energy industry ." The European Commission set a goal in 2003 trying to get 30 times more of people using solar energies by 2010. The country with more photovoltaic modules was Germany, with 79% of all European capacity by 2004. However there are many other countries involved. Portugal has the most extense photovoltaic power station in the world, finished in 2007. This plant produces enough energy for 8000 homes and save "more than 30.000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions."

Solar heating is another important form of using the energy that the sun produces. Nowadays, the European Union is the second after China in installations. EU minimum target is to produce solar heating equivalent to 5.600.000 tons of oil (2020). A more ambitious, but feasible, target is 73 millions tons of oil per year (2020) . A lot fo reseach has been done to being able to supply 50% of the energy for space and water heating across Europe.

Since Europe signed the Kyoto Protocol, many efforst have been made trying to reduce emissions. It is very surprising that the US has signed it. The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at combating global warming. The United States was,in 2005, the largest emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.

Showing the benefits of solar energies and how it is being developed in Europe is just an example to describe the changes that must be made if we want to preserve our environment. Some economist think that approaches like the Kyoto protocol cost more than benefit. However, the global warming benefit is enourmous. It is being proved by the Copenhagen consensus that the Kyoto Protocol will slow down the process of global warming. So may be, the US, being such a high producer of green house effect gases, should consider the option of really commiting to this protocol and not just keep it as a symbolic signature.

Sources: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/solar-energy-3-great-ways-countries-can-benefit-774747.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_the_European_Union

3rd Submission- Solar Energies

As we have previously seen, the development of new resources of energies has help our environment. In this case I will discuss some of the commercial and residential applications of the Solar energy. Solar energies do not hurt the environment and can help citizens save some money and the environment. Solar energies can be expensive in the short run; however they will easy pay off in the long run. Some of the uses of solar energies on homes are the following:

• Solar-Electric: also called photovoltaics. It is a very new technology, its basis was discoveres by Albert Einstein in 1923. However its applications weren't seen until the 1950s, when Bell Labs found the way how to commercialize this application of solar energy. Photovoltaics is a process by which sunlight, using semi-conductors, is converted to electricity. DC is converted to AC and therefore it becames a usefull electricity for houses and businesses.
• Solar- Thermal: is the process by which the sun is used to warm up water. Installing solar hot water systems is one of the most common applications and uses of solar energies nowadays. It is a really good way of saving money since on average 30% of a home's energy consumption is used to heat water. One of the disavantages of this type of system is that it is strongly determined by the climate where you live. There exist many systems such as the Drainback, Glyncol, Active Direct Systems. The first one mentionned is the most common used in homes. They all have different limitations and uses, however they all help the Earth.
• Day lighting: this is an aspect many people did not take into consideration in the past. However having one instead of 2 windows in one room can make a difference. Day lighting is a free source of energy that can work as well as electric power; however we will save much money if when building a new house we take into consideration from where the sun rises, and therefore the orientation of the house.

All of this different uses of solar energies can be apply to houses and business. Getting informed about all this applications is free. The installations of this systems can look expensive at first and may be not too reliable. But one thing that is for sure is that they do not harm the environment. ALso, a lot of recent research has been done, and it proves that people can reduce their electricity bills up to 30%. Besides helping the environment this will help our pockets.

Sources: www.solarenergy.com