Solar renewable energy in buildings

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Engineering

Document 1

Buildings have become common consumers of solar energy. However, in most cases, it is utilized when electric power fails in the corporate landscape. Solar energy in houses was championed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) during the 2000 world energy assessment forum. In 2011, the international energy agency was quoted “the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits” (Kumar, 2017). The purpose of this report is to research on the trend and application of solar energy in buildings. Basically, solar panels mounted on rooftops convert sunlight into electricity which is stored in a solar battery and sent to the electric grid. Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity through a process called the photovoltaic effect. The sunlight rays strike the surface of the panel silicon, a semiconductor material.

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The electrons are knocked loose setting them in motion a process that generates electric current which can be harnessed in the wiring. In its raw form, the electric current is a direct current (DC) that is converted to an alternating current (AC) using a solar inverter (Sampaio and Gonzalez, 2017). Solar Energy Potential Solar power is renewable energy with massive potentials. One year’s worth of solar energy reaching the earth’s surface is twice the amount of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and electricity. The solar energy hitting the earth every second has the potential to light 4 trillion 100-watt bulbs. Furthermore, the solar energy that hits one square-mile of earth’s surface is equivalent to 4 million barrels of oil (Kabir et a.

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Looking at the potential, with the right mechanisms, solar energy can easily substitute nuclear energy and fossil fuels. Solar panels generate heat that can be dependent for heating solutions at home. Normally, solar water heaters utilize rooftop cells to absorb sunlight energy and transfer it to the water tank (Khan and Arsalan, 2018). The heated stored water is distributed in the home. The technology is has been advanced and sophisticated when the hot water in the house piping system is circulated to provide warmth in the entire home. Swimming pools have adopted solar heated water especially in hotels. The clay tiles have air channels built in them which allow trapped hot air to circulate in them. Usually, buildings that use hot air heating solar systems have roof and sliding surfaces designed to absorb heat.

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Many buildings that use the system employ a fan to distribute the warm air. Nevertheless, the systems are designed to heat single rooms only. Solar air heating technology can be compared to traditional sunrooms that were warmed by allowing sunlight through large windows to heat up the surface or ceramic tiles. Limitations The use of solar renewable energy is not without limitations. The cost electricity keeps on rising but many people cannot opt for solar energy because the initial cost of installation is high and expensive. Therefore, small households are unable to afford solar energy and continue to rely on electricity. The installation have of solar power has been hence adopted by a small rich section of the entire population. Nevertheless, there is belief that the cost of solar power will go down in future.

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