The Present and Future Scenario of Solar Energy

India gets more than 5,000 trillion kWh of Solar Energy every year. This much of energy is very high compared to the overall energy requirement and consumption in the country. As regards the latest trends in developed countries like the U.S. and Japan, it is estimated by industry experts that millions of homes around the world are going to switch to solar energy in the next few years.

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency is busy creating a programme to facilitate the use of solar energy in over one million homes in India in the next few years.

What is solar energy?

Solar Energy is the energy received from the sun that sustains life on earth. For many decades solar energy has been considered as a huge source of energy and also an economical source of energy because it is freely available. However, it is only now after years of research that technology has made it possible to harness solar energy.

Some of the modern Solar Energy systems consist of magnifying glasses along with pipes filled with fluid. These systems consist of frontal glass that focuses the sun’s light onto the pipes. The fluid present in the pipes heats up instantly. In addition they pipes are painted black on the outside so as to absorb maximum amount of heat. The pipes have reflective silver surface on the back that reflects the sunlight back, thus heating the pipes further. This reflective silver surface also helps in protecting everything that is on the back of the solar panel.
The heat thus produced can be used for heating up water in a tank, thus saving the large amount of gas or electricity required to heat the water.

Solar Energy Facts

Solar Energy is already being successfully used in residential and industrial settings for cooking, heating, cooling, lighting, space technology, and for communications among other uses. In fact, fossil fuels are also one form of solar energy stored in organic matter. With fossil fuels making major impact on the environment and raising issues of pollution and global warming, solar energy has increased in its importance to industries and homes. While the reserves of fossil fuels are restricted, there is no limitation to the availability of solar energy.

With improvement in solar energy technology and the increase in prices of fossil fuel, solar energy is gradually becoming more and more affordable. In addition, there is additional cost in the form of importation and transportation, required for oil, coal and gas.
On a surface on the Earth’s orbit, normal to the sun, solar radiation hits at the rate of 1,366 Watt Per Meter Square. This is known as solar constant. While 19% of this energy gets absorbed in the atmosphere, 35% gets reflected by clouds. So, the solar energy that reaches sea level is much reduced.
In the last few years, the cost of manufacturing of photovoltaic cells has gone down by as much as 5% in a year and the percentage of government subsidies have gone up. This means that every year, it is becoming more and more affordable to use Solar Energy. In 2004, the global solar cell production increased by as much as 60%. The amount of energy released by a single Kilo Watt of solar energy unit is equivalent to burning as much as 76 Kg of coal that releases over 135 Kg of carbon dioxide.
As per energy industry giant, Shell more than 50% of the global energy in 2040 is going to be in the form of renewable energy.

Solar Energy for home

In the last few years the number of photovoltaic installations on homes connected to utility grid has grown significantly. And, the demand for Solar Energy has grown due to policies in green pricing from utilities and government rebate programs. The demand has also grown due to the interest of households to get electricity from renewable, non-polluting and clean source. However, most of the users are interest in solar energy, but they can pay only a limited premium for it.

The returns on the initial high costs of installation are in the form selling solar energy to the grid at premium rates and also in the form of long-term savings that come in the form of not having to pay any utility bills.
When you have a solar system that is connected to the utility grid, the regular generation of electricity is used at home and the excess electricity is exported to the utility. In this type of setup you would not require any batteries because any additional demand will be met from the grid supply. However, if you want to be free of the grid, battery storage will be required to supply power during nighttime and during cloudy or stormy conditions.
Vacation homes or holiday homes that don’t have access to the grid can utilize Solar Energy in a more cost-effective manner as compared to relying on the grid for running wires to the remote location. People living in remote areas having sufficient sunlight can get reliable power in the form of solar energy. The basic components required in the solar power system consists of a solar panel, battery for storing all the energy gathered during daytime, a regulator and essential switches and wiring. These types of systems are commonly known as Solar Home Systems (SHS).

Solar Energy Cost

When you want to install Solar Energy system at home, you would require it to be sufficient for meeting all electricity requirements in home for a day plus it should generate enough power to store for 3 to 5 days for contingency purpose. Such a system would keep supplying power and getting charged when the days are sunny. During rain or winters it would be able to keep backup charge for a couple of days until the sun emerges. This means that such a solar power system is going to supply you a regular flow of electricity.

Solar panels are one of the most important factors in the generation of Solar Energy. On an average, 1 Sq. Ft. of Solar Panel generates 10.6 Watts of power. And, the cost of 1 Sq. Ft. of Solar Panel is approximately Rs. 4,500. 10.6 Watt of power is sufficient to light a room. So, if you want to power appliances like television, refrigerator and computer, you would need more solar panels.
You would have to consider solar grid-tie, and install 60 to 70 solar panels on the roof to meet the overall electricity requirement of your home. You must know that the cost of installing solar panels is not at all cheap.

Advantages of Solar Energy

Solar Energy has more advantages than you can point out the disadvantages. When it comes to considering solar power as mainstay source of energy for home and industrial settings, it beats all other conventional sources of energy.

Once the initial cost of installation is met, the electricity generated by solar panels is free of cost. In a stand-alone solar power system you don’t have to pay any utility bills. Another positive in installing solar power systems is that government offers lots of rebates and incentives to cover the initial cost. You can also sell the additional electricity generated by your system. Sometimes the utility company will give you credits for selling the excess amount of electricity.
Another good thing about solar power is that the cost of the technology is decreasing almost every few months and the efficiency is improving significantly. Today, you can find different types of solar solutions that are more convenient to install. Solar Energy is a renewable and clean source of energy and you don’t have to pay any transmission cost. This is because the energy would be produced and consumed at the same place.
Depending upon your budget, you can get all or a part of your electricity requirements fulfilled by solar energy. When batteries are used in the system to store electricity you can become entirely independent of the grid. This also means that you don’t have to get bothered by power failures in the grid, as you would be able to enjoy seamless supply of electricity.

Disadvantages of Solar Energy

Even though Solar Energy has several disadvantages, they are not major in degree and the benefits of this renewable source of energy far outweigh them.

The initial cost of the installation and equipment is high. When you compare fossil fuel technology with solar power technology, the former will seem to be far more affordable. Even though Solar Energy is being used at an increasing rate, the initial costs don’t encourage the maximum users to switch to this renewable source of energy.
If there is shortage of space for installing solar panels, you would not be able to generate sufficient amount of Solar Energy required to meet your electricity requirements.
Considering all these factors, it doesn’t require much judgment to see that solar energy is the mainstay of energy requirement in both households and industries, both in the future and in the next few years. It is only a matter of time before Solar Energy technology becomes easily affordable to make this untapped and unending source of energy a common phenomenon in every household.