By, Colleen O'Callaghan

Brianna Wallace Christian McGlynn

If we covered a small fraction of the Sahara Desert with solar panels we could power the entire world.

Enough sunlight falls on the Earth every minute to power the world for a year.

When silicon is taken from just one ton of sand to make solar cells, it will produce as much electricity as 500,000 tons of burning coal.

-The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) has a track record of strongly supporting the solar industry- They help shape public opinion through education and outreach activities and provide informed comments on global issues.-Their goal is to transition the world to renewable energy.-They provide solar research and development to the public

-The Solar Energy Industries of Association (SEIA) also support the solar industry.

- The SEIA build solar projects all over the US-There website talks about some of the projects that were made and

talked about by the press and the public.- Some example projects include the Nellis Air Force Base and the

DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center.

-Costs of solar energy depends on electricity use.-Since electricity costs vary, there is no estimated guess how much

a solar system will cost.-An average home in the US has a cost that can range from $10,000

to $50,000 so a solar system would be about 30-50% of the cost.-A solar power system depends on the systems size or how many

panels are needed to provide the electricity offset.- When solar systems are installed, installers usually determine

them by the size based on kilowatt usage that homes use and they will ask for the last 9-12 months of your electric history.

-They also look at your roof space so they can have the correct size system that you want.

The Sahara Solar Power plant receives enough solar energy in a day than consumed by mankind in a year.

Even if 1% of the Sahara desert was covered with solar panels, it would have produced solar energy enough to meet the requirement of the whole world.

In 2010, the Energy Department guaranteed a $1.4 billion loan for a solar thermal power complex in the Mojave Desert that would ultimately produce as much as 392 megawatts of electricity. Enough to power 140,000 California homes

High mountains, like Mt. Everest may just be the best places for generating solar energy.

Some of the highest and coldest landscapes can have an even greater potential for gathering the sun’s energy than hot regions like the U.S. desert Southwest.

Adding to that, the Himalaya mountains, including Mt. Everest could be suited to supply China’s economy with solar power.

The Andes and Antarctica are possible prime locations for setting up solar arrays as well.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) list of major solar projects in the United States as of November 1, they are all in states that either receive a lot of sunlight or have desert-like land.

The environmental impacts from solar power: Land use Habitat loss Water use The use of hazardous materials in

manufacturing Depending on the scale of the system and

technology, photovoltaic (PV) solar cells or concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP).

Depends on location, solar facilities can raise concerns about land degradation and habitat loss.

Depends on the topography of the site and the intensity of the solar resource

Unlike wind facilities, there is less opportunity to share land with agricultural uses with solar projects.

Concentrating solar thermal plants require water for cooling They use between 600 and 650 gallons of water

per megawatt-hour of electricity produced. CSP plants that have one-through cooling

technology have higher levels of water withdrawal, but lower total water consumption because water is not lost as steam.

Dry-cooling technology can reduce water use at CSP plants by approximately 90 percent.

Most are used to clean and purify the semiconductor surface.

Chemicals include: hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, and acetone.

The amount and types depends on the type of cell, the amount of cleaning needed and the size of silicon wafer.

There are are no global warming emissions associated with generating electricity from solar energy.

There are emissions associated wit other stages of the solar life-cycle including: Manufacturing Materials transportation Installation Maintenance Decommissioning and dismantlement

Minimal political support Infancy in technology Panels are expensive and do not last, do

to constantly absorbing solar radiation Lack of reliability

Clouds Night fall

Appearance is often loud to neighbors as most solar panels cover the roofs of homes.

Makes normal maintenance of roof more costly

Lead battery disposal Can cause health issues and even disabilities

Cadmium in solar panels Cost of batteries

Space requirements Less efficient then then steam turbines

by over 20% Dependent on global positioning Risk in investment Political and social ramifications of

industrial uses in other countries such as China

Non environmentally friendly manufacturing practices.

Local ordinance Solar access rights, easements, and

negotiations to get direct sunlight to solar panel projects

SEIA- fights for rights pertaining to residential and commercial solar access

Tax credits and exemptions given to offset cost of solar panel installation

The Solar Opportunity & Local Access Rights (SOLAR) Act Establishes the right of every American to

operate a solar energy system on their property.

Restrict excessive local solar permitting fees Establishes national net metering and

interconnection standards solar access rights Authorizes the creation of an advanced solar

research center within the U.S. Department of Energy.

Loan guarantee Program Solar energy utility fee in some states State by state law is seemingly trumping

federal laws and states such as California which is clearly at the forefront in the US is funding project and incentives regularly where some states are not giving any incentive and actually emplacing taxing and fees that drive the cost of Solar even higher

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