LIBRARY
PHI 346: Environmental Ethics: Solar Energy
Solar Energy
Solar thermal devices use direct heat from the sun, concentrating it in some manner to produce heat at useful temperatures. The modern solar industry began with the oil embargo of 1973-1974 and was strengthened with the second embargo in 1979. The growth of the solar industry during this period of fuel shortages and high prices (1974-1984) soared from 45 solar collector manufacturing firms to 225 firms. The solar market was helped during this period by government assistance, both Federal and State. Currently, solar thermal devices do everything from heating swimming pools to creating steam for electricity generation. [eia]
- Desertec FoundationHopes to harness enormous potential of solar energy in arid regions.
Solar Energy in California
- Dept of the Interior: Major Solar ProjectSalazar Approves Transmission for Major Solar Project in California -- 250 MW project will generate up to 285 jobs, $5 million in local sales tax. 08/25/2011
-- will generate power for more than 75,000 homes.
Websites
- American Solar Energy SocietyEstablished in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation’s leading association of solar professionals and grassroots advocates.
- George Washington University Solar InstituteA research facility focused on economic and policy issues related to solar technology.
- Glossary of Solar termsUS Dept of Energy -- Solar Energy Technologies Program
- National Renewable Energy LaboratoryEnergy Analysis; Science & Technology; Technology Transfer; Applying Technology : Energy innovation in action.
- Sandia National LaboratoriesSolar energy
- Solar Electric Power AssociationAn unbiased non-profit resource for information about solar technologies, policies, and programs.
- Solar Energy Industries AssociationIncludes a list of Utility-Scale Solar Projects in the United States, Operating, Under Construction, or Under Development. [July 29, 2011]
e-Books
- The Power of Light : The Epic Story of Man's Quest to Harness the Sun byISBN: 0071400214Publication Date: McGraw-Hill, 2003Social and technological history of solar power.
- Energy from the Desert : Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Systems : Socio-economic, Financial, Technical and Environmental Aspects byPublication Date: Earthscan Ltd. 2009detailed coverage of technology and financing options (including recent and future trends in PV technology), potential social benefits such as desalination and agricultural development, and environmental and ecological impacts of systems and how these can be monitored, illustrated by case studies from the Sahara and Gobi Deserts.
NASA's Jupiter Spacecraft uses Solar Energy
[NASA/JPL-Caltech]
NASA's Juno spacecraft is going to Jupiter powered by an electrical source seldom deployed in deep space: solar arrays ... Juno is equipped with more than 18,000 solar cells. [Rebecca Regan, NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center]
Solar Energy in Florida
- Florida Gulf Coast University : Solar FieldA 15-acre solar photovoltaic array produces approximately 85 percent of the energy needed to operate some of the university's buildings.
- DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy CenterFlorida Power and Light