Th Need for Solar Energy

Introduction

Energy is needed to powers light and heavy transportations, industries, residential and commercial buildings. Without a source of energy, many first world countries would not be able to sustain itself. There is, however, a problem with the type of energy sources that is being used to day such as in the United States. As of today, United States relies heavily on fossil fuels such as coal, natural gases, and petroleum to produce energy. These three materials releases toxins when burned and harm the environment indefinitely and one solution provided is to use solar energy. Solar energy, however, is not cost-effective. This paper will use a system engineering approach to address solar energy concerns. It will first define the needs of solar energy, identify key stakeholders, and consider operational scenarios and effectiveness.

Need and Opportunity

The world is in need of an affordable, reliable, and clean energy source that will sustain the future. Current energy sources such as fossil fuels not only bring environmental degradation but it is not sustainable source to support the future growing standard of living. One alternative energy source that satisfies these needs is the sun or otherwise known as solar energy. For a long-term sustainable energy source, the sun has an abundant amount of energy that is worth investing. Current technology uses photovoltaic or solar cell to capture the radiation emitted by the sun and it is then converted to either electricity or heat. It is, however, a technology that is currently still being advanced and the stated approaches on hand have high initial cost, low efficiency, and the lack of needed materials. (NAE, 2013)

As of 2009, solar energy makes up only 0.6% of all the energy production within the United States but does that mean solar energy is not worth investing for? (DOE, 2009) No, even with the low demand of solar energy, there is still investment opportunity with solar energy due to the...