Group # 9

Solar Energy Vs

Eolic Energy

Universidad de San Carlos

Engineering

Technical English II

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ENERGY

Energy can be found in many things, and takes many forms. There is a kind of

energy called kinetic energy in objects that are moving. There is something

that scientists call potential energy in objects at rest that will make them

move if resistance is removed.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

It is the energy that is generated from natural processes that are continuously

replenished. This includes sunlight, geothermal heat, wind, tides, water, and

various forms of biomass. This energy cannot be exhausted and is constantly

renewed.

The technologies featured here will make our families healthier, more secure,

and more prosperous by improving our air quality, reducing our reliance on

fossil fuels, curbing global warming, and adding good jobs to the economy.

EOLIC ENERGY

Wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low

pressure. In fact, wind exists because the sun unevenly heats the surface of

the Earth. As hot air rises, cooler air moves in to fill the void. As long as the sun

shines, the wind will blow. And as long as the wind blows, people will harness it

to power their lives.

Today, more and more people are using wind turbines to wring electricity

from the breeze. Over the past decade, wind turbine use has increased at

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more than 25 percent a year. Still, it only provides a small fraction of the

world's energy.

Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water

pollution. And since the wind is free, operational costs are nearly zero once a

turbine is erected. Mass production and technology advances are making

turbines cheaper, and many governments offer tax incentives to spur wind-

energy development.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Most wind energy comes from turbines that can be as tall as a 20-story

building and have three 200-foot-long (60-meter-long) blades. These

contraptions look like giant airplane propellers on a stick. The wind spins the

blades, which turn a shaft connected to a generator that produces

electricity. Other turbines work the same way, but the turbine is on a vertical

axis and the blades look like a giant egg beater.

SOLAR ENERGY

The sun is probably the most important source of renewable energy available

today.

Traditionally, the sun has provided energy for practically all living creatures on

earth, through the process of photosynthesis, in which plants absorb solar

radiation and convert it into stored energy for growth and development.

Scientists and engineers today seek to utilize solar radiation directly by

converting it into useful heat or electricity.

A Swiss scientist, Horace de Saussure, built the first thermal solar collector in

1767, which was later used to heat water and cook food. The first commercial

patent for a solar water heater went to Clarence Kemp of the US in 1891.

-Producing electricity from solar energy was the second discovery.

In 1839 a French physicist named Edmund Becquerel realized that the sun's

energy could produce a "photovoltaic effect" (photo = light, voltaic =

electrical potential).

Two main types of solar energy systems are in use today:

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SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS: Photovoltaic systems convert

solar radiation to electricity. The most common

approach is to use silicon panels, which generate an

electrical current when light shines upon it. The efficiency

of a solar cell is the percentage of available sunlight

converted by the photovoltaic cell into electricity.

SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS: Many different approaches

can be employed here, including active systems, such as

solar hot water heaters, and passive systems, in which

careful engineering design results in a building that

automatically stores and utilizes solar energy.

Greenhouses are a prime candidate for passive solar

design, in which they collect solar energy on sunny days

in winter and utilize it to keep the house warm at night.

THE PARABOLIC TROUGH SYSTEM: uses this kind of system.

Here, troughs are designed to direct the sun's energy to

absorber tubes as long as the sun is up. Many of these

parabolic troughs are installed to collect massive energy

for the rods to heat water to turn turbines

1.

2.

3.

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SOLAR PANEL

It is a collection of solar cells. Lots of small solar cells spread over a large area

can work together to provide enough power to be useful. The more light that

hits a cell, the more electricity it produces. So spacecraft are usually designed

with solar panels that can always be pointed at the Sun even as the rest of

the body of the spacecraft moves around.

HOW DOES THE SOLAR PANEL WORK?

1. Silicon is what is known as a semi-conductor, meaning that it shares

some of the properties of metals and some of those of an electrical

insulator, making it a key ingredient in solar cells

2. Sunlight is composed of miniscule particles called photons, which

radiate from the sun. As these hit the silicon atoms of the solar cell, they

transfer their energy to loose electrons, knocking them clean off the

atoms

3. It then needs to herd these stray electrons into an electric current. This

involves creating an electrical imbalance within the cell, which acts a

bit like a slope down which the electrons will flow in the same direction

4. By squeezing small quantities of other elements into this structure, two

different types of silicon are created: n-type, which has spare electrons,

and p-type, which is missing electrons, leaving holes in their place.

