Why are Countries building Solar Panel Farms?

Reducing Carbon Footprint by investing in Solar energy

In 2020, the level of Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere was measured to be 412.5 parts per million whereas, the appropriate level of CO2 should have been 350ppm. This is the result of burning fuels in countries from all over the world. We need energy but we also need a clean source of energy to avoid destruction to the atmosphere of our only home called Earth. So far, solar energy was the most preferred source of clean energy. Several countries are now working to convert to an environmentally friendly energy source such as solar power plants. For instance, the countries that produce the highest amount of power from solar energy are as follows: China, the U.S., Japan, Germany, and India. All the mentioned countries fall in the recent list made in 2022 of developed countries. Building solar power plants with utmost efficiency has become a global competition. Likewise, let us focus on how countries are focusing on making a profit from solar power plants.

International Renewable Energy Agency

International Renewable Energy Agency, is an intergovernmental organization that is helping countries to shift to clean energy sources for producing electricity. It was founded in 2009 and ever since the organization has worked to promote the use of renewable energy. IREA and numerous countries pledged to keep the increase in the global average temperature be below 1.5C. As the cleantech market demand rises, the cost of building a solar power plant decreases. Thus, bringing the global temperature to a livable level has become possible. Data collected from IREA 2021 renewable energy capacity statistics state that the USA installed 76000MW of solar power that is capable of supporting 57million homes; this is about 10.6% of the world’s total capacity. Just a year back, the USA produced almost 3.27% of its electrical energy from solar. On the other hand, Italy too generated 9.66% of electricity from sunlight in the same year. It is not surprising to notice that a big chunk of power is coming from solar energy compared to what it was half a century back. According to the annual percentage change in solar energy generation of 2019, India has a 26.88% increase followed by China having a 26.05% increase with an overall increase in the world being only 23.79%. Hence, it is intelligible that leading countries have already realized the benefits of converting to renewable energy resources.

Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, USA

Ivanpah Solar Power Facility is a concentrated thermal power plant in Mojave Desert, California, USA. It is located just at the base of Clark Mountain. The gigantic structure is built with 173500 heliostats. Are you wondering what is a heliostat? It is simply a mirror holding device that can shift direction to reflect light at the desired position. Along with that many heliostats, are boilers that are 139.9m in height. These are also called solar power towers where all the sunlight is focussed on by heliostat. The gross capacity of this solar power station is 392 megaWatts. It was proudly announced as the largest thermal power station in 2014. However, some major changes were brought in the architecture of Ivanpah Solar Power Facility to save the wild desert tortoise. It was also observed that the death rate of wild birds is increasing due to the generated heat. Burnt bodies of birds are found by environmental scientists as they are lured by insects around the shiny mirrors. Additionally, there are an accidental fire when some mirrors were misaligned. The maintenance of power plants to avoid such incidents is significant when constructing such big solar plants.

Karnophuli Polyester(KPP) project conducted by Solaric has the capacity of generating 646131kWh/month with a monthly savings of BDT 50lakh. This is inspiring for industries in Bangladesh to go green and save a huge sum of money. The solar panels used here were QCELL 425Wp, 13696 modules and String inverter is SOFARSOLAR, 60KW and 72Units. With a capacity to produce 5821KWp, the solar power plant is exceptionally saving from carbon dioxide pollution and free electricity.

Fighting Against Global Warming

What is the consequence of the human race if we fail to maintain the proper level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? The current temperature of Earth as of 2021 is said to be 1.12 C. Alarmingly, the earth is increasing every second and we should soon look for alternatives to burning fuels for energy. The greenhouses gases such as Carbon Dioxide and methane trap heat energy from the sun in our atmosphere. This results in rising in global temperature. People must rapidly switch to renewable energy as global warming has already led to climate change in many countries. The climate has become so unpredictable with countless forest fires, melting of ice in polar regions, and rising sea levels. The average temperature of Earth can reach a point where it becomes irreversible. Afterward, people will suffer from low production of food, extreme weather, and storms becoming cataclysmic. Some of the outcomes of global warming have already made world leaders think about the future of living conditions on earth. Nonetheless, solar energy is inexpensive and renewable and we have all the resources to upturn the future of our only home, Earth. China produces the largest electrical energy of 204700 MW from solar power. On the contrary, it is also the country that emits the most carbon dioxide as of the data from 2019. This is 29.18% of the share of world carbon dioxide. On the whole, it is an ongoing battle to bring back the global temperature to a livable level.

Conclusion

In the end, we will have to acknowledge the deadly effect of global warming and how it is possible to erase the human race if we do not take action soon enough. Carbon Dioxide emissions from all countries must be at a low level to prevent the trapping of heat rays in our atmosphere. This is only possible if we help our government to shift to a cleaner energy source. To conclude, let us not destroy the only place we know as home due to ignorance.