Is Solar Energy Renewable – Differences with Nonrenewable Sources

WHAT IS RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Climate change concerns and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RENEWABLE & NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY:

• Renewable energy can be easily replaced, such as water, sunlight & geothermal energy. Nonrenewable energy cannot be easily replaced as in the fossil fuels like natural gas, oil, coal.
• Renewable resources are those that are replaced in nature. They are derived from natural sources. Non-renewable resources exist in fixed amounts or are used up faster than they can be replaced in nature.
• There is unlimited supply of renewable sources as against non-renewable resources.
• Renewable resources do not produce green house gasses that harm our planet. That’s why renewable energy is called “clean energy”. Non-renewable resources produce gas emissions that harm our planet

Renewable energy resources has its own advantages & disadvantages.

SOLAR ENERGY- IS IT RENEWABLE

By definition it goes that Solar Energy is renewable. The sun rises every morning & sets every evening. It has continued like this since last billions of years & will continue for more billions of years. Hence there is an unlimited supply of sunlight. Unlike coal & oil which is fast depleting, there is an abundance of sunlight. Hence the prices of these products are getting dearer, whereas the solar energy will definitely be very reasonable in the near future. The day is not far off when all our homes & offices will be lit by this solar energy & that too for almost free.

Strictly speaking nothing in this universe is renewable but if the time-line of the energy source is sufficiently long for example in the case of the sun which will be billions of years then it is renewable.Solar Energy is definitely more renewable than Hydro or Geothermal sources of energy .

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF SOLAR ENERGY AS A RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE-

• Unlimited Supply – Sunlight like other renewable energy resources is in abundant supply in this universe. There has been a continuous supply of sunlight. This is in contrast to the non-renewable resources which cannot be replenished.
• Clean Technology – Solar Energy does not lead to any major mining activity,does not lead to significant GHG emissions,does not lead to health hazards like thermal power. This is a similarity with Renewable resources which do not produce gasses that harm our planet. Non- renewable resource generate hazardous gas emissions.
• Low Costs – Solar Energy does not require any fuel like Wind Energy and the Operation and Maintainance Costs are extremely low.This is a huge advantage in these days when gas and oil disruptions are causing energy insecurity. In contrast to this is the coal & oil which is a fast depleting non- renewable energy resource. These are getting costlier by the day, since they are on their brink of exhaustion.
• No Pollution and Deaths- Solar Energy does not lead to pollution disasters like the BP Oil Spill and Coal Deaths which are directly related to Dirty Energy Production. Coal Mining has resulted in thousands of deaths each year ever since man discovered coal.
• Size Advantages – Solar Installations can be installed in various sizes with as little as 200 Watts and as big as a 1000 MW.This is not possible for other energy forms which require a minimum large size such as Coal,Nuclear etc.

CONCLUSION

Since Sun power is so abundant, reasonably cheap & a greener approach towards living, it is being used by the mankind in many ways. Countries like Germany generate almost 20 GW of power from the Sun. Italy, Spain & Japan too generate a lot of electricity through the sun. Some of the smaller European countries like Czech,Belgium too are generating lots of solar energy through proactive Green policies.The bigger countries in the world like USA,China and India are slowly realizing the potential of Solar Energy and are rapidly increasing the amount of Solar Energy products. It is a very energy efficient & clean technology, which has its many commercial applications. Some of the very basic ones are listed below:

• ELECTRICITY – as we know sunlight is the largest source of light & energy. This light is absorbed by the solar cells by the “Photovoltaic Effect” converting them into usable electricity. This is a greener approach with no pollution. This is also much cheaper, reducing the electricity bills.
• LIGHTING – Use of solar lighting is a foot forward to a cleaner environment since it is less polluting.Residential, commercial and institutional customers can all benefit from solar lighting. Solar lights can be used anywhere ranging from homes, gardens, industries to parking lots, private roads, campuses, walkways, pathways. Other than the benefits of lighting that it provides, solar lights are very efficient in cutting electricity bills, involve no operating costs and are easy to install.

• HEATING – Solar thermal technology is used to heat water for applications such as pool heating and water heating for homes and businesses. Solar water heating systems use solar panels often called collectors that fits on the roof, collects heat from the sun & then heats water which is stored in a hot water cylinder. The benefits of solar water heating will be hot water throughout the year & that too at costs much cheaper than the electric geysers.

• COOKING – A solar cooker is a low- tech, relatively cheap device that uses the energy of sunlight to heat food or drink to cook it or sterilize it. They help reduce fuel costs & air pollution, since they use no fuel and cost nothing to operate. It is useful for outdoor cooking and is often used in situations where minimal fuel consumption is important, or the danger of accidental fires is high. There are three types of solar cookers/ solar ovens – box cookers, panel cookers and reflector cookers.

Also read how Coal  vs Green Energy contrast