5. When these two materials are placed side by side inside a solar cell,

the n-type silicons spare electrons jump over to fill the gaps in the p-

type silicon. This means that the n-type

silicon becomes positively charged, and

the p-type silicon is negatively charged,

creating an electric field across the cell.

Because silicon is a semi-conductor, it

can act like an insulator, maintaining this

imbalance

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EOLIC ENERGY VS SOLAR ENERGY

According to the Nature Climate Change may be helpful to discuss initiatives

finances reducing greenhouse gas emissions with alternative energy projects.

In this case specifically discuss two types of energy: wind and solar

COMPARISON TABLE

Eolic Energy

Advantages Disadvantages

Wind power is twice cheaper than

solar energy.

It does not pollute.

Wind is an inexhaustible resource,

is renewable.

Can produce electric energy.

For power generation has no

impact on the physicochemical

characteristics of the soil or

erodibility as any contaminants

incident on this medium does not

occur, nor discharges or large

earthworks.

Wind energy is independent of

any political or commercial

relationship is obtained

mechanically and is therefore

directly usable.

The electricity produced by a

wind turbine prevents daily burn

thousands of gallons of oil and

thousands of pounds of black

lignite power plants.

A negative impact is the noise

produced by the rotation of the

rotor, but its effect is more

pronounced than that generated

by an industrial facility similar

entity, provided that we are very

close to the mills.

Select a nearby park if live birds,

the mortality risk on impact with

the blades, but there are solutions

about how to paint in bold colors

blades.

The air to be a smaller specific

gravity fluid, involves making large

and expensive machines

accordingly. Its height can be

equal to a building of ten or more

plants, and the blades reaches

twenty feet, thus increasing their

production

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Solar Energy Advantages Disadvantages

Solar panels produce renewable

green energy.

Installation is quick and easy work.

The initial investment is recovered

within a few years and will have

free electricity.

The most important advantage is

that ecologically speaking is a

constant supply of renewable

energy for your home or business.

The manufacture of photovoltaic

cells is still dependent on non-

renewable energy, so in that

aspect it adversely affects the

environment.

Perhaps the most awkward little

disadvantage in sunny areas is

that there are many clouds

seasons to ration a little energy

consumption to avoid depleting

the stored.

It also has the disadvantage that

solar panels are unsightly.

PROYECT

HOMEMADE SOLAR PANEL

The ingenuity and innovation can build amazing works of technology such as

a solar panel, constructed of materials that can be found in the home. There

are many ways to construct one of this, in this project we will discuss about

one of them: a solar panel made of the refrigerator grill.

MATERIALS

A refrigerator grill

A wooden frame

12 half inch screw

A Styrofoam frame size

Black nylon

2 probes leg

A bucket with a tap

A thermos bottle

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CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

1. Join the wooden frame with grill refrigerator.

2. Cover the Styrofoam with nylon and put it under the grill refrigerator.

3. Screw the wooden frame to cover.

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4. Connect one end of the probe to the input of the grill and the other

end to the tap of the bucket.

5. Connect one end of the probe to the output of the grill and the other

part to the thermos bottle.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

First consider the height that is the tray and the amount of water it contains.

When you open the faucet water at considerable speed drops to tour the

nearly 2.4m of pipe having the grid. The blue line is the water input and the

red line is the back of the water (see Figure 5). It takes about 1 minute 30

seconds to travel the entire system.

WHY IT GETS HOT?

It turns out that one of the grill materials is copper. Copper is one of the best

conductors of heat behind metals such as gold and aluminum. This allows the

energy captured from the sun can be absorbed by the grill and the nylon to

maximize the amount of heat. And the Styrofoam reduce energy loss through

the back panel, keeping it at the front

BENEFITS

Using solar energy produces no air or water pollution and no

greenhouse gases. Solar energy is predictable and is most efficient

when utility rates are the highest.

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Solar energy production consumes much less water than other

technologies, such as nuclear or coal.

Wind energy is a zero emission energy source, which means it is

produced without directly emitting any greenhouse gases or hazardous

air pollutants

Wind infrastructure requires minimal amounts of land and has a much

lower impact on local ecosystems than fossil fuel extraction and

processing.

CONCLUSIONS

The most important source of renewable energy available today is the

sun.

A solar panel is a good way to obtain energy without destroying the

environment.

In every movement or action we make, we need energy. That is why it

is so important.

REFERENCE GUIDE

http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-

environment/1-what-is-energy.html

http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/what

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-

warming/wind-power-profile/

http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/1-what-is-energy.htmlhttp://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/1-what-is-energy.htmlhttp://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/what