Solar Energy

The main method of capturing solar energy is the direct method that uses only one transformation to make solar energy a type of energy usable by man. In this method, solar energy hits a photovoltaic cell (solar photovoltaic energy), creating electricity. Conversion from photovoltaic cells is classified as direct, although the electrical energy generated will need to be converted again - into light or mechanical energy, for example - to make it useful. Photovoltaic cells have high prices. The photovoltaic effect occurs when photons (energy that the Sun carries) fall on atoms, providing the emission of electrons, which generates an electric current. Solar energy can also reach a dark surface and be transformed into heat, which will heat up a quantity of water, for example - this principle is widely used in solar heaters (solar thermal energy).

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Advantages:

• Solar energy does not pollute during its production (pollution resulting from the manufacture of equipment for the construction of solar panels is controllable).

• Minimal maintenance at generation plants.

• Solar panels are increasingly powerful and at a lower cost (economically viable solution).

• Excellent in remote or difficult-to-access locations (small-scale installation does not require huge investments in transmission lines).

• In places far from energy production centers, its use helps to reduce the energy demand in these places and consequently the energy loss that would occur in transmission.

• The use of solar energy is viable in practically all the territories in tropical countries.

Disadvantages:

• A solar panel consumes a lot of energy to manufacture.

• Prices are very high compared to other energy sources.

• There is variation in the quantities produced according to the atmospheric situation (rain, snow) and during the night there is no production at all (it is necessary to have means of storing the energy produced during the day in places where the solar panels are not connected to the grid power transmission).

• Locations in mid and high latitudes (such as Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, and southern Argentina and Chile) experience sudden production drops during the winter months due to the lower daily availability of solar energy. Locations with frequent cloud cover (Curitiba, London) tend to have daily variations in production according to the degree of cloudiness.

• The ways of storing solar energy are inefficient when compared, for example, to fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), hydroelectric energy (water), and biomass (sugarcane bagasse or orange bagasse).