Energy | Science Research

Developing Solar Power Methods

With the increase in the cost of fossil fuels, and worries about the environmental damage they cause, the United States has been increasingly turning to research concerning solar power. Solar power is much older the green movement – photovoltaic cells have been in use since the 1960s, and the idea of the sun as a source of heat and energy is older than humanity; the sun itself is the source of 99% of our planet’s heat and light, but for some reason, it hasn’t been easy for humans to convert it into electricity, though this is changing.

Concentrated Solar Power Stations

Fields of photovoltaic panels that rotate with the sun usually come to mind when someone thinks about a solar power station. However, another means of harnessing solar power is through concentrated solar power (CSP) stations. A CSP station uses banks of mirrors that all reflect sunlight onto a water tower. The water tower holds a closed system, and the immense heat that’s concentrated boils water, which turns to vapor, and the pressurized vapor turns a generator, which creates electricity. The vapor cools and condenses back into water, which is then reheated to keep the cycle going. CSP stations vary in size and complexity, and some use other liquids besides water in the system, but they all rely on concentrating the sun’s heat and light to drive steam turbines and make power.

Tying into the Grid

It’s estimated that the United States is currently drawing about 13.5 Gigawatts of power every year from solar energy, and this energy is tied into the national power grid. In fact, many utilities will allow private citizens who own solar panels to supply their grid with energy, and they will pay those citizens for that energy. Another two to five gigawatts is created off the grid, usually in remote rural locations. Solar energy is becoming more and more dispersed, as the idea of massive solar fields is giving way to integrating solar panels with building roofs, siding, and structures. Researchers say that in the future, cities covered in solar panels will be self-powering.

Searching for a New Earth

Finding a New Home for the Human Race

Only ten years ago, there were less than a dozen planets located outside the Solar System, home to our planet Earth. Today that number has exploded into over three hundred identified extra-Solar planets, and astronomers find more and more worlds at an increasing rate every year. Researchers are finding better ways to explore the heavens, and the results are fascinating. We’re finding planets that are so weird and exotic that scientists never even imagined they existed. Nature is proving that truth is not only stranger than fiction, its stranger even then research. But the holy grail of extra-Solar planet searching will be a planet than can sustain human life on the surface. In other words, a new Earth.

The Odds of Finding Another Earth

The odds of finding a planet similar to Earth are extremely small. However, astronomers note that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is extremely large. It’s estimated that our galaxy alone has over a trillion stars. While it was previously believed that most planets do not have stars, this estimate is being revised, and it’s now believed that around one in a hundred stars have planets, though this number is far from being settled. But, since stars that have planets have multiple planets, and many more moons around those planets, the number of planets in our galaxy is now roughly estimated to be well over a hundred million. The more planets we have, the more likely one of them will be like Earth.

Searching for a Single Grain of Sand on a Beach

Searching for an earthlike planet in our galaxy can be equated to searching for a particular grain of sand on a beach. Earth is a small planet in our own solar system. For example, a hundred Earths could fit just into the giant red storm on Jupiter. A million Earths could fit inside the Sun. Given this, it’s difficult to exaggerate the enormous size of the galaxy, and the difficulty in finding something as small as our planet, along with identifying its atmosphere, gravity, and temperature.

Developing Solar Power Methods

Searching for a New Earth

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