Solar Energy: Is It Viable In Florida?

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Solar EnergyIs It Viable In Florida?

• Presented By
• Carolyn Greene
• Justin M. Hojnacki
• Katie McCarthy

2
The Greenhouse Effect Global Warming What
Does It Mean?

• The Greenhouse Effect is a natural process.
• 4 Greenhouse Gases Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide,
  Nitrous Oxide Methane.
• Basically, these gases influence climate by
  warming the lower troposphere and the earths
  surface.

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Diagram Of The Greenhouse Effect
From Miller, G. (2005). Essentials of Ecology,
Third Edition. Pacific Grove Brooks/Cole.
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Global Warming

• It is suggested that humans are interfering with
  the natural Greenhouse Effect.
• As we burn more fossil fuels and continue to
  clear forests, we are increasing the amount of
  Carbon Dioxide that is being emitted into the
  atmosphere.
• This translates into more infrared radiation
  being emitted into the troposphere.
• More infrared radiation equals more heat, and
  thus the temperatures on the earth increase.

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Global Warming Continued

• We have all heard of possible negative
  consequences from Global Warming
• Increased sea levels (coastal areas, including
  much of Florida may be under water).
• Massive crop failures due to temperature and
  rainfall changes.
• A domino effect to all creatures on earth.

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Reasons To Explore Alternative Fuel Sources

• The fear of the potential negative consequences
  of Global Warming.
• Instability in the Middle East (increased oil
  costs).
• Fossil fuels are not a sustainable source of
  energy they will run out.

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One Alternative Energy Source

• SOLAR POWER

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History of Solar Energy

• The first recorded use of solar energy came in
  214 B.C.E. when Archimedes set Roman warships
  aflame with reflected sunlight.

From http//www.answers.com/topic/archimedes-heat-
ray-gif
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History Continued

• Dates to the nineteenth century.
• In 1839, Becquerel discovered the photo effect.
• The first functional intentionally made
  photovoltaic device was produced by Charles
  Fritts in 1883.
• In 1973, the first solar power residence came
  into existence in Delaware in direct response to
  the oil embargo

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The Scientific Makeup of a Solar (Photovoltaic)
Cell

• A solar cell is defined as a semiconductor that
  converts the energy of sunlight into electric
  energy.
• What are semiconductors?
• The most common semiconductor is silicon.

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Bohrs Atomic Model

• To understand semi conduction we will look at
  Bohrs atomic model
• me9.1093897 10-31 kg
• According to Bohrs atomic model, electrons with
  rest mass revolve around the atomic nucleus in an
  orbit with radius rn and angular frequency ?n.
  This orbital movement results in a centrifugal
  force
• Fz me rn ?n2
• Electrons, each with the elementary charge of an
  electron
• e 1.60217733.10-19 A s
• are held in orbit around the nucleus of an atom
  by the attractive Coulomb force
• Fc 1/4p e0 ? e2/ rn2 where e0
  8.85418781762 .10-12 A s/V m
• and is called the permittivity or dielectric
  constant. However, for the photo effect, light
  with its photon energy can provide the energy to
  lift an electron to a higher orbit. The photon
  energy is given by
• ? h c/?
• with the wavelength ? and the speed of light c
  2.99792458 108 m/s. On average, a photovoltaic
  cell has four electrons in the outer shell, or
  orbit. These electrons are called valence
  electrons (Quaschning, 2005, p.117-118).

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Huh?

• What this means is, on average, on a bright
  sunny day, the sun shines approximately 1,000
  watts of energy per square meter of the planets
  surface, if we captured all of this energy into
  photovoltaic panels, or large modules of panels,
  we will have enough solar powered energy to
  easily run our homes.

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Basic Structure Of A Generic Silicon Photovoltaic
Cell
From (Aldous, 2000)
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Solar Power Uses Water Heaters

• Domestic water heating systems typically use
  collectors that have much lower losses of energy
  at high water temperatures.
• Using a solar thermal water heater, these
  collectors can be flat-plate, evacuated
  flat-plate, or evacuated tube collectors.
• Other components are a hot water storage tank,
  pump and control unit to ensure a hot water
  supply that is comfortable with what is expected
  with traditional systems.

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Solar Water Heating System Diagram
From (Block and Harrison, 2006)
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Why Havent Floridians Adopted This Technology?

• Arguments against the use of solar energy.

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Arguments Against Solar Energy

• Cost Solar power is considerably more expensive
  than our current sources of power and
  electricity. The high price of solar power
  deters consumers interests of converting to
  solar power.
• Funding for solar power is not a top priority in
  Florida.

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Funding Issues

• State funding for solar power in Florida has not
  changed since the gas crisis in the 1970s.
• Stagnant at 3.3 million until 2006.
• Rising fuel costs have changed funding policy
  regarding solar energy.
• In 2006, Floridas state legislature set aside
  25 million annually for over the next four years
  to be used to promote the use of cleaner energy
  sources.
• Florida has 100 million to use in encouraging
  Floridians to develop and use alternative energy
  sources.

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If the state of Florida has 100 million to use
to encourage its citizens to switch to solar
power, why havent we?Florida Power and Light
and their influences.
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Florida Power and Light (FPL)

• According to Florida Power Light (FPL), it is
  expensive to convert sunlight to useable
  electricity in Florida.
• FPL contends it would be very expensive if
  Florida were to install solar materials in
  residences and businesses across the state, and
  the pay back would not been seen until many years
  down the road.

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Are these genuine reasons, or is FPL simply
afraid of losing their monopoly on Floridas
energy market?
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FPL Continued

• FPL maintains that there is not enough demand in
  Florida to have mass production funding for solar
  energy.
• However if the public was correctly informed
  about the benefits of solar energy, perhaps the
  demand would increase dramatically.
• Let us not forget that FPL pays a lot of money
  for marketing their agenda.

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Cheap Fossil Fuels

• Only about 1 of Floridas energy needs are met
  by green energy.
• Our state (and most of the country) is hooked on
  the low cost of fossil fuels.
• We are very much a crack (cocaine) addict, except
  our crack is fossil fuels.
• We are addicted to fossil fuels because they are
  readily available and cheap when compared to the
  costs of solar power.

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However the United States fails to include
environmental costs in the price of fossil fuels.
If this were to be done, fossil fuels would no
longer appear as cheap.
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FPL Continued

• FPL has 4.4 million customer accounts in Florida
• Of that 4.4 million, only 26,000 customers have
  voluntarily signed up for Sunshine Energy, a
  renewable energy program that was launched by FPL
  in 2004.
• They maintain that the interest level by
  consumers for solar energy is just not there.

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By a show of hands, how many people here have
heard of the Sunshine Energy Program?
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What FPL Doesnt Tell You

• Lack of marketing and public knowledge about the
  Sunshine Energy program.
• FPL promised to increase funding for solar energy
  based on the amount of people who signed up for
  this program.
• FPL could lose a portion of their 11 billion a
  year profit to the sun.

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Other Arguments Against The Use Of Solar Power

• Solar power production takes up a lot of space
  and requires a lot of land to function.
• The solar panels used in harnessing solar power
  require a large amount of space.

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However this does not apply to the individual
consumer. Most residences can be outfitted with
small roof-top photovoltaic panels that can
generate enough electricity for their needs.
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Other Countries Have Had Success. Why Cant We?

• Germany and Japan have success in using renewable
  sources for energy. They lead the world in the
  use of wind and solar power.
• They are able to do this because they have
  effective policies and subsidies for alternative
  forms of energy.

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The U.S. Compared to Japan and Germany

• As the graph above shows, the United States
  spends more money on renewable energy than
  Germany and Japan.
• However, we are not using this money as
  efficiently.
• From (http//www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewa
  bles/rea_issues/fig8s.html)

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Additional Con Arguments

• Geography
• Only about sixty-five percent of the suns light
  reaches the surface of the Earth.
• Clouds reduce efficiency of system.
• In many areas of Florida the sun is blocked by
  clouds and rain, making it an unreliable source
  of constant power.

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How does FPL explain the successes of solar power
in countries like Germany? It does not take a
statistician to determine that Florida has more
sunny days than Germany!
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Despite evidence and logic to the contrary, FPL
still maintains that solar power does not provide
Florida with an economical and constant enough
way to heat and cool residences and buildings as
other resources (coal, natural gas, and oil) do.
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Arguments Supporting the Use of Solar Energy

• We have abundant and cheap fossil fuels.
• Many geologists and physicists believe the
  abundance is coming to an end.
• The United States consistently fails to
  incorporate the costs of environmental damage
  into the prices of these fossil fuels.
• It is these very costs which increase
  exponentially and will eventually outweigh the
  short-term savings we as a society may have
  reaped by utilizing fossil fuels.

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Where The U.S. Gets Its Power

• According to the Energy Information
  Administration, in 2005, 49.7 of all U.S.
  electricity was generated from coal.
• Only 2.3 of electricity was produced by other
  renewables.

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U.S. Electric Power Net Generation In 2005
From (http//www.eia.doe.gov)
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• Coal is cheap.
• We have reaped the benefits without recognizing
  its liabilities.
• Carbon dioxide release leads to global warming.

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Coal and its Liabilities

• According to the Department of Energy and
  Environmental Protection Agency, estimated
  emissions of carbon dioxide produced by
  coal-fired generation of electricity were 1,788
  million metric tons in 1999.
• Coal has the highest carbon intensity among
  fossil fuels, resulting in coal-fired plants
  having the highest output rate of carbon dioxide
  per kilowatthour.

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• With this amount of pollution being introduced
  into our environment every year, we have two
  choices
• We can be reactive and try to deal with the
  results of our consequences later (which is
  proving to be a failing choice)
• We can be proactive and try to eliminate the
  problems at their source.

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Benefits of Solar Energy

• It is a renewable energy source.
• The initial costs can be expensive, but the long
  term savings can be great.
• After all, the sun wont raise its prices on us.

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Benefits of Solar Energy

• Solar energy does not contribute to pollution and
  this is considered a clean energy source. Using
  it produces no greenhouse gases and this does not
  contribute to global warming.
• It should be noted that the manufacturing of the
  photovoltaic cells does produce a limited amount
  of carbon dioxide.

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Wal-Mart

• Wal-Mart has decided to join the green
  revolution.
• The retailer will receive proposals from
  companies that are interested in installing solar
  power equipment at a yet-to-be determined number
  of stores in as many as five U.S. states
• Just as theyve brought low prices to consumer
  goods, they could bring everyday low costs to
  renewables by using their scale to push the
  technology and bring down the price.

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Individual Investments in Solar Energy

• A man recently built a new home in North Port
  Estates, Florida that utilizes solar energy to
  power roughly 70 of his needs.
• His solar power system is powerful enough to run
  all his major appliances except his air
  conditioner and his oven.
• He does receive a small amount of power from
  Florida Power and Light, and has them ability to
  use more if needed.
• After his initial investment for the solar
  equipment, this man will pay about one third the
  cost of what a typical Florida Power and Light
  customer pays for electricity.

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More Benefits of Solar Power

• Using solar power to run the water heater alone
  provides the same environmental benefits and
  energy savings as taking an average car off the
  road.
• In the aftermath of a major storm or a hurricane,
  the homeowner will still have electricity.
• The Environmental Protection Agency said that by
  using just two kilowatts of photovoltaic
  capacity, a person can reduce carbon dioxide
  (CO2) emissions equal to driving 6,200 miles in a
  car.

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Starting Simple Photovoltaic Water Heaters

• A simple way for an average homeowner to utilize
  solar energy is by using a solar powered water
  heater.
• A photovoltaic panel can be placed on a
  non-shaded, south-facing portion of the homes
  roof, and would supply more than enough power to
  function the average consumers hot water heater.
  
• According to one online retailer, an average
  system including installation would cost between
  6,000 and 8,000 and can last as long as twenty
  years.
• During a twenty-year period, one solar water
  heater can avoid over fifty tons of carbon
  dioxide emissions.

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Some Simple Math

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2005,
  there were 8,256, 847 housing units in the state
  of Florida.
• If every one of these homeowners installed a
  photovoltaic water heater, nearly 413 million
  tons of carbon dioxide could be eliminated from
  the environment in a twenty-year period.
• Reducing the greenhouse effect and global warming
• Save consumers millions of dollars in
  non-renewable energy costs.

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Solar Energy is Becoming More Affordable

• In addition to state subsidies, the technology
  used in solar power is improving and becoming
  more affordable.
• A new process could reduce the cost of panels by
  as much as 75.
• This technology is scheduled to be released in
  just two years.

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Competitive Pricing in the Near Future

• If this is the case, then the current price of an
  8,000 photovoltaic water heater system would
  cost only 2,000, which is priced competitively
  with many high efficiency standard water heaters
  today.
• Benefits of capitalism prices go down as demand
  goes up.

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Table of Targets and Projections for Solar Power
for 2004 to 2050
From (http//seia.org/roadmap)
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Conclusion

• Solar energy is viable not only in Florida, but
  nearly everywhere on earth.
• It is our opinion that once the price of solar
  systems becomes competitive with current forms of
  power that states should mandate their use on
  some level.
• Until then, states and the federal government
  should continue to offer incentives and subsidies
  for businesses and individuals who would like to
  implement the use of solar technology.

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References For Graphs/Illustrations

• Aldous, S. (2000). How Solar Cells Work.
  Retrieved February 6, 2007 from
  http//science.howstuffworks.com/solar-cell.htm.
• Anonymous author. Retrieved on March 17, 2007
  from http//www.answers.com/topic/archimedes-heat-
  ray-gif.
• Anonymous author. Retrieved on March 14, 2007
  from http//seia.org.
• Block, D Harrison, J. (2006). Solar Water
  Heating a Question and Answer Primer. Retrieved
  February 6, 2007 from http//www.solarenergy.com/w
  s400CS.cgi?categorywater_heating.htmlampcart_id
  1070211021012930dci
• Electric power annual. (October 4, 2006).
  Retrieved on February 3, 2007 from
  http//www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_s
  um.html.
• Federal Photovoltaic R D Budgets, United
  States, Japan, and Germany, 1981 1999. (2003).
  Retrived on March 14, 2007 from
  http//www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/rea_
  issues/fig8s.html.
• Miller, G. (2005). Essentials of Ecology, Third
  Edition. Pacific Grove Brooks/Cole.

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Questions